Do you think Elton John was fair in saying this about Madonna in public?

Singer Sir Elton John (search) seems a little … cranky lately. Not only did he spew venom at pop icon Madonna (search) this week, even using the L word — “lip-synching” — he also recently called a gaggle of Taiwanese photographers “rude, vile pigs.” All this comes some months after the 57-year-old singer griped that the talent show 'American Idol' (search) is racist. Is this any way for a 'knight' and musical legend to act? The star musician has been outspoken about certain causes in the past and has even taken potshots at the “Material Girl” before. “He professes to ‘adore her,’” Madonna’s spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg (search) told The New York Daily News. “I don’t know what his problem is. I guess his tiara is on too tight.” It seems John can't 'feel the love tonight” — or most nights in recent weeks, for that matter. Is the “Rocket Man” just ornery? Has the aging process made him bitter? Or is it some sort of bizarre publicity stunt to increase interest in his ongoing concert tour? One pop culture expert speculated that it’s none of the above. “My guess would be — and I hate to psychoanalyze someone who’s not on my couch — that he’s reached a point in his career where he’s a musical statesman and that gives him license to say and do whatever the hell he wants,” said Neal Gabler (search), author of “Life: The Movie.” John’s latest lashing was at Madonna’s expense, when the singer was at the British Q music magazine awards show in London on Monday. While accepting a songwriting award, the 'Candle in the Wind' artist flipped out on the Kabbalah queen, accusing her of lip-synching and growling that he couldn’t believe Madonna had been nominated for Best Live Act (an honor she didn’t end up winning — it went to British band Muse instead). “Since when has lip-synching been live?” he said. “Anyone who lip-synchs in public onstage when you pay 75 pounds ($134) to see them should be shot.

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