Madonna wows the crowd at free Kent festival

Madonna wowed a 12,000-strong crowd with tracks from her new album, Hard Candy, at her only UK festival appearance of the summer – at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Maidstone, Kent.

The veteran star, at number one in the charts with the single "Four Minutes", featuring Justin Timberlake, topped the bill on the event's main stage last night.

The event was opened by American R'n'B heavyweight Usher, who got off to a bad start when he told the crowd how delighted he was to be playing in Manchester.

Speaking to DJ Jo Whiley about her set at the two-day free festival, Madonna said: "I want to do new stuff – that's what people come to hear – but I also want to do my oldies but goodies."

More than 500,000 people applied for 30,000 tickets, the biggest response yet generated by the Big Weekend, which is in its third year. Also playing were Duffy, The Feeling, and the Fratellis.