MARLENA NIP WRITES — Tick Tok. At the eleventh hour, the Malaysian government closed its gates to American pop star, Ke$ha.
The risqué pop star was scheduled to play a concert in Kuala Lumpur, the nation’s capital. Livescape, the promotion group holding the event, was notified the night before that Malaysian officials would not allow the show to take place. Just last month, Malaysia officials banned heavy metal U.S. band, Lamb of God from performing in the nations capital because the group’s work was “blasphemous,” according to officials.
These officially similarly decided to ban Ke$ha because they believed it would “hurt cultural and religious sensitivities.” This was decided even after Ke$ha and her music crew agreed to adjust the performance by changing song lyrics, and the star’s wardrobe to respect and comply with government guidelines. The pop star expressed her frustration through a “tweet,” saying she was not behind the decision of canceling her show.
Livescape lost around $350,000 US dollars from this ban. The company is urging the Malaysian government to carry out more productive dialogue to avoid incidents like these in the future. Malaysia has been known for its strict enforcement of musical expression and ardently stands behind its Islamic beliefs by denying these two musical groups.
How long will Livescape be able to endure if its popular performances are continuously shut down?