Lambert's lament

Oh, poor Adam Lambert, he struggled so much dropping the gay kiss from his show when he played Malaysia:

"I think it's a tough decision to make, but to me, there are so many amazing fans in Malaysia that it's more important for me to be able to come and do my show there for them and entertain them and thank them for supporting me."

Really?

"My main goal is to keep people entertained - not to make them uncomfortable," he explained.

"It's something I'm doing out of respect. It's just one little thing. Man kissing another man is something that government really doesn't appreciate."

Well, yes, if the government doesn't like it then you shouldn't do it, should you? Because why should you have sense of spine and stand up to a bigoted, homophobic ruling?

Dropping the kiss wasn't a "tough decision", Adam. Keeping it in would have been tough. Canceling the gig would have been a "tough decision". Caving in and saying that if the Malaysian government says being gay is wrong, then it's 'disrespectful' to say 'no it isn't' isn't craven and weak.

Beyonce prepares to try Malaysia again

A couple of years back, you'll recall, Beyonce was all ready to play a gig in Malaysia when the country said "not dressed like that, you won't, young lady", and the whole thing was scuppered. Sorry - it was "scheduling conflicts", wasn't it? Nothing to do with outraging public decency at all. Oh no.

Anyway - perhaps to get away from Kanye West, or keen to avoid Jay-Z bringing Chris Martin home, she's going to try again. Let's hope the hemlines don't cause any scheduling conflicts this time round, eh?

Black Eyed Peas: A plausible reason for turning to Islam

The government of Malaysia has issued a ruling barring Muslims from attending a Kuala Lumpur gig this September.

They're worried that the sponsors - Guinness - don't sit well with the rules of the religion. It's unclear if there will be any punishment for people simply pretending to be Muslim as an easy way to get out of going to the gig.

Malaysia tells Beyonce "not dressed like that, you're not"

Beyonce's planned Malaysia date has been axed after local religious groups pushed to have her act sanitised in line with local sensibilities.

Gwen Stefani - who faced similar restrictions in August - complied with the rules, deciding that it was more important to open up the large market and make some money ("more important to bring her music to Malaysia") than to worry about the implications of having her dress style dictated to her by a religious group.

Stefani agrees to put it away

In order to try and stop a bunch of Muslim students from campaigning to have her Malaysia gig cancelled, Gwen Stefani has agreed she won't wear 'revealing' outfits onstage.

The student union's vice president, Abdul Muntaqim, told the Associated Press: "Her performance and her attire are not suitable for our culture.

"It promotes a certain degree of obscenity and will encourage youth to emulate Western lifestyle."

We're not sure that simply covering up her belly button is going to satisfy anyone under those circumstances - surely even her stupid houndstooth cap, while demure, is dangerously Western?

Rozalita Abdul Rahman from concert promoters Maxis Communications Bhd said: "Whether it concerns the singer's attire or the security for the concert, we will abide by the rules and guidelines and assure that nothing will go wrong."

Siti Zaleha Baba, a senior official at the Malaysian Culture Arts and Heritage Ministry said: "There is no problem so far. [The concert promoter] has told us what clothes she will wear for the concert."

Mind you, everyone thought that PJ Proby was going to be a safe bet back in the day.