Popsquire

Despite earlier reports that the Malaysian government had canceled Avril Lavigne’s August 29 concert after Islamic groups complained she was “too sexy,” the singer now tells MTV News that it’s on.

“Well, I’ve actually been approved by the government to play a show,” she said. “I’ve already sold 10,000 tickets there, so I will be going to put on a concert for the fans.”

“They tend to, you know, sometimes not want Western artists in their country…I respect that, but at the same time, you know, there’s people that listen to music there and want to see their idols and stuff, so it’s all good: been approved by the government and [I'm] going to go put on a show and have fun.”

Previously, Malaysia forced Gwen Stefani to cover up her toned tummy and fined the Pussycat Dolls in 2006 for breaking decency rules. Now, that’s a crime!

Technorati Tags: Avril Lavigne, censorship, complicated, decency rules, gwen stefani, islam, islamic groups, malaysia, pop culture law, pussycat dolls, sexy, skater boi

The Skater Girl has been scooted!

The government of Malaysia has canceled Avril Lavigne’s August 29 concert after Islamic opposition slammed the show for being “too sexy.” The youth wing of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party called for the show to be scrapped, and the Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry determined that it was unsuitable for Malaysian culture two days ahead of the country’s independence day.

Popsquire’s perspective…

Even if you don’t like Avril Lavigne, you must appreciate the First Amendment. If you know anyone in Malaysia, send them this post and tell them to demand more freedom for artistic expression. Tell them it’s not Complicated!

Technorati Tags: artistic expression, arts culture and heritage ministry, Avril Lavigne, censorship, complicated, first amendment, islamic opposition, malaysia, malaysian culture, muslim, pan-malaysian islamic party, pop culture law, skater boi

Popsquire was thrilled to see this TMZ post, reporting that Avril Lavigne was carded at a local night club over the weekend.  Don’t you always wonder how underage teen stars get in to these clubs, develop drinking problems, and get caught for drunk driving?

Some might say it all starts when bouncers let them into clubs where people under 21 typically are prohibited.  Of course, this doesn’t apply to the 23-year-old Avril, but it’s still nice to see.

PS: Popsquire always enjoys being carded.

Technorati Tags: Avril Lavigne, drunk driving, law, pop culture, teen stars, tmz, underage drinking

According to People, Avril Lavigne and the two songwriters who had accused her of plagiarizing their song have entered a confidential settlement agreement.  The songwriters released this statement:

“We are satisfied that any similarities between the two songs resulted from Avril and Luke’s use of certain common and widely used lyrics. We therefore completely exonerate Avril and Luke from any wrongdoing of any kind in connection with the claims made by us in our lawsuit.”
 

Popsquire’s perspective…

It is common for parties to a settlement agreement to negotiate the precise words that they will speak after all documents have been signed and money exchanged.

Popsquire wants to know if the songwriters received compensation in exchange for making this statement, but as Brittany Murphy famously said in “Don’t Say A Word,” Popsquire assumes they’ll never tell…

Technorati Tags: Avril Lavigne, james gangwer, law, Plagiarism, pop culture, settlement, tony dunbar