Artistic Expulsion

Here is some encouraging news from the country about to host this big international event called the olympics. In an effort to preserve national dignity, unnamed country about to host the olympics has decided to ban all foreign artists and entertainers if they have ever taken part of activities that “threaten national sovereignty.”

So some poor plebeian, or rather, some poor member of the proletariat, is going to have to go through all of the memberships, comments, and friendships of entertainers to determine whether or not they are a threat. Both Bjork and Sharon Stone recently made comments about Tibet while in olympic country. Apparently that’s bad because they have been banned in parts of olympic country now for life.

So this new mandate will fall on the organizers of music and cultural events. Organizers and promoters will be the ones interpreting the words “threaten national sovereignty.” One such promotions company, Emma Entertainment, was the unlucky group who brought Bjork to the country. They had this to say about the new mandate:

“We consider the notice to be a positive move for the whole market, as it gives us a clear view on what to focus in the future.”

Wow, is the kool-aid red over there?

But in all seriousness, this is a major issue when thinking about exporting bands to other countries. There are cultural rules that must be adhered to no matter how ludicrous they may seem. And although I am poking fun, we in the USA would not appreciate a foreign band coming over to tell us we are running our country incorrectly. The main difference though is that our government would not stop the artist but rather the fans at the concert would most likely boo the artist off the stage.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com