Avril Lavigne's Malaysian Concert Cancelled 8/19/08

Canadian singer Avril Lavigne has cancelled her forthcoming concert in Malaysia following protests from a political party which claims the pop star is "too sexy" to perform in the Muslim country. The Sk8er Boi singer was set to play a show in the country's capital Kuala Lumpur on 29 August (08), kicking off a month-long tour of Asia.

But the Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry has decided not to permit Lavigne's show, claiming its content is unsuitable to Malaysian culture on the eve of the country's Independence Day on 31 August (08). An official from the culture ministry's department Shukran Ibrahim says: "It is not timely. It's not in the good spirit of our National Day.

If we go ahead with the concert, it is contrary to what we are preparing for." Ibrahim adds Lavigne's concert promoter can request a new date for the show. The decision came after the youth wing of a fundamentalist opposition party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, called for the show's cancellation - after half of the concert tickets had already been sold.

On Monday (18Aug08), a party youth official said: "We don't want our people, our teenagers, influenced by their performance. We want clean artists, artists that are good role models." Lavigne is not the first musician to face opposition in Malaysia.

Last year (07), R&B singer Beyonce Knowles moved her show from Malaysia to Indonesia, while Christina Aguilera skipped the country on an Asian tour after controversy erupted over a dress code for foreign artists.

Malaysia requires all performers to wear clothes without obscene or drug-related images and be covered from the chest to the knees. They must also refrain from jumping, shouting, hugging and kissing on stage.