R&B star Beyonce Knowles will not be required to follow a strict dress code when performing next month in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, the organizers of her concert said on Friday.
Beyonce, known for her skimpy stage outfits, cancelled her debut concert in Malaysia in protest against the nation's ultra-strict dress code, an industry source said last week.
She has chosen instead to perform in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Nov. 1.
PHOTO: AP
"I expect Indonesians to see this in a positive light. She is a great singer and her stage act is entertaining. Why should we say no to the way she dresses?" said Nia Zulkarnaen, a spokeswoman for the concert promoter.
She said there had been no request from the authorities or from any Muslim group requiring Beyonce to cover up.
"Praise be to God, there has been no such demand. They realize it's positive entertainment for the youth," she said.
PHOTO: AP
Tickets for the show cost between 750,000 rupiah (US$84) and 2.5 million rupiah (US$274).
Some Indonesian singers wear skimpy clothes in their videos and on stage. More than 85 percent of Indonesia's 226 million population are Muslim and most are moderate.
Another star known for showing her skin, actress and pinup model Pamela Anderson, married Rick Salomon, best known as Paris Hilton's co-star in a widely distributed sex video, on Saturday in Las Vegas, according to media reports.
Anderson, 40, who starred in the television show Baywatch, had been married to rockers Tommy Lee and Kid Rock. Salomon, 39, had once been married to Shannen Doherty, of Beverly Hills 90210.
The wedding, with about 60 guests, took place after Anderson's performance at a show at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Usmagazine.com said.
"Anderson wore a white Valentino mini-skirt; Solomon wore a black tux with a black beenie," it said.
On Anderson's Web site, under the heading "The Adventures of Scum and Pam have begun," Anderson said: "Rick and I are truly grateful. We are toasting the casino right after we get married after my show."
Actor Jim Carrey wasn't in a festive mood Friday when he said the international community was contributing to the brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar by failing to take firm action against the military junta that runs the country.
At a news conference near UN headquarters, Carrey urged the UN Security Council to pass a resolution authorizing an arms embargo against the reclusive Southeast Asian nation, saying "this is a government that uses its weapons not in self-defense but against its own citizens." The US has threatened to introduce a UN resolution seeking sanctions against Myanmar, including an arms embargo, but China and Russia remain opposed to council action.
Carrey is one of numerous celebrities who have signed a letter calling on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help win the freedom of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The US Campaign for Burma, which organized the letter campaign, also sponsored a day of action in support of the Myanmar protesters, which included marches in dozens of countries on Saturday.
Carrey said China, India and Russia need to take a leading role in pressuring the Myanmar junta. All three countries are jostling for a chance to get at Myanmar's bountiful and largely untapped natural resources, especially its oil and gas.
"We must start putting human lives above the bottom line," Carrey told reporters. "We cannot afford to lock our doors and windows and ignore the desperate pleas of our neighbors because the bully who abuses them has something we want." "We have the power to bring the bully to reason without violence, and if we don't use that power to condemn his outrageous behavior, we are in fact, sanctioning mass relocation, sanctioning forced labor, sanctioning rape, sanctioning murder, sanctioning the recruiting of child soldiers and encouraging the heroin trade."
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