[maestro]

maestro on 20060307 um 0830 Uhr #550

According to german newspaper DER SPIEGEL and proven right by officials, the TV network RTL has withdrawn Oomph!‘s (“Fieber”, “Augen auf ich komme!”) invitation to the german Echo awards.

Two years ago Oopmph! ( who were always a bit on the sarcastic side of things from the start) were heralded “the new goth stars” by all of the german media until they could come up with their own casted goth bands – but handling them has obviously proven difficult :

The reason for the exclusion is their new song “Gott ist ein Popstar” (god is a popstar), which obviously doesnt fit into the “current international religous discussion” (original tone of the network)

[necromancerza]

necromancerza on 20060307 um 0931 Uhr #4866

The organizers suddenly no longer saw themselves in a position to be able to uphold their confirmation amidst the current climate of international religious discussions (keyword: Mohammed caricatures). The decision-makers invoked their moral and socio-political responsibility as grounds for the cancellation. Even a renewed attempt to meet the organizers halfway in the form of a performance in English was rejected.
.

So much for freedom of religion or the lack there of …..
I think the cover art on the album depicts these decision makers quite well ……

[maestro]

maestro on 20060308 um 0725 Uhr #4867

Sound like a German Zeromancer. “God is a popstar” isn’t the most controversial of statements to make. “God is a hooker” or “God is a child killer”, well then I could understand it. Call me a cynical bastard but it sounds a LOT more like this is a publicity stunt to me.

[maestro]

maestro on 20060308 um 0808 Uhr #4868

Der Spiegel is one of the most respected german newspapers, the story came from the Deutsche Presse Agentur, which is a german Reuters

It might be a press stunt nonetheless, considering it does in no way harm their record sales as their target group isn’t exactly the religous right anyway, but it is another example of german tv hitting a logic brick wall with their employment of disposable celebrities.

Yesterday one hit wonders and today personae non gratae seems to be a pretty annoying pace even for the normal joe around here. Which is why even those who won’t download it from the net won’t buy a cd

Are there similar trends over at your place?

Besides, as a german comedian said, “TOLERANCE is painted the largest on that flag which is the next to be burned” – should we really accomodate for people who start violence because of a caricature?
Do we have to throw western features like freedom of religion and the bashing of it away just because of a few nutcases in the middle east?