Enrique Iglesias may have singlehandedly ended the entry of foreign pop singers into Sri Lanka with his supposedly "indecent concert" that had President Maithripala Sirisena fuming.
The singer's Sex and Love tour made a stop in Colombo, where female fans were very ecstatic and rushed the stage, trying to kiss the singer. The women also threw their bras and underwear at the singer, who is likely very used to this attention. He caught a bra and hung it on his mic stand.
You can watch the incidents amid the screaming fans below.
Male singers like Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil, guitarist Lenny Kravitz and Justin Bieber regularly get pelted with bras and underwear from their female fans at concerts. This is pretty normal at these performances, and it's something that male stars just get used to on stage. Iglesias's recent tour has been all about sensuality. He often brings fans on stage to kiss them, and this happened at the Sri Lanka concert too.
All this affection got the Sri Lankan president fuming. He didn't accept that this is just what happens at concerts. He immediately shamed the women for enjoying themselves.
"This is most uncivilised behaviour that goes against our culture," he said at a public meeting. "I don't advocate that these uncivilised women who removed their brassieres should be beaten with toxic stingray tails, but those who organised such an event should be."
The toxic stingray beating is a reference to a punishment that's reserved for only hardened criminals that originated in medieval Sri Lanka.
Live Events, the company co-owned by cricket stars Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who put on the event, offered an apology in reference to the concert's late start and security issues that cropped up, not the bra-throwers.
"Whilst we have received many messages of appreciation for the performance of Enrique Iglesias, who provided over 90 minutes of spectacular entertainment, we are also aware and saddened by the fact that many people were terribly inconvenienced by some significant shortcomings that negatively impacted their overall concert experience. In particular, words cannot express how deeply sorry we are for the long delays to enter the venue after which to wait for an event scheduled to start at 8pm. Unfortunately, events beyond our control forced us to delay the early opening of the gates."
This apology likely won't satisfy President Sirisena, who's threatened to stop all acts deemed "indecent" from entering and playing in the country. That would be a letdown since many acts, like Iglesias and boy bands, tour other parts of the world where legions of fans are still excited about their music. But really, if Enrique Iglesias is their hero, who can take their breath away, what's a president going to do to stop their ardour?
Main Image Photo Credit: NME
Rumnique Nannar
Author
Rumnique Nannar is a new journalist with a passion for all things pop culture, film, and art. Rumnique was born in London, with a predilection for devouring English chocolate with her Vogue, ANOKHI, and Glamour magazines in tow. She is currently in her Journalism Masters at UBC. Connect ...
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