Bad romance: U.S. singer Lady Gaga pauses while making her way to a waiting car upon her arrival at Don Muang airport in Bangkok, Thailand Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Lady Gaga is performing a concert in Bangkok on Friday, May 25, 2012. (AP Photo)
Controversial US singer Lady Gaga is having a bad romance with her fans in Indonesia, dubbed as “Little Monsters”, with her scheduled concert in Jakarta officially cancelled by her management amid strong reactions from hard line Indonesian groups.
Local promoter Big Daddy Entertainment’s executive Michael Rusli told reporters in Jakarta on Sunday that Gaga’s management had called him in the morning to cancel her performance in the capital.
“We have already received a call from Gaga’s management that the singer had called off her concert in the capital,” said Michael.
According to Michael, the 26-year-old singer’s management decided to cancel the planned concert given “security concerns”.
Michael told reporters in Jakarta that the tickets would be refunded “100 percent“, starting on June 10.
"We will announce detailed procedures on Wednesday because we have to ask the police to issue a permit for us to refund the tickets, since it will involve crowds," Michael said.
The Grammy-award winning singer was scheduled to perform before her fans at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on June 3, but problems with permits and stiff opposition from groups such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) forced the pop start to reconsider.
"Those who bought the tickets online will only have to fill out some forms before the money will be transferred back to their bank accounts. Other ticket buyers must show us the tickets first before we return their money," Michael said.
He declined to comment on how much money that the promoter had lost due to the cancellation
A total of 52,000 tickets had already been sold since the opening of tickets sales on March 10.
Michael added that a cancelled concert does not mean that Lady Gaga will never visit Indonesia.
In fact, the US singer's local promoter hinted at the possibility that the Grammy award-winning artist may make a visit to Indonesia once she was done with her European tour later this year.
"Once she is done with her European tour, she might make a visit to Indonesia," Big Daddy Entertainment executive Michael Rusli said on Sunday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.
Michael, however, said that there was no possibility to reschedule Gaga's concert in Indonesia anytime soon.
"Moving concert dates around is difficult because of her very tight schedule. Her management cancelled her concert due to security concerns. The artist herself doesn’t want to cause any trouble for her fans here, in case violence breaks out during the concert," Michael said.
Big Daddy’s lawyer, Minola Sebayang, said the promoter was still trying to complete all necessary documents in order for the police to issue a concert permit.
He added, however, that Gaga’s management had decided to not take any risks on the singer, her crew members or ticket buyers from “suffering any harm”.
“Gaga’s camp did not want this show to cause any harm to anybody,” said Minola.
Student Darren Lim could not hold back his tears after hearing that his idol, American diva Lady Gaga, cancelled her planned concert in Jakarta.
“I just heard the news and I am really shocked. I was hoping that it was just a hoax,” the 18-year-old told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Darren is one of the 124 Gaga’s fans, nicknamed “Little Monsters”, slated to perform a flash mob dance at EX Mall in Central Jakarta on Sunday at around 4 p.m. to show their support to the singer.
Dressing in costumes that resemble Gaga’s unique outfits, the fans were planning to post the dance video on Youtube in a bid to ensure the “Poker Face” singer perform in Jakarta.
Darren, a Santa Maria high school student, said that his heart was broken by the decision, lamenting that he had been saving his money since October last year for the concert ticket.
“I started to save my money since Gaga was rumored to perform in Jakarta [in October last year]. On March 10, when the tickets went on sale, I arrived at the ticket box in FX Mall in Jakarta since 3 a.m.”, he said, adding that he finally purchased the ticket at around 4 p.m. that day.
Simon Sibarani, the 19-year-old flash mob dance coordinator, criticized authorities for exaggerating Gaga’s concert issue amid pressure from local hard line groups, which he deemed as the reason why Gaga’s management did not believe in Indonesia’s security.
“Tens of thousands of ticket buyers have had their rights taken away just because the police bowed to such pressure. For me, it just did not feel like living in a democratic country,” he said.
He added that Gaga’s fans would still perform the flash mob as scheduled.
“The show must go on. We still love Lady Gaga, until the end of time,” he said.
Gaga, known for her over-the-top live performances and eccentric fashion sense, has received backlash from hard line groups in Indonesia.
The groups accuse her of indulging in pornography and promoting “satanic values” in her music.
One of the groups, the notorious Islam Defenders Front (FPI), had gone as far as threatening to intercept the singer once she “landed her feet” in Jakarta.(asa/iwa/png)
