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- Organizers of the biggest international music concert ever scheduled in Vietnam have canceled the event less than two weeks prior to the show, but it was unclear Sunday what prompted the decision.
The 2nd annual World Peace Music Awards was scheduled for June 22 at Hanoi’s National Stadium, with well-known artists such as Gloria Gaynor, Lionel Ritchie, Hootie and the Blowfish and the Black Eyed Peas expected to perform.
Chief Executive Producer Matt Taylor issued an e-mail Saturday saying the concert – organized to honor artists who have devoted their lives to promoting world peace – had been called off due to “insurmountable circumstances completely beyond our control.”
He would not elaborate Sunday on what happened, saying only that the cancellation was not linked to the communist government in Hanoi and offering his apologies.
“We feel extremely saddened for the Vietnamese people,” he said by telephone from Mountain View, California. “They have worked so hard, but at the end of the day, it’s not anybody’s fault. It’s not a lack of will on anybody’s part.”
He said the possibility of rescheduling the event later this year had not been ruled out.
The Vietnamese government had signed off on the event and was involved in organizing it. Last month, an announcement was made that the date would be changed from June 26 to June 22.
The concert, supported by the United Nations, was expected to honor musicians including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary for their songs that spurred the anti-war movement in the United States during the Vietnam War. [AP]
I’m not exactly sure I would want to be honored in Vietnam for spurring “the anti-war movement in the united States during the Vietnam War.” I haven’t heard John Kerry say anything about this – I wonder why.
Oddly, the concert website doesn’t say anything about the cancelation.
Rumor has it that with the World Peace Concert canceled, plans may go forward for a World War Concert, to take place on the White House grounds with Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and Iced Earth.
