Photo via Wikimedia Commons

On Sept. 10, Lady Gaga kicked off the Asian leg of her ArtRAVE tour promoting her album, “Artpop” with a concert at Dubai's Meydan Racecourse. Amid worries that the show might be too risqué for an Emirati audience, she censored her show in order to bring her music to local fans, wearing a Christmas ornament with a Tayoi Kasuma costume, in lieu of revealing clothing.

In June 2012, in Indonesia, protests and threats by fundamentalist Muslim organisation Islamic Defenders Front led to her cancelling her gig and refunding more than 50,000 tickets. The Islamic Defenders Front went on to claim that it was a victory for the Indonesian Muslims. As the UAE is also a Muslim-majority country, there was concern that her show may face similar protests.

In order to prevent such an event from happening again and to allow her fans to enjoy the show, organizers censored the performance. In accordance with her organisers’ wishes, when she landed in Dubai, she was sporting a simple gown and it was clear that her show would be tailored so as not to offend local audiences. The censorship of the show was met with mixed reviews.

Local anxiety regarding Lady Gaga's show stems from Madonna's controversial concert in 2012 in Abu Dhabi. Starting the concert late, Madonna angered the audiencewith allusions to Judeo-Christian traditions, revealing outfits and erotic dances. The Emirati Twitterati took to the internet to express their distaste at the event, with some saying it was inevitable, given that someone like Madonna had been invited to perform.