Posted by Dan Ewert : 7/31/2002 01:00:00 AM (Archive Link)
You may not have heard about this, but George Michael is a marked man. Yes, the singer’s very life is in mortal peril in these United States. Read it for yourself here. He apparently has made some song that criticizes the war on terror and satirizes the close political/diplomatic relationship between England and America. Naturally, there was some controversy over it (I hope you didn’t miss the uproar and national outrage) and now the artist who formerly led Wham feels threatened. Says Michael, “It's been very heavily inferred that I was actually an al Qaeda sympathiser, that somehow I thought that there was something not horrific and shocking about the attacks on September 11. I was trying to do some damage control because my life was in danger. Americans are very reactionary right now and I -- because of that article -- cannot return to America, even though my partner lives there.” George Michael is not too bright. The man has obviously overestimated his importance and popularity. There are plenty of Americans who criticize all sorts of things, including the war on terror. They manage quite easily to avoid lynchings and assassinations. We’re hardly going to be concerned about a washed-up singer and a mediocre song that won’t even be released in the U.S. In short, his life is in no danger. Michael has claimed that he didn’t do this song to receive publicity. However, it seems pretty obvious that he’s playing this up for the European media so he can generate some hype before his new album is released there. Rather sad practice, really.