Vladimir Putin nominated for hip-hop award
By ANIFriday, April 16, 2010
LONDON - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been nominated for a music award honouring his contributions to hip-hop and rap.
Muz TV, which is Russia’s answer to MTV, nominated Putin, 57, for its “Event of the Year” award for his bizarre appearance last November on the televised final of a rap “battle for respect”.
The nomination is something of a surprise, since at the time Putin looked awkward and stood motionless among a crowd of teenagers as they writhed to a noisy rap song.
At another point, as a hip-hop groove played in the background, Putin delivered a speech that mixed teenage street slang with observations on the hip hop scene - about which he apparently knew little.
Critics dismissed the move as a cynical ploy to boost his already stellar ratings but Putin denied that, saying he wanted to reach out to young people to warn them of the dangers of drugs and vodka.
“It would be impossible to perform so-called low risk break dancing and still less high risk break dancing while on drugs,” the Telegraph quoted him as telling his teenage audience, without apparent irony.
The awards ceremony will take place in Moscow later this month, though it is unclear whether Putin will attend or indeed win. (ANI)
