Elton John dedicates Beijing show to dissident Ai Weiwei

PanARMENIAN.Net - Pop-rock balladeer Elton John dedicated his Beijing show to Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei - a controversial move the artist said Monday, November 26 was unlikely to make the nation's cultural minders happy, AFP reported.

After the Icelandic singer Bjork chanted "Tibet, Tibet" at a 2008 concert in Shanghai, authorities refused numerous Western acts permits to perform in China for years.

Concert-goers said John told his audience of more than 12,000 people on Sunday at the Wukesong arena, built to host the basketball tournament at the Beijing Olympics, that the show was dedicated to Ai.

"I met him before the show, he didn't say anything about it," Ai told AFP. "When he did it, it was a big surprise."

The Ministry of Culture, he added, "are probably not too happy about this, but there is not much that they can do about it. He is a very popular singer who has a lot of influence".

Ai, 55, is a world-renowned conceptual artist and outspoken critic of China's communist government.

It was unclear whether John's public support for Ai would have consequences for other Western acts hoping to perform in China.

John is scheduled to return to China next week to play a concert in Guangzhou following shows in South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong.