Jennifer Lopez Sings “Feeling So Good” in Turkmenistan
When I opened up my eyes today[1]
Felt the sun shining on my face[2]
It became so clear to me that everything is going my way[3]
I feel like there’s no limit to what I can see[4]
Got rid of fears that were holding me[5]
My endless possibilities[6]
Has the whole world opened up for me[7]
That’s why I’m feeling so good[8]
I knew I would, been taking care of myself like I should[9]
Cause not one thing can bring me down[10]
Nothing in this world gonna turn me around[11]
[1] On June 29, 2013, Jennifer Lopez performed for the dictator of Turkmenistan, a country notorious for its repressive government and rampant abuse of human rights; upon special request, she sang him Happy Birthday (she did not actually sing her 1999 single “Feeling So Good”).
[2] The weather in Turkmenistan last Saturday was 78°F, with zero percent chance of rain.
[3] Radar Online reports that Lopez was offered at least $1.5 million for her performance at the concert for Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who has maintained a regime so historically autocratic that the days of the week and months in Turkmenistan are still named after the former leader (Turkmenbashi)’s family members. (More information about Turkmenbashi’s surreal self-aggrandizing available here, including a picture of the rotating gold statue of himself that he erected in the capital city so that he might always face the sun).
[4] This is not the case for Turkmen people, who only gained Internet access in 2006 and still have to show their passport to get into the few state-run, surveilled Internet cafes that do exist.
[5] Turkmenistan’s state control is more about totalitarian repression than overt extrajudicial violence. However, it’s ranked in the bottom three countries (along with North Korea and Eritrea) of the Reporters Without Borders Freedom Index, and journalists who criticize the government tend to disappear; for a long time, all in-country press broadcasts began with the statement that the journalist’s tongue would shrivel if he slandered the country, flag or president.
[6] Lopez’s choreographer tweeted, from @D8Robert: ‘’The Turkmenistan breeze feels amazing at night, kidz! I wonder were all my Turkmenistan followers are!? Hit me up!’’
[7] Twitter is banned in Turkmenistan.
[8] Lopez has long been popular among the people of Turkmenistan, but her performance took place at Avaza, an isolated $5 billion entertainment complex on the Caspian Sea (because the property encompasses land covered with sea snakes and water too cold to swim in, Avaza is as conceptually striking as other enormous Turkmen building projects like the empty, book-shaped Ministry of Education) that is de facto off limits to normal citizens. “Creation of essential conditions for full-fledged in all respects life of Turkmen residents, including modern tourism infrastructure corresponding with the world level ranks among main priorities of Turkmen state’s policy,” says the Avaza website.
[9] Lopez is worth approximately $250 million.
[10] “The consequences for cozying up to dictators and other human rights abusers remain extremely small,” wrote Alyssa Rosenberg at ThinkProgress, who speculates that Lopez’s merchandising and production contracts will be unaffected. “Had there been knowledge of human rights issues of any kind, Jennifer would not have attended,” stated Lopez’s publicist after the fact.
“Human rights” is the third section on Turkmenistan’s Wikipedia page, after “History” and sub-headed under “Politics.”
[11] Unlike other celebrities who have performed for repressive dictators (i.e. Nelly Furtado’s 2007 gig for the Qaddafis, which netted her $1 million for a 45-minute performance), Lopez has not offered to donate her fee to charity; there is only one NGO in existence that works directly with young Turkmen people, and they are calling for the singer to step up.
large h/t @stuffisthings