Rihanna took to the stage within 30 minutes of her scheduled curtain time and worked her way though the standard set-list with significantly more enthusiasm and competence then she managed in Israel. This is no doubt a side-effect of the fact that Rihanna was allowed to arrive in the Dominican Republic some four days before the concert giving her plenty of time to prepare. It seems that Rihanna's CIA handler/Live Nation (the management) took the majority of the usual Diamonds World Tour stage-set with them to the Dominican Republic. However Rihanna did not wear the usual costumes instead wearing a single outfit throughout the concert. This outfit was made up of matching floral print, jacket, long shorts and top. Unless there are any surprises in the unnamed designer there was no significance to the outfit which just rather fitted the Caribbean surroundings.
The concert was attended by A$AP Rocky who along with 2-Chainz will be supporting Rihanna on the final US leg of this tour if indeed those concerts are still going to go ahead. Therefore be prepared to expect lots of rumours about Rihanna dating either A$AP Rocky or 2-Chainz in order to provide yet another excuse as to why Chris Brown has still not been served with a 10 year restraining order keeping him away from Rihanna. This actually deeply offends my feminist sensibilities because by continuing to make up these excuses the management are actually revealing their belief that Rihanna - as a woman - only has the right to exist as the property of a man. Even Saudi Arabians are slowly moving away from that arcane point of view
The big news from the tour though is that Rihanna Barbados concert which was scheduled for November 1st (1/11/13) has been postponed indefinitely. Officially this has been done due to; "the technical difficulties associated with the transport of equipment." However in reality it is the management trying to put pressure on Rihanna's native Barbados over the future of Rihanna's career if indeed there is to be one.
As I've been saying throughout the last year of Rihanna's life including the recording of the less then great "Unapologetic" album, the resumption of the relationship with Chris Brown, the 777 Tour and this painfully long Diamonds World Tour has been all about destroying Rihanna's career. Mainly this would have been achieved through repeated delayed and generally poor concert performances and the political friction created by conflicts in Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Syria that should have put the death toll into the tens of thousands.
Fortunately very little of this actually materialised. However 2013 will be the first time in seven years that Rihanna has not released an album. Therefore through the indefinite postponement of the Barbados concert the management are giving Barbados a tough choice. They can either insist on rescheduling the concert meaning an extension of the Diamonds World Tour that not even I will be able to save Rihanna from. Alternatively they can settle for a special Rihanna concert in the spring/summer of 2014 that will form the part of a summer of festival appearances by Rihanna that will help rebuild her reputation in preparation for a new album in the autumn of 2014. Although I don't want to put words into their mouths Barbados seem to already be on the right track in this negotiation.
The reason why the management and their Commander in Chief, US President Barack Obama are still insisting that the Diamonds World Tour will drag on until November 15th (15/11/13) is that they hope I will spend the remaining time emotionally bemoaning the suffering and hardship that Rihanna has already had to endure. The idea being that the sorrow we all feel for Rihanna can be used as a metaphor for the plight of pre-dominantly Hispanic immigrants as they attempt to illegally enter the US creating a wave of empathy that helps drive immigration reform through the US Congress.
That Obama is relying on a wave of emotion rather then cold hard facts and technical detail to drive through immigration reform reveals his true motivation for seeking immigration reform. Rather then trying to create a fair system that address the complex issues of economic migration Obama is simply trying to make it easier for illegal immigrants to become US citizens.
That's because these roughly 11 million new citizens along with their friends and relatives will owe Obama a huge debt of gratitude that should translate into votes for Obama's Democrat Party successor at the 2016 Election. That is also why the majority of the opposition to Obama's immigration reforms has come not from the Republican Party but from the traditionally Democrat supporting trade union movement.
It is probably also worth pointing out that while a permanent work visa would be a reassurance Rihanna doesn't seem to be that interested in becoming a US citizen. A much more significant way that management are exerting control over Rihanna is through the Berdon LLP case and associated Inland Revenue Service (IRS) audit that has been going on for 2 years and counting.
This issue of IRS audits is already very shaky ground for the Obama administration.
14:10 on 27/10/13.
Edited at around 16:45 on 27/10/13 to add;
Whilst I was waking up at around 09:20 and making my first Tweet of the day ("Well hello sweet GMT. Oh how I've missed you!") Chris Brown and his knuckle dragging moron of a body guard Christopher Hollosy were getting involved in a fight outside the "W" hotel in Washington D.C, US. Police arrived at around 04:25 local (09:25 GMT) and the pair were arrested.
They have since both been charged with felony assault. As it is a Sunday this will normally mean that they are to be held overnight in (I assume) the protection wing of the County jail before being brought before a Court for a Habeus Corpus hearing first thing on Monday (28/10/13) morning. At that hearing the Judge will decide if there is a case to answer and if there is commit the pair to trial. The Judge will then decide whether to grant bail and although I'm not sure of Brown's exact assets he should be able to raise whatever amount of money that bail will be set at.
However as we all know Chris Brown is already on probation for his 2009 assault of Rihanna and has been found to have violated that probation on at least one occasion. He is also not a resident of Washington D.C. This would normally mean that he is not a good candidate for bail and instead faces being remanded in custody until his trial. Therefore I think it would be better if Brown is released into the custody of the State of California. They can then on Tuesday (29/10/13) free him on bail with electronic tag and the condition that he does not in anyway attempt to contact Rihanna until such a time as his probation can be reviewed.
That probation review hearing is going to be a bit of a head-scratcher all round because even with CIA protection and overcrowded prisons I'm really struggling to see how Brown can escape a short - like 6 months - prison sentence.
I should though point out though that by the time I was insulting him on Twitter the alleged fight had already happened and Brown was already in police custody.
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