Local Rivalry Sparks Furtado ‘Riot’

Although newspapers in some parts of the globe reported it as "a riot," it seems the trouble at Nelly Furtado’s July 13 show at Moscow Olimpiiski was a backstage scrap caused by some local rivalry.

The entourage with support act Dima Bilan, who won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, was less than pleased with Russian rapper Timati’s efforts to get on stage and sing with the Canadian pop singer and decided to stop him.

"I know who is behind it. They will be punished," said Timati, who reportedly lost a tooth during the fight.

The rapper was supposed to appear with Furtado, but the venue says it was told of the plan too late to inform security staff and they tried to stop him from joining her on stage.

This led to an altercation with Furtado’s security people, which turned into a brawl involving 20 people and resulted in some fans at the front being splattered with blood.

Reports vary on how Furtado reacted. Some papers say she tried to ignore the brawl and carried on with her performance, while others say she and her band quit the stage until the fracas died down.

Chris Smith from Canada-based Chris Smith Management, which looks after Furtado’s career, confirmed that one of her crew was injured while trying to defend "a local person" who was caught up in the melee.