Boyle, Dylan Not Playing China

At least two Western singers won’t be entertaining Chinese audiences in the near future, though it’s not entirely clear whether either was actually that close to making an appearance.

China’s People’s Daily reports that Susan Boyle “canceled” her trip to appear at the 2010 Chinese Music Awards Mar. 28 due to her “busy schedule.”

Apparently, the Scottish singer had accepted an invitation from the sponsor of the ceremony. The newspaper said that she was supposed to attend the awards and perform in Shanghai three days later.

A representative of Sony Music said that Boyle could not make it because she was busy with “promotional activities in the UK and some other countries,” one of which is obviously Japan, where she is still scheduled to sing with an orchestra April 1. Unless, of course, that turns out to be an April Fool’s joke.

Bob Dylan was also supposedly ready to make his own China debut this fall during his tour of Asia, which will include a whole mess of dates in Japan and his first ever concert on the Korean peninsula.

It will also include Taiwan, which seems to be the sticking point. According to the Shanghaiist Web site, whatever plans were in the works for a Dylan show in China have been scrapped due to “haggling between mainland and Taiwanese promoters.”