Unhappy New Year For Some

Following the announcement in late November that the much anticipated Asian tour of Swedish dance queen Robyn with Royksopp was off due to “family problems” on the part of the singer, Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas and his new band the Voidz did the same for their January jaunt to Singapore, Hong Kong and three dates in Japan.

The reason given for the cancellation was “unforeseen logistical circumstances.” New dates will be announced “shortly.”

Even more surprising was the cancellation of Cyndi Lauper‘s Korean tour. She was scheduled to play Seoul’s Olympic Park Jan. 23-24 as part of her worldwide 30th Anniversary Tour, but the concerts were promptly pulled Dec. 28 with no definite reason given by the organizers, YESCOM Entertainment. According to local media, “industry watchers” say it was due to poor ticket sales.

Lauper’s other Asian shows, including a stop at Budokan in Tokyo, seem to be on track.

Lastly, Chris Brown canceled his New Year’s Eve concert in Manila at the last possible minute, reportedly because he couldn’t find his passport. The concert’s organizers, Maligaya Development Corp., released a statement that read, in part, that Brown “lost his passport the day before the scheduled event.

Hence, despite having entered into a contract with us, Chris Brown would not be able to comply with this obligation to perform.”

Other artists were set to perform at the 55,000-seat Philippine Arena.