Moroccan rapper El-Haqed imprisoned for "insulting public authorities"

As if the vast continent of Africa did not have enough turmoil on its hands, one more story seems to have piled itself up on top: a rapper from Morocco, who goes by "El-Haqed" was imprisoned recently for "insulting public authorities," through one of his songs.

Apparently, a YouTuber played the El-Haqed song "Kalib Addawla" (in English, "Dogs of the State") to a video clip of images edited together with such pictures as a policeman with a donkey's head, and many more. Outraged, the monarchy locked him up with no hope of bail.

German ECHO Awards, where Adele gets album of the year

While we have the Grammys here in America, the Germans have their own big music awards show. Each year in the German capital of Berlin, the ECHO Music Awards give out dozens of awards to both domestic and international music stars.

This year's ECHO Music Awards saw Adele's "21" as Album of the Year, and Adele herself won Best Female International Artist. She beat out Lady Gaga and the recently deceased Amy Winehouse for the incredibly prestigious distinction.

Rammstein, a German band of their own, churned out some shadowy songs with Marilyn Manson, the two artist of whom are dark enough combined to have surely raised some dead in the area. Rammstein walked away best Best Alternative Band and Best German Act Abroad.

Russia battles Britain back in Eurovision with some aged artists of their own

Less than a week ago, I posted about about how the studied country of U.K. chose Engelbert Humperdinck for the Eurovision contest to be held on May 26 in Baku, Azerbaijan. If you do not remember the post, here is a quick refresher on Humperdinck:

The Russian contestants, Buranovskiye Babushki

"The United Kingdom has made the choice of whom will attend the big Eurovision competition this year, and it is an older artist by the name of Arnold Dorsey, better known (if only somewhat) by his stage name, Engelbert Humperdinck. This guy is, believe it or not, seventy-five years old, and his big hit was back in 1967!"

While Great Britain may chide the contest and increasingly pay less attention to the usually high-grade competition, it seems Russia is taking it very seriously. Just days after the decision by the English to put ol' Humperdinck up for Eurovision, Russia responded with their selection of old stars.