Almost since the show’s inception in the late 1980s, Music Station has been the exclusive citadel of Johnny’s. Popular ’80s boy band Hikaru Genji appeared on the show almost every week. Johnny’s Jimusho’s other acts then rotated week by week, meaning that there were usually two Johnny’s act on every single show. This scheduling made some sense when Hikaru Genji was at the top of the pop charts. Around 1991, however, Johnny’s acts completely stopped charting on the Oricon. At this point, there was an almost “boy band hiatus” in Japanese pop culture: Hikaru Genji had peaked, SMAP had yet to take off, and most consumers rejected idol pop for “live house” rock bands. In spite of early ’90s consumers clearly signaling their disinterest in Johnny’s Jimusho acts, the company’s boy bands still appeared week after week on Music Station. The not-so-shocking conclusion: Japanese TV producers do not book talent based on their popularity as much as the TV station or producer’s organizational relationships with specific powerful talent companies.

This is still true 15 years later. Music Station is fiercely loyal to Johnny’s for unknown reasons and will generally ignore “what the kids are into” in order to put Johnny’s acts on the show. When Johnny’s boy band rivals like Da Pump or w-inds scored hits on the chart, Music Station would not offer them an invitation. So in the late 1990s, Fuji TV’s rival Hey Hey Hey Music Champ started to give these non-Johnny’s boy bands guest slots, and as a result, Johnny’s Jimusho completely boycotted Hey! Hey! Hey! for almost five years. When the main producer for Hey! Hey! Hey! changed around 2003, the non-Johnny’s acts were not invited back and suddenly Johnny’s Jimusho returned in full force. It’s either one or the other.

Avril Lavigne, seen here performing in Munich in 2007, will not get to start her Asian tour from Malaysia. (Dave Hogan/MTV/Getty)

An Avril Lavigne concert scheduled for later this month in Malaysia has been cancelled amid complaints that the show by the Canadian rock singer is "too sexy."

The Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry says it had decided not to permit Lavigne's planned Aug. 29 performance because it is unsuitable for Malaysian culture.

The decision came after complaints by the youth wing of a fundamentalist opposition party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic party.

Kamarulzaman Mohamed, a party youth official, told the Associated Press on Monday that Lavigne's show was "considered too sexy for us" and would promote the wrong values just before independence day on Aug. 31.

Lavigne, who shot to fame with her 2002 debut album Let Go, had planned to launch her month-long Asia tour in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian officials say the show's promoter, Galaxy Group, can request a new date for the concert.

Galaxy began advertising the Grammy-nominated rock singer's concert this month even though it had yet to obtain a government permit, which is mandatory for all foreign music shows. It said Monday about half the concert tickets had been sold.

Last year, R&B singer Beyonce moved her show from Malaysia to Indonesia, and Christina Aguilera skipped the country on an Asian tour after a controversy erupted over a dress code for foreign artists.

Malaysia requires all performers to wear clothes without obscene or drug-related images and be covered from the chest to the knees. They must also refrain from jumping, shouting, hugging and kissing on stage.

Still, members of PAS and other conservative Muslims often protest against western and even Malaysian music shows that they deem to be inappropriate.

The local organizer of a Pussycat Dolls concert in 2006 was fined $2,857 after the U.S. girl group was accused of flouting decency regulations.

I'm sorry... Avril is too sexy?  She's no more sexy than, say, me.  And to think a few years ago, she was like 'FUCK SKIRTS AND HEELS BITCHES' and rocked out in t-shirts and boy shorts.  Oh, how the times have changed.  Thank god I lived in Singapore.