One form of banning I agree on!

This man is my hero... well for the most part (the very last bit is a tad extreme)
 



Transcribed from Q, December 2005

Serious music fans hate it, while Elton John lambasted Madonna for doing it on the sly. Now an eccentric politician has solved the thorny issue of lip-synching by banning it altogether.

President Saparmurat Niyazov, leader of the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan has outlawed miming in public in the Central Asian country in an attempt to "protect the musical and singing traditions of the Turkmen people". Anybody found guilty faces a hefty fine or a possible jail sentence.

"Unfortunately, one can see on TV old, voiceless singers lip-synching their old songs," said Niyazov, who rewrote the National anthem himself after being proclaimed President-For-Life in 1999. "Don't kill talent using lip-synching - create our new culture."

Western music is also frowned upon in the Islamic state, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. The US government has plans to build an air base in the country - which might be bad news for the likes of Kid Rock and Jessica Simpson, both of whom regularly play for the troops.

"Western music isn't against the law," says a spokesman at the Turkmen Embassy in London, "Only people pretending to sing when they are not."

As well as lip-synching, Niyazov has also banned car radios, ballet, gold tooth caps, and beards.