Moscow: A glitzy Moscow night club sparked
controversy on Wednesday by advertising a dance night called Putin
Party, with a flyer praising the strongman prime minister as
an "object of desire."
The Rai, or Heaven, nightclub in central Moscow
advertised the event on a banner across the central Novy Arbat
street, reading "Putin Party" with the slogan "I want a prime
minister".
The authorities said they could pull the plug on the
event, however.
Putin's press secretary said Tuesday he would consult
lawyers over whether the club broke a law that using a
person's name and image requires the person's consent.
"We will consult lawyers and decide what to do," Putin's
spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told the RIA Novosti news agency.
A flyer for the party on the club's website is a mock
ballot paper to choose "an object of desire." Putin's name is
decorated with a lipstick kiss.
The club's art director, Artyom Shatrov, told AFP the
event would go ahead despite Peskov's comment.
"Nobody told us to cancel it. The Kremlin did not contact
us. There wasn't any point in cancelling it," he said.
The party's theme was chosen by a poll of female
clubbers, who were asked to vote for the most attractive man
from a list including footballer David Beckham and actor Bruce
Willis, Shatrov said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 02, 2011, 11:49