Alison Moyet, terrorist?

As I posted earlier, tonight was supposed to be the night that Alison Moyet did a rare performance in the United States at the beginning of a 3-city promotional mini-tour for her new album, Voice. A fan since her days with Yaz, I was looking forward to meeting her even if she was set to sing a few songs and the performance was set for the accoustically challenged Virgin Megastore in Union Square.

When I didn't hear any of Alison Moyet's songs as I entered the store or see any signs announcing her performance I thought I might have gotten the wrong information. But a chat with a store floor manager confirmed that it was the right date. Only thing was that the United States Department of Homeland Security had yet to apporve a visa. What do they think? That Moyet is a threat to national security?

According to this site, "Artists who want to work in the U.S. must apply for non-immigrant visas and prove they possess exceptional ability or cultural uniqueness." Yet, the time it takes for applications to be evaluated and approved is getting increasingly longer and guidelines, after 9/11, have gotten even more confusing and contradictory (the site also describes how these changes have affected all sorts of musicians from Cuba, the UK and elsewhere).

The floor manager said that Virgin was making every effort to re-schedule Alison Moyet's performances and that they hoped to have her perform in a month or so.

[UPDATE: Some additional information here]