Gordon in the morning: Crazy demands

Gordon has got hold of MIA's backstage rider. You'd better strap yourself in:

CRACKPOT singer M.I.A has one of the weirdest gig riders I've seen.

That's setting the bar high. Cher wanted a room for her wigs; Iggy Pop insisted on a copy of USA Today with a story about morbidly obese people in it. And, hey, Gordon, you must have heard of some pretty extreme demands before, too, yeah?

One of the backstage demands for her 2011 tour tops Mariah Carey's request for bendy straws and Duran Duran's lavish demands for rare French cheese

Straws and cheese? Jesus, you don't get out much, do you?

Still, what could MIA have called for that would put into the shade Prince's insistence that everything be covered in clear plastic wrap?

According to a copy of the rider, as well as mixed nuts and cheese the singer demanded: "Three female extras for each show, each between 20 and 25 years old."

The girls all needed to have "stage presence and groove to the music on stage for the full duration of the show wearing full covered burkas".

Erm... dancers? For the actual show? Isn't that a bit like saying 'Wayne Rooney is a nutter; he makes them give him shoes with studs on before he'll even consider going on the pitch'?

So is there anything on the rider at all that is a crazy demand?

The star also asks for a bottle of powerful booze absinthe to be provided at every location.

A bottle of booze. Admittedly, a rather sophomoric choice of booze, but it's hardly on a par with Madonna calling for brand new toilet seats, is it?