After a very public trial -- and some very public protests -- it looks like something good is finally happening for the members of Pussy Riot.

It was recently announced that Yekaterina Samutsevich's sentence has been suspended, reports the CBC. A judge ruled that since she had been removed from the cathedral where the other members performed/protested before the event took place, she should not be punished for an "incomplete" crime. 

It was also recently reported that the members of Pussy Riot have been included on the shortlist for the European Union’s annual Sakharov Prize, which honours people who defend human rights. Named for Russian dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize has been awarded since 1988 and counts such winners as Nelson Mandela.

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Over in Bizarro world, also known as reality television, Stevie Nicks was recently quoted as to her opinion on the whole Nicki Minaj/Mariah Carey situation. If you haven't heard, apparently Minaj and Carey are not getting along very well. In a recently leaked video, Minaj was heard berating Carey, saying "I'm not fuckin' putting up with her fucking highness over there. Figure it the fuck out. Figure it out. I'm not gonna sit here every fucking minute to have you come down and harass me every minute, every day."

Carey later told Barbara Walters that Minaj said that she had threatened to shoot her, which Walters later told the ladies of The View, and the whole world.

So why report this? Any of this? Beyond the fact that all of this feels like a hyperbolic ratings stunt, it's because Stevie Nicks is now involved. Somewhat.

Nicks was quoted as saying, "How dare this little girl . . . If I had been Mariah I would have walked over to Nicki and strangled her to death right there. I would have killed her in front of all those people and had to go to jail for it." 

Okay then.

Let's stop imagining what Nicks would do to Minaj and remember this side of Nicks. The side that makes us fall in love with her wild heart.

Once again, proof that we live in a completely post-modern society comes to us through its most perfect of mediums, reality television.

It's been announced that RuPaul would like to work with Alana Thompson, aka Honey Boo Boo, on a duet. Xtra's own Jeremy Feist puts his two cents in as well.

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Speaking of music, the record industry is trying out all kinds of new business models in the era of the MP3. To see how quickly and effectively music is traded and treated online, The XX released their latest album as a stream. They released the website's addy to one individual, and then followed it through links, tweets, etc, to see how and where it would travel. This is how much is shared today.

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Pussy Riot is still in the news. 

According to pitchfork.com, there are plans in the works for the creation of an eBook entitled "Pussy Riot! A Punk Prayer for Freedom," with contributions by such artists as Yoko Ono, JD Samson from Le Tigre, Justin Vivian Bond and more. Members of the band/collective also recently put out a thank-you video for all the support they have received. 

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A bunch of Halifax musicians have decided to come together and help out Pussy Riot.

With the recent news of the trio being found guilty of hooliganism, Ashley Moran from Michael's Bar & Grill wanted to do something. She was quoted in The Coast as saying:

"I've been watching the situation since March and have felt connected to the girls—I work with musicians daily, and freedom of expression and art are important to me," says Moran. "I have never been the 'protest' type, but the heavy handedness of the sentences was shocking. The benefit was formed out of a knee-jerk reaction—not really something that involved a lot of thought at the time, but something that had to happen around the world—including Halifax.”

That benefit soon grew from a one-night to a two-night affair, with performances by Catholic Gaydar, Tara Thorne and Jack E Blue. 

Down East spoke with Matt Packman from Catholic Gaydar about the event:

"Catholic Gaydar plays unassuming indie-pop tunes, so musically we don’t have a lot in common with Pussy Riot. However, their whole aesthetic is just so visceral and striking – we love their colourful outfits and the balaclavas used to hide their faces. Their music videos are full of kinetic energy and the actual music is straight-up catchy and contagious. This has definitely helped Pussy Riot’s protest message to resonate so fast and far, as well as their ability to connect with people in the digital world.

We all feel outraged about how sad it is for some punk rockers to go to jail for a little church concert, but it’s also important to realize the Pussy Riot spectacle is part of a larger movement of people that demand political freedom. In addition to raising funds for Pussy Riot, we’d love for local musicians to raise more awareness of the repression in Russia – it’s important to see the bigger picture."

A little bit of Catholic Gaydar to get you in the mood:

The lineup for the weekend is as follows:

FRIDAY

Host: Candy Palmater from tv's The Candy Show, thecandyshow.com

Jack E Blue (Cursed Arrows, yo!), cursedarrows.com

Geordi Vision

Milk Mustache, milkmoustache.bandcamp.com

Tara Thorne (Dance Movie)

Brian MacQuarrie (Comedian, Picnicface!!), picnicface.com

Michael Bastarache, facebook.com/michaelbastarachemusic

Food Fight

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SATURDAY

Host: Floyd from Live105

Catholic Gaydar, myspace.com/catholicgaydar

The Press Conference, thepressconference.ca

Like a Motorcycle, likeamotorcycle.bandcamp.com

Kings Eden, music.kingseden.com/track/wasted-time

Tom Rich, youtube.com/watch?v=b4x-sbRkql4&feature=g-upl

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The riot was shushed, but not silenced, today in a Russian court.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, also known as the members of Pussy Riot, were found guilty of "hooliganism" by a Russian court today. The judge in the case stated that their actions -- performing a punk prayer in a cathedral -- was essentially a plot "to undermine civil order, motivated by religious hatred. [...] In other words, a grave violation of public order."

The three women exchanged smiles while the judge read the verdict. 

Tolokonnikova spoke through her lawyer via Twitter, stating, "Politically, I am furious. Our imprisonment serves as a clear and unambiguous sign that freedom is being taken away from the entire country."

The three of them await sentencing.

While the world waits to find out what's going to happen to Pussy Riot -- the Russian musicians who pulled an anti-Putin punk prank and are on trial for it -- more and more people are speaking out against it. Musicians such as Björk and Madonna have spoken about it during their performances, and the mayor of Reykjavik, Jón Gnarr, wore a dress and a Pussy Riot-inspired outfit during the city's Pride parade. It had been reported last week that Peaches was creating a video called "Free Pusy Riot," which has now been launched, along with a link to a petition to free Pussy Riot. The video features cameos by such artists as Lyyke Li, Peter Bjorn & John, Margaret Cho, Le Tigre/MEN's JD Samson, the MC5's Wayne Kramer, the Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears and many more.

Free Pussy Riot! #freepussyriot from Peaches on Vimeo.

It's been amazing to see all the support that Pussy Riot has garnered since their arrest.

Canadian electro-punker Peaches got more than 400 people together to protest the group's trial, citing that she wanted PR to know that people support them. Madonna had the words "Pussy Riot" written on her back while in St Petersburg, saying, "I think that these three girls — Masha, Katya, Nadya — I think that they have done something courageous. I know that everyone in this auditorium, if you are here as my fan, feels they have the right to be free." An artist in Russia has sewn his mouth closed as a response to what he feels is the censorship of fellow artists.

- Meanwhile, over in the UK, a former aide to the mayor of London is found not guilty for owning what was originally deemed "extreme pornography." The videos featured images of fisting and sounding, acts that are legal in the UK, but their depiction, apparently, is not. The weirdest part of this case is how the testimony was tweeted by one of the lawyers. 

- The editors of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, a manual used in psychology and psychiatry, have decided to remove the term "gender identity disorder" from the book. Transgender activists state, "The label of mental defectiveness really places a burden on trans people to continually prove our competence in our affirmed roles.” 

- And, if you're looking for something a bit uplifting after all that, check out this video of Antony Hegarty performing "Blind" with Hercules & Love Affair, live, for the first time ever.