Despite help from his trusty AutoTune,Kanye West ended 2008 on a very sour note: in Kazakhstan, at an oligarch New Year’s bash, getting all but booed by the audience. As RUSSIA! has reported in the past, most A-list Western celebs are not above whoring themselves at private parties in post-Soviet pleasure dens when the price is right. Sure, a multi-platinum artist like West won’t be telling all his friends that he opened for a Russian dance band called Fast Food, but a gig is a gig. And with $1.5 million on the line for just one show, Kanye probably saves his best performances for these VIP events. Right?

Wrong, according to the PR rep for Fast Food. After flying in on his private jet with a twelve-man posse, the rapper-producer was onstage for a total of 15 minutes. And this was already too long for the wealthy Kazakh partygoers, who didn’t seem to “get” Kanye’s music, and responded with meager applause.

But don’t take it from us. Here’s Fast Food member Raya Ratatouille:

“When Kanye was performing, a deathly silence filled the hall. From the bored faces of the rich people, it was clear Kanye West was not hitting the right note with them, plain and simple.”

Ratatouille goes on to brag that her band basically tore the joint down, with several encores and a standing ovation from all 25 (!) audience members. The responsibility for that account's veracity, of course, rests on Ratatouille's shoulders, as well as the Kushnir Production agency that trumpets the item; perhaps West's people would like a word with them. At any rate, we feel Kanye's pain. It's tough to have to go up against the musical titans described as "the Sex Pistols of house" with food-themed stage names.