It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. In 2007 Victoria's own Nelly Furtado was offered $1 million to sing for 45 minutes in front of a select audience - the family of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Furtado said yes, and performed the show at a hotel in Italy. She was hardly the only singer to perform for the Gadhafi clan; Usher, Beyoncé and Mariah Carey have also given private concerts to the Gadhafis in exchange for $1 million paydays.

Private concerts are not confined to maniacal dictators. These closed-to-the-public gigs are highly lucrative for entertainers, because many corporations and well-heeled associations believe that high-end, highly exclusive concerts are a great draw.

Tired of talking about actuarial tables? Roll in the Stones.

And Furtado would hardly be alone in thinking that dealing with Gadhafi might not be a bad thing. She merely followed the lead of a prime minister.

In December 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin went to Libya to meet Gadhafi. Long before that, U.S. President Ronald Reagan had declared Gadhafi to be the "mad man of the Middle East," but in 2004, the thinking was that the Libyan leader had renounced his nuclear and chemical weapons programs, and was seeking closer economic ties with the West.

Martin was not alone in his professed admiration for Gadhafi. British Prime Minister Tony Blair went to Tripoli as well, extending a "hand in partnership" to the dictator.

In Tripoli, Martin met Gadhafi in a tent surrounded by camels and goats. Libya's role in the Lockerbie plane crash, which killed four Canadians and 255 others, was clearly forgotten.

"On a personal level, we have gained quite a friendship," Gadhafi said of Martin. "We shall always be friends even if he is not the prime minister." For his part, Martin said Gadhafi was "a philosophical man with a sense of history."

Human rights organizations were not impressed by Martin's visit, although it certainly opened doors for Canadian corporations. Several invested heavily in Libya in the years that followed.

The Canadian connection helped Libya gain a bit of credibility on the world stage, although there was little evidence inside Libya that the country's leaders cared all that much about democracy and human rights.

But what about our Nelly?

She is a true international superstar with a huge following in Europe. Her music crosses international borders, and can be heard in many countries that might not have the same regard for human rights as we do in Canada.

In some ways, musicians can make a difference; think of Paul McCartney's famed concert in Moscow's Red Square in the dying days of Communism, a regime that was, at times, every bit as brutal toward its citizens as Gadhafi's.

Beyond all of that, if a sitting prime minister, with all of the external affairs advice available to him, can be so wrong about Libya, we really can't blame Furtado for singing for her supper in Italy.

Entertainers might be better off taking to heart the sentiments of Neil Young, who famously sang in 1988 that he wouldn't sing for corporations, or anyone else who would make him "look like a joke."

That would be the safest approach. Better to stay silent than to be linked with a corporation or a dictator who was, or will some day, be guilty of suppression, human rights violations or killing people fighting for freedom.

But hindsight is perfect. What matters is how we deal with what we learn.

In Furtado's case, her concert for the Gadhafis might never have become public. She chose to reveal it herself on the Twitter website, where she promised to donate the $1 million to charity.

In the end, Furtado did not benefit from singing for the clan -and she put pressure on other entertainers to come clean, and to put money to work doing good.

Way to go, Nelly.