Mr Putin's surprise appearance on a music channel to hand out awards came as a shock even to the journalists his minders handpick to follow him around not to mention the audience of baseball cap-wearing adolescents. 
 
 Dressed in a polo-neck jumper and a sports jacket, Mr Putin, 57, looked distinctly awkward among a crowd of head-bobbing hand-waving teenagers. As the crowd around him writhed to a noisy rap song, he stood motionless with his hands stiffly at his sides while his security detail mingled among the audience "in youth disguise". 
 
 Mr Putin then took to the stage himself and spoke out against drugs and vodka, doing his best to show he knew about what he called "mass youth culture". " 
 
 Rap, even urban rap and street rap, is kind of crude, but is already filled with social content and addresses the problems of youth," he told an open-mouthed audience. "Graffiti is becoming a real art form – refined and polished. Break dancing is something completely unique." 
 
 One rapper later called an embarrassed looking Mr Putin "a legend and our idol," saying he dreamed of performing a rap duet with the Russian strongman. But the outing did not garner Mr Putin his usual rave reviews. ||||| Vladimir Putin Relates to Russian Youth 
 
 In what one Moscow newspaper called "a desperate move" to appeal to Russia's youth, Vladimir Putin presented an award on a music channel this weekend and kind of made a fool of himself. Doing his best to look cool, in a turtleneck and windbreaker, Putin warned his young friends about the hazards of drugs and vodka. Then he weighed in on some pressing issues of the day: 
 
 "Rap, even urban rap and street rap, is kind of crude, but is already filled with social content and addresses the problems of youth. Graffiti is becoming a real art form - refined and polished. Break dancing is something completely unique." 
 
 So, that's how the Russian president prime minister feels about hip-hop, graffiti and break dancing. You were wondering, right? 
 
 Vladimir Putin turns to rap and break-dancing [Telegraph]
– While it would have been infinitely more entertaining had Vladimir Putin actually tried to freestyle, his appearance at a music awards show this weekend still made newspapers titter. Putin, who first stood around looking awkward while his “youth disguised” security mingled with the dancing crowd, handed out an award and offered his thoughts on rap ("addresses the problems of youth"), graffiti ("a real art form"), and, yes, break-dancing, the Telegraph reports. He looked “less than slick,” tee-hees Andrew Osborn in the Telegraph, dubbing him “stiff,” “awkward,” and “embarrassed,” before quoting a Moscow newspaper that called it “a desperate move” to increase his popularity. Putin was “doing his best to look cool, in a turtleneck and windbreaker,” adds Adam K. Raymond in New York. The stunt apparently worked on one rapper, who says he dreams of performing a duet with Putin.