A Malaysian television station censored pop icon Madonna's performance at this week's Grammy Awards because her skimpy outfit might offend viewers in the mostly Muslim nation, a company official said.

Wearing a lilac leotard and bustier with matching high heels, the 47-year-old star gyrated around a pole during a much-hyped performance with "virtual band" Gorillaz at the ceremony in Los Angeles, which was aired in Malaysia late Thursday.

"We decided that from our point of view, Madonna's performance was not suitable for the 9:30pm primetime audience," an official with Malaysia's 8tv television network told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Others okay

The decision to cut the scene was made "because of what she was wearing," the official added.

None of the other acts who performed at the Grammy ceremony, who included Christina Aguilera, Mary J Blige and rapper Kanye West, were cut from the broadcast.

Censors in multicultural Malaysia routinely ban books and films or delete scenes that it believes could be detrimental to moral values or religious sensitivities in the country.