International peeps who are wondering why it’s so quiet around here today: A major US holiday, July 4th is tomorrow. So, besides the big Idol concert on Sunday, there won’t be much going on this weekend…
Thought I’d do another Micheal Jackson news roundup for those of you still following the circus –> that would be me….
- Official details about the Michael Jackson memorial scheduled for Tuesday at the Staples center have been released. “…17,500 tickets free tickets will be provided. There also will be a free worldwide video feed…11,000 tickets will be for seats inside Staples Center and 6,500 will be for seats in the adjacent Nokia Theater, where fans will watch a simulcast. People who want tickets must register on the web at Staplescenter.com. After 6 p.m. Saturday, 8,750 names will be randomly selected to receive two tickets each. Notifications will go out on Sunday. Those selected will obtain their tickets via Ticketmaster on Monday.
- Jackson was working on two albums at the time of his death. One was in the pop vein that made him famous and another consisted of an instrumental classical composition. Claude Kelly and Akon were working on his pop album.
- Also, according to US, Jackson planned to duet with his oldest son, Prince, 12, during his London concert run.
- US is reporting that Jackson recently had a cancerous lesion removed from his nose that precipitated many more painkiller scrips.
- Debbie Rowe’s attorney says despite what she told NBC, she has “not reached a final decision about custody”. He says the Rowe camp will keep silent on pending custody matters from here on out. In other words, “I told Debbie to SFTU”
- A bunch of music related stories from Billboard: Randy Phillips, The CEO of AEG Live, the concert promoters behind Jackson’s London concerts, speaks on the fallout from Jackson’s death. Insurance will cover much of the costs, but not if Jackson’s death is due to a pre-existing condition or drug/alcohol related. AEG will also earn revenue from the audio and video footage of the concert rehearsals. Also there could be an MJ tribute show to take place on the dates of Jackson’s concerts using his elaborate stage production.
- How Thriller changed the music business. Pepsi and Michael Jackson made marketing history. Jackson on track for more Billboard Charts records, and Jackson music sales could last for months.
ETA:
- The AP is reporting that law enforcement officials found the powerful sedative, Diprivan, in Jackson’s home. “Diprivan is an anesthetic widely used in operating rooms to induce unconsciousness. Also known as Propofol, it’s given intravenously and is very unusual to have in a private home.”
It is nice to hear some appreciation for Larry King lately. Just because American Idol isn’t his forte doesn’t negate all the other great interviews he has done and continues to do.
I don’t have romantic ideas about Neverland anymore. Maybe once upon a time I did, decades ago, but the molestation investigations changed my feelings about it. When seen as the kind of playground a pedophile might create, a place to entertain and lure children, it took on a different cast. A lot of strange things went on at Neverland. Giving alcohol to children? Showering with them? Sleeping with them? I can’t romanticize the place now. A lot of pedophiles think that they “love” children and see nothing wrong with their special brand of love. Sorry but to me, Michael was a sick individual despite all his great talent, and Neverland was not all lightness but had a lot of darkness too.
unique28V: I just came from iTunes and currently MJ still has 48 of the Top 100 videos. I didn’t check out the songs but sure he has lots in the top. I do realize that a lot of these sales are due to his death, but has anyone ever had 50% of the top anything on iTunes? This is unbelievable.
BTW: Adam’s Mad World is still holding onto #94, no other S8 peeps there. Hang in there, Adam. :wub_tb:
I agree. When I was watching the video, I temporarily forgot he was dead… but that ending brought it all back.
As far as the whole memorial service thing goes, I understand having a public memorial service. I understand the ticket situation to try and get some kind of handle on crowd control. I had not thought about the whole scalper thing that Kirsten mentioned. The thought of someone scalping tickets to a memorial service makes me ill. Sadly, there will be some sick jerks out there who will do it and take advantage of some person who truly just wants to remember Michael. Unfortunately, since the world has sick, insensitive people in it, those kinds of things will happen.
This whole thing is just so sad to me. The one good thing to come out of it is MJ’s music is out there again. My wish is that the rehearsal footage is released and they offer it in the theatres. I think people pay to see it. I know I will! Then people will be talking about Michael as the amazing entertainer that he was and stop associating him with things that he was found not guilty of.
Alas, Michael’s “other associations” will always be a part of his legacy. He was an amazing performer and artist, but he also had a dark side that manifested in many ways, some of them made public. Being found not guilty in a court of law doesn’t necessarily mean innocence. Michael had more than one such accusation made against him and he paid off more than one family. A lot of people thought that OJ Simpson and Robert Blake were also guilty of their crimes, even though a jury didn’t convict them. Those kinds of shadows never leave a person, especially when many intelligent people studied the cases and the facts and believed that they were guilty of what they were accused of.
MJ was both a brilliant artist and a damaged soul. His legacy will always reflect those two realities.
A matter of opinion of course but the fact that the families were willing to be paid off makes me believe even more that he was not guilty. I can understand why he would try to settle because the longer it was talked about by the media, the more it was damaging his reputation. We’ll never know the truth but I believe that MJ was not guilty.
The entire memorial (and the cost to taxpayers-30 mill and counting) leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I grew up with Jackson music, and thought he was just a misunderstood weirdo. I do not think he molested children, but watching the coverage this week and the interviews I do think he is a pathological liar and manipulator. He takes full credit for songs he didn’t write, for dance moves he did not choreograph and even claims to have never had plastic surgery. His equally offensive family members back him up on all of the lies. And according to Jermaine he never did drugs. Yeah, right.
While Elvis also had a drug problem, he was a person with a good heart. Michael Jackson mostly made being a celebrity an art form, and it seems to me, looking at the footage he enjoyed every minute of being a child star. While I think his father is probably an Asshole, I don’t think he actually ‘beat’ Michael as he claims. By the time he was eleven he wasn’t even living at home, and Gordy claims that they provided Michael with as normal a childhood as they could, and that he thrived and seemed happy. And then he buys his own children and raises them in his own freak show.
MJ spent his life indulging himself in every whim and it was a life of complete self absorption. Should the taxpayers of California really have to fork over millions to celebrate this life? I myself would prefer to see the money spent to celebrate the two lives just lost in the Afghanistan offensive. If the Jackson family or the promoters want to pay for this memorial-great-have it at the Rose Bowl for all I care. But tragedy to me is a 21 year old who has given his life for his country, not a self aggrandizing freak who died do to misuse of illegally purchased drugs.
I certainly don’t disagree with this. I was just talking about MJ. We are all certainly entitled to our opinions on him. I’ll always respect our servicemen – present and past and the sacrifices they make.
And Staples Center has just announced that they have opened up the ticket lottery to people outside the US and the winners will be announced Sunday night…
So interested Canadians put in your name, but man that is a short time span to arrange transport to LA…..I’m with Anderson Cooper, stay at home and CNN will have the best seat in the house……….
John F. Kennedy was not a well behaved boy, he kept a lot of secrets, the Kennedy family itself has a lot of secrets on top of the exposed ones, but most people forget that, it helped that the media at the time did not cover it but it was certainly covered in detail after his death but for the most part his memory is not tarnished……..over time people do forget the negative unless it is so heinous, like Adolph Hitler and hey he apparently still has his fans, sadly. Even Stalin is upheld by many far left wingers as a hero even though Stalin killed more people than Hitler, actually.
Most historical figures, whether they were leaders or geniuses in one field or another were flawed, perhaps even more so than the average person. You live large you have larger personality flaws in many cases. Not all. And the negative tends to get whitewashed over time.
There’s a lot I could say about the Jackson family that’s not positive, but I don’t in any way think they’re responsible for turning Michael’s memorial into a circus. Anyone who honestly believes that this should or even could be done privately needs to give their head a shake. It’s a fact that hundreds of thousands of fans are going to descend upon LA regardless to pay their respects. The family and city are being proactive in trying to maintain crowd control. I think it’s the responsible thing to do.
I agree that this isn’t in the realm of service men and women giving their lives, but as far as pop culture goes, it really doesn’t get any bigger than this and I don’t think it will again.
I felt like I’d been sucker punched too. How fitting that that’s the last image of him….and the grin at literally the very end like he was satisfied with it. It’s still so difficult to comprehend a week later.
There were a couple of lawsuits against Michael and he had a crack team of lawyers. I heard two jurors later come out that they didn’t want to deal with the issues but felt he was guilty, this is in light of the other mass media circus of OJ Simpson trial. They said they felt MJ was guilty though. Michael won the lawsuit but settled millions on the accusors. Why settle if you are found innocent? Isn’t that the point of a lawsuit–you don’t want to pay. The settlement was made with the stipulation that this would not go to civil court (just like OJ Simpson was was found guilty in civil court). Money talks, and a lot of money screams. There are few people who have enough money to take on Michael Jackson and persue it, might as well just take the damn money, because justice will never be served.
Giving kids “Jesus Juice,” taking showers with them, sleeping with them, is not normal. Okay, a father might take his young son into the shower can be innocent, but I can’t imagine a man taking another kid in there. Sure, sometimes kids are afraid and they crawl in your bed, but that’s your kid and most of the time after the kid is asleep you carry them back to their own bed. There is nothing worse than sleeping with a kid as they toss, turn, pivot & kick you everywhere. Staff were off limits when Michael was “entertaining” kids visiting his ranch. There is no doubt in my mind there was something going on at “Neverland.” It will be interesting so see if any of the staff will start talking now that the King of Pop is dead and can’t control them.
Michael was a liar, I believe he was a child molestor, and clearly a deeply disturbed person but heck it’s okay because he was the King of Pop so let’s all put him on a pedestal because he was so talented and contributed so much to the music world and that’s all that counts and we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.
Where did you hear that? I heard differently. That he lived at home until he was 30 years old. I think it was either an interview or made for TV movie.
As I said previously in this thread, we are all entitled to our opinions as far as MJ is concerned. We’ll never know for sure but we all have our differing opinions and that’s okay.
Well Elvis wasn’t a perfect person either. Have you watched the movies about his life?