Michael Jackson Fans

Jackson fans showed off that they are true fans of the King of Pop. Over hundreds of fans gathered at the outdoor area of the Roanoke Civic Center on Saturday night to celebrate the Halloween in King of Pop style.

Frank Arnold of Roanoke said, “I was a big fan of Michael Jackson, so it definitely attracted me”.

An event was organized by Sponsor Hounds, which is an event marketing company, where the participants were called in to show off their skillful dance moves by performing Jackson’s “Thriller” dance simultaneously. In spite of being a huge fan of MJ, Arnold chose to dress up as Elvis in signature hair and dark shades.

“I was thinking when I came up with it that it’d be the King of Rock and Roll dancing like the King of Pop” he added.

All the participants at the event underwent six weeks of lessons and three weeks of rehearsals to get to the perfect moves said Elliot Broyles of Sponsor Hounds. Althtough most of the participants wore costumes like zombies, schoolgirls and doctors, some also dressed up like the legend himself.

One of the participants, Charisse Scott, dressed up like Jackson, said, “It wasn’t a hard decision. I am a crazy Michael Jackson fan; people think I’m insane”.

There were some 100 odd costumed people moved with the rythm on the concrete slowly in unison as the sound of creaking and werewolves filled the air. The neck jerks and mummy-like motions brought the spirit of Michael Jackson alive.

Michael Jackson's "This Is It"

Sony released “This is it”, a documentary which traced Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for the would-have-been concert, this Wednesday on the 28th of October. The 112 minutes movie showed footage of the time between April and June when Jackson had been rehearsing for the “sold-out concert” which he was going to stage at the O2 Arena in London. The concert sadly never happened, but some intelligent minds and hardcore fans like Director Kenny Ortega and some Sony Pictures executives brought out this idea of the documentary film. The whole behind-the-scenes régale is a treat to every Jackson fan and brings alive the real charisma of Jackson.

The documentary shows the rehearsals held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center and the Forum. Sony paid $60 million to get the rights of the more than 100 hours of footage. Ortega, who had been the creative director for MJ’s Memorial Service, compiled the interviews, backstage extras and rehearsals into a film that a fan recounts was “overflowed with his energy, passion, and dedication”.

Keeping the global Jackson-appeal in mind this documentary was released in 99 countries including Japan, South Africa, Brazil, China, Norway and the U.S. (of course). Fans all around the world got to see their beloved “King of Pop” at the premiere on Tuesday night. Although the film started at an extremely late hour, fans still remained faithful to their Pop-Czar.

The midweek release of “This is it” earned $7.4 million in U.S. and an additional $12.7 million from around the world. The total grossing in the first day was $20.1 million. This is supposed to be the highest for an October midweek release. For the individual money-scores, U.K. turned out to the highest seller grossing $1.9 million, just a little before France with $1.4 million. The global phenomena can be seen as Japan, Germany and China followed France with $1.2 million, $1.1 million and $730,000 respectively.

These numbers, although, might still turn a sad face for the Sony producers as their sales projections were much higher than this. They had expected a return of $20 million only from the U.S. which was not achieved. It is now to be seen whether the next few weeks will bring in the expected returns of $30 to &50 millions or not.

But, looking at the whole picture, this is a tribute film made for the fans, by the fans, to the fans. Let us just let it remain there and not remunerate them.

What say?

Michael Jackson is up with 5 posthumous nominations at AMA

It has been a little over four months after the shocking death of the king of pop, and now he has been nominated for a posthumous award at AMA. Michael Jackson has received a nomination for favorite male artist and favorite album in both the pop/rock and soul/R&B categories.

Besides MJ, the other performers up for nomination in the American Music Awards (AMAs) are Lady Gaga, rapper Eminem and rockers King of Leon. The country crooner Taylor Swift leads the nomination list with six nomination.

The AMAs, which will be presented on November 22nd at Los Angeles, will be decided based on the sale of each artists’ record and radio airplay. Based on the sales count the winners will be finally awarded after voting through online selection.

The late pop singer, Michael Jackson, is up with five nominations at the American Music Awards. These nominations also include a posthumous artist of the year. The “Thriller” singer will face tough competition from some of the very popular singers of the present in the key categories.

The American Music Awards (AMAs) will have a live telecast on ABC network of America on 22nd November night. Fans will be able to vote for their favorite singer or performer through online voting system.

MJ has the credit of winning most number of AMAs till date amounting to 20 till date as a solo artist. The Moon Walker has also won an artist of the century award in AMA earlier. The “Thriller” album of the late pop king won 8 nods in 1983. This record win of Jackson was leveled by Whitney Houston only after 12 years.

Among his other prominent ideas the most mentionable ones are his 13 Grammy wins. The singer has also the fame to be included in the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

The Black Eyed Peas, along with Alicia Keys and Jennifer Lopez, who are also nominated in AMA, are expected to perform in the ceremony.

Michael Jackson

Two hours, and all tickets for advance booking of ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ were sold out. The film will be previewed in Los Angeles and the film already have started reigning over the box office even before its release.  The studio behind the film has confirmed on Monday, the film has broken all earlier records for advance ticket booking and will dominate the box office in the forthcoming month. MJ fans are waiting anxiously to rock with the late King of Pop for one last time.

‘This Is It’ is based on the rehearsal footage of the “Bad” singer, shot weeks before his sudden death. The film is expected to hit the screen on 28th October. The advanced booking that was opened on Sunday resulted in thousands of tickets sold out in North America alone. Sony Pictures Entertainment revealed that the maximum number of tickets has been sold in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and New York.

Besides USA there has been a sale of of over $1 million in tickets in Japan alone on the very first day. Over 30,000 fans booked advanced tickets to the film on the opening day of advanced ticket booking in London. This huge number has overshadowed the ticket booking for “Harry Potter” and “The Lord of the Rings” in the city.

Other European nations like Holland, Sweden, Belgium and New Zealand  had also marked record booking for the film. According to reports from  Sony Pictures, the online booking of tickets were equally in demand. Fans also queued up for hours in Paris, Bangkok and Munich. Sony has pain a sum of $60 million for the footage to make the movie.

‘This Is It’ will be premiered on 27th October, a night prior to its nationwide release, at the new Regal Cinemas Stadium 14 in Los Angeles. The film showcases Jackson rehearsing for a  50-date run of London concerts. The “Thriller” singer was scheduled to perform live just weeks after his death on June 25th. There will be some behind-the-scenes footage as well as Jackson and his band and dancers rehearsing for the tour.

Jeff Blake, the chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution for Sony Pictures, was quoted as saying, “Michael Jackson has an army of fans everywhere around the world. We are giving the audiences an incredible opportunity to join together in celebration of Michael Jackson’s incredible career.”

Madonna

With a tearful tribute the the late king of pop, Michael Jackson, Madonna made the MTV’s Video Music Awards memorable for all. Dressed in a black zippered jacket and skirt, she walked on the darkened stage and said, “Michael Jackson was born in August, 1958. so was I. Michael Jackson grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest. So did I. Michael Jackson had eight brothers and sisters. So do I. When Michael Jackson was 6 he became a superstar and was perhaps the world’s most beloved child. When I was 6 my mother died. I think he got the shorter end of the stick.

“I never had a mother, but he never had a childhood. And when you never get to have something, you become obsessed by it. I spent my childhood searching for my mother figures; sometimes I was successful. But how do you recreate your childhood when you are under the magnifying glass of the world for your entire life?

“There is no question that Michael Jackson was one of the greatest talents the world has ever known. … That when he sang a song at the ripe old age of 8, he could make you feel like an experienced adult was squeezing your heart with his words. … That the way he moved had the elegance of Fred Astaire and packed the punch of Muhammad Ali. … That his music had an extra layer of inexplicable magic that didn’t just make you want to dance but actually made you believe that you could fly, dare to dream, be anything that you wanted to be. Because that is what heroes do. And Michael Jackson was a hero.

“He performed in soccer stadiums around the world, he sold hundreds of millions of records, he dined with prime ministers and presidents. Girls fell in love with him, boys fell in love with him, everyone wanted to dance like him, he seemed otherworldly, but he was also a human being. Like most performers, he was shy and plagued with insecurities.

“I can’t say we were great friends, but in 1991 I decided I wanted to get to know him better. I asked him out to dinner: I said, ‘My treat, I’ll drive, just you and me.’ He agreed and showed up to my house without any bodyguards. We drove to the restaurant in my car. It was dark out, but he was still wearing sunglasses. I said, ‘Michael, I feel like I’m talking to a limousine, do you think you could take off those glasses so I could see your eyes?’ He paused for a moment, then he tossed the glasses out the window, looked at me with a wink and a smile and said, ‘Can you see me now, is that better?’

Michael Jackson

“In that moment, I could see both his vulnerability and his charm. The rest of the dinner, I was hell-bent on getting him to eat French fries, drink wine, have dessert and say bad words, things he never seemed to allow himself to do. Later, we went back to my house to watch a movie and we sat on the couch like two kids, and somewhere in the middle of the film, his hand snuck over and held mine. It felt like he was looking for a friend more than a romance and I was happy to oblige him. And in that moment he didn’t feel like a superstar, he felt like a human being. We went out a few more times together and then for one reason or another we fell out of touch. Then, the witch hunt began and it seemed like one negative story after the other was coming out about Michael. I felt his pain. I know what it’s like to walk down the street and feel like the whole world has turned against you. I know what it’s like to feel helpless and unable to defend yourself because the roar of the lynch mob is so loud that you are convinced your voice can never be heard.

“But I had a childhood, and I was allowed to make mistakes and find my own way in the world without the glare of the spotlight. When I first heard that Michael had died I was in London, days away from the opening of my tour. Michael was going to perform in the same venue as me a week later. All I could think about in that moment was that I had abandoned him. That we had abandoned him. That we had allowed this magnificent creature that once set the world on fire to somehow slip through the cracks. While he was trying to build a family and rebuild his career, we were all busy passing judgment. Most of us had turned our backs on him.

“In a desperate attempt to hold onto his memory, I went on the Internet to watch old clips of him dancing and singing on TV and onstage and I thought, ‘My God, he was so unique, so original, so rare. And there will never be anyone like him again.’ He was a king. But he was also a human being and alas, we are all human beings and sometimes we have to lose things before we can truly appreciate them. I want to end this on a positive note and say that my sons, age 9 and 4, are obsessed with Michael Jackson. There’s a whole lot of crotch-grabbing and moonwalking going on in my house, and it seems like a whole new generation of kids has discovered his genius and are bringing him to life again. I hope that wherever Michael is now, he is smiling about this.

“Yes, yes Michael Jackson was a human being, but dammit, he was a king. Long live the king.”

Michael Jackson

The Scheduled tribute concert in memory of late pop king, Michael Jackson, has been canceled by the Organizers on Friday. The event will now be held in London sometime in the forthcoming year. Sources have been quoted as saying that there were much speculation on whether artists like Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown and Natalie Cole would perform in Vienna. This might have fueled on the cancelation of the much awaited show.

Georg Kindel, the organizer of the show, has bashed up the Australian media stating that the reporters and news agencies have been circulating wrong information to commoners. Mr. Kindel have also mentioned that the show will be at Wembley Stadium in London, sometime in June 2010. This would be in memory of Michael Jackson on the first anniversary of the pop star’s death.

“The artists were disrespectfully treated as B-list artists by the media”, Kindel said. He also assured that the tickets for the Vienna concert will be refunded.

Earlier the Vienna city council had mentioned that it would fund upto 600,000 euros ($876,200) in suppoert of the show. The evert was scheduled to be held at the capital’s Schoenbrunn castle.

“A cancellation is better than something that is bad and that doesn’t interest anyone”, Robert Nuernberger, the spokesman for the Vienna tourist board, was quoted as saying.

The performers were expected to sing Jackson’s some of the greatest hits, which would include Billie Jean, Thriller and Bad in front of an expected audience of 65000. Tickets were on sale at a price of 63 to 518 euros ($91-$745), although it wasn’t confirmed by the organizers of the show how many tickets were sold.

The tickets for the London concert in the forthcoming year will be priced at 44 pounds ($73) minimum. The dates from when and where the tickets of show could be collected will be announced in December.

Macaulay Culkin with Michael Jackson

Remember the little kid smacking his face and screaming at the two notorious thieves in “Home Alone”? If you do, then fasten up your seat belts to get the shock of your life. News have been spreading fast that Macaulay Culkin could be the biological father of Blanket, Michael Jackson’s youngest son. Blanket, who is also referred as Prince Michael II, is the son of the Home Alone kid.

Culkin met the late king of pop when he was just 10 years old in 1990. The child actor had stayed over at Jackson’s house in Neverland Ranch and they both are even reported to have shared beds that night. In 2005 Culkin had been a witness in Michael’s child molestation trial, after which they remained friends forever. There were also rumors that Michael had asked Culkin to donate sperm at some point of time.

A report published in The Sun, which is a British tabloid stated that, “This isn’t just chitter-chatter, even Culkin suspects he’s Blanket’s father. So many names have been mentioned as prospective dads, and this is probably the wackiest yet. But … he was one of the few people Jackson really trusted and Mack never let him down. Really, Jackson idolized him—that’s why he asked Mack to donate sperm. Deep down, I think he always wished Mack was his son. Creating Blanket was the next best thing”.

Culkin or his representative has not yet commented on the paternity rumors.

Michael Jackson

The unexpected death of the king of pop Michael Jackson has left the whole focus and concern on the murder investigation. Although the main suspect behind the death of the pop star is his personal physician, a Houston based doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, no charges have yet been filed against him.

Investigative officers have cited that Dr. Murray advised a lethal mixture of drugs to Jackson in order to help the pop singer come out of his chronic insomnia. It has been revealed recently through a search warrant affidavit in Houston that Jackson’s body contained a mix of sedatives of lethal dose at the time of his death. The Los Angeles medical examiner investigation suggested that none of the drugs alone would have resulted to death of the singer in the amounts administered, but the combination of the drugs certainly did.

Dr. Conrad Murray, who administered the drugs to the 50-year-old pop singer, might be charged with involuntary manslaughter. Dr. Murray has not commented anything on this report, which was published by mistake on Monday in Houston. The Dr. has conceded his innocence claiming he did not do anything with an intention otherwise.

In a recent statement stated by Dr. Murray he said, “I have done all I could do. I told the truth and I have faith the truth will prevail”.

Michael Jackson

A portrait of Michael Jackson painted in 1984 by King of Pop Art Andy Warhol is being sold at an auction in New York. The price at which the portrait has been sold is not disclosed yet.

As reported by the Vered Art Gallery of Long Island, an anonymous buyer had “paid over 1 million dollars” for the Michael Jackson’s portrait. The art work was at a display at London’s O2 Arena prior to the sale as reported by the BBC news. The portrait of Jackson that celebrated the record sales of album ‘Thriller’ was 76cm by 66cm in size. Earlier the portrait of actress Elizabeth Taylor by Andy Warhol was sold at a walloping 23.7 million dollars in 2007.

The king of pop might have passed away two months ago, but people have been cashing in on various memorabilia of Jackson. From autographs of MJ to t-shirts printed up in the wake of the singer’s sudden death almost everything is being sold at large.

Katherine Jackson

The fact that MJ’s mother is suffering in torment was revealed by a close family friend on the day of the fiery court hearing into Michael Jackson’s estate. Katherine Jackson, MJ’s mother, is now troubled by the certainty she could have saved her distressed son.

Katherine has claimed that she had repeatedly asked the pop king not to go on the exhausting 50-date UK tour a week before he died. The heartbroken mother is having sleepless nights and trying all that is possible to hold it as one at the Jackson family mansion in Encino for the sake of the three children of MJ who lost their father recently.

It has also been reported to the UK Sunday Mirror, by a close family friend, Kevin McLin, who had closely known MJ for over 34 years that Katherine is fixing up a meeting for the older two children with their birth mother, Debbie Rowe. Debbie received the right to visit the children in an out of court deal minted with Katherine. But she will only be introduced as Miss Debbie and not Mom of the kids.

“Debbie hasn’t had contact with the kids for years so they will see a counsellor to talk them through it before they see her. Prince Michael has taken his father’s death the worst. He used to go everywhere with Michael – to business meetings and the studios. He is kind of quiet, but they are all seeing a therapist and Paris lets her emotions out, which is good”, marked McLin.

McLin also added that, “Katherine is asking questions but the answers don’t make sense. She wants to know how Michael passed the physical examination he was given by AEG. Something has to be wrong with this because he had all of these problems – how could he possibly pass a test like that? When the toxicology result comes out and [if] it’s different from what the AEG doctors said about his health it will be time to consider legal action”.