Michael Jackon

Sky News wrote:

Sky News understands that, after years of rumours, Michael Jackson has finally agreed to perform a string of concerts in London this summer.

The 50-year-old will end his exile as a live performer by staging a residency at the 02 Arena this summer, in one of the biggest comebacks in pop history.

While the exact dates of the shows are yet to be revealed, Sky sources say that Jackson has exchanged contracts with the venue and is now committed to return to live performance.

The first dates of the concerts will be confirmed at a press conference on Thursday at the 02 and it's understood the star may appear there to make the announcement.

A small number of shows will be released initially but more dates will go on sale, emulating Prince's successful 21 night stay at the venue in 2006, if interest in the shows is as high as promoters expect.

It seems inevitable that the concerts, which sources say are the only live shows he is planning, will sell out instantly but what is never certain with Michael Jackson is his behaviour.

In his prime he was unquestionably one of the all time greats: a sublime singer, a thrilling dancer and a songwriter whose gifts were such that he wrote the highest selling album of all time in Thriller.

However, that peak was a long time ago.

Since the 80s Jackson has appeared to be increasingly damaged in every area of his life.

The surgery has robbed him of his looks, the eccentricities have robbed him of his cool, the recurrent child abuse allegations (all of which he was cleared of any wrongdoing) and the money worries have clearly taken a huge toll.

When Jackson last appeared in London at the World Music Awards in 2006 he was able only to mime to a few bars of We Are The World before leaving the stage.

And when he appeared in public in Las Vegas just before his 50th birthday last August he looked weaker than ever, dressed in pyjama trousers he appeared gaunt and frail.

It's long been said that Jackson's health was the main reason that he had not agreed to stage a comeback tour, with various rumours surrounding the reason for his weight loss.

Whether he has been able to work on his fitness to sustain a residency will be one of the key questions ahead of this series of dates.

But it may be that Michael Jackson's finances are now in such a state of disrepair that quite simply has no choice but to go back to work.

The gates of Neverland have closed, the possessions from his fairytale home are to be auctioned and he has had to turn to various sources for loans.

If he were to emulate Prince's record residency at the 18,000 capacity 02 Arena then he could play to an estimated half a million fans, which are according to some experts could generate in theory up to £50m.

If he will be able to repair his finances or his reputation through this residency remains to be seen but there is no doubt it will be fascinating to watch him.

Whether it's a car crash or a triumph as always with the former child star it will undoubtedly be compelling.

Many will be astonished just to see him back on a stage and cynics will say, regardless of contracts, that there is plenty of time for Jackson to have second thoughts before he steps out on the stage of Britain's biggest arena.

Ultimately, as with all the greats, what remains is the sheer quality of the music and Jackson's best work is up there with the greatest musicianship of the 20th century.

If Jackson can reclaim just a little of his genius to do them justice then this residency would be the most unlikely of triumphs. We shall see.

Anyone else far too excited by this news?

I have seen him live 3 times (long time ago) and the shows are awsome.
There is no denying that he is an amazing artist whatever your opinion of him as a human being is.

Jones wrote:

I have seen him live 3 times (long time ago) and the shows are awsome.
There is no denying that he is an amazing artist whatever your opinion of him as a human being is.

Maybe if you changed that sentence to past tense ("he was an amazing artist") I'd agree. Like many other artists I once admired a lot - Stevie Wonder and Pete Townshend come immediately to mind - MJ hasn't produced anything worth buying in a reeeeeally long time. I agree that when he was good, he was extraordinary.

ChrissieInFL wrote:

Maybe if you changed that sentence to past tense ("he was an amazing artist") I'd agree.

You are right of course!

Ohhh very excited here. I've been a HUGE fan since the womb (Mum saw him live while pregnant with me, 1988. Now here I am with a poster of him next to me!) I'd love to see him perform but eh, it'll probably be rawly expensive. And any new music he made would probably be horribly fashioned to fit today's (icky) R'n'B scene. =\

That chin cleft needs filling in. I find MJ's work, rather like the Bee-Gee's, a bit irritating and effeminate. As for my opinion of him as a human being, I think just like Pete Townsend, he is yet another tragic victim of a false abuse industry witch-hunt, where victimless "crimes" of bad taste are inflated to make blameless individuals appear as child sexual predators.
From a psychological perspective, his attempt to become a mythological Peter Pan-like child adored by his fans is not some indication of some pedophile tendency, but a juvenile regressive fantasy equivalent to infantile fantasy. The origins of this are the paternal physical and emotional abuse he received from his father-his fans are in effect, alternative substitute and loving parents.

I was shocked by how well he looked at the press conference. I wasn't sure he'd have it in him to put on a good show still, now I'm certain that it'll be amazing.

Dr Evil wrote:

That chin cleft needs filling in. I find MJ's work, rather like the Bee-Gee's, a bit irritating and effeminate. As for my opinion of him as a human being, I think just like Pete Townsend, he is yet another tragic victim of a false abuse industry witch-hunt, where victimless "crimes" of bad taste are inflated to make blameless individuals appear as child sexual predators.
From a psychological perspective, his attempt to become a mythological Peter Pan-like child adored by his fans is not some indication of some pedophile tendency, but a juvenile regressive fantasy equivalent to infantile fantasy. The origins of this are the paternal physical and emotional abuse he received from his father-his fans are in effect, alternative substitute and loving parents.

Now that MJ's brothers have revlealed that MJ was the only one who was not beaten by his dad, you might now need to revise your theorum, Dr Evil.

I thought Incredible peformer as a small black boy before he turned into a small white bloke who keeps the legal proffession in Yachts and houses, How much is quincy Jones's contribution to what we have heard since, sqealing crotch grabbing high pitched stuff not really my bag. I guess he's off my radar

Funnily enough, my daughter has just discovered Michael Jackson...she heard the old Jackson 5 hit "ABC" in school and has decided she loves it, so I've introduced her to a bunch of his other songs as well. I ended up making her a disc with quite a few of his hits, and she's been playing it non-stop. I don't think I'd listened to as much of his squeaky voice in the last 10 years as I've done in the past 5 days!

Hehe, I was the same as a kid! There's something about MJ's music that's really appealing on real base level.

My mum tried to get the family tickets to a show through her O2 priority thingy, but no such luck! Can't believe how popular it's proving to be, it's awesome.

I've said to my husband that I have a sneeky suspicion that he'll perform 10 or so concerts and then cry off sick. I just can't see him lasting the whole run of 50 dates. I hope I'm wrong but only time will tell. I know how disappointing it is to look forward to something only for it to fall through.