Concert Promoter: The Jackson Tour May Go On ("with celebrity friends as stand ins for Jackson")

[Amerigo Vespucci]

June 23: Michael Jackson rehearsing for his comeback tour.

The head of the promotion company behind Michael Jackson's 50-night "This is It" concert extravaganza says he'd like the concerts to go on.

In an exclusive interview with SKY News, Randy Philips said he would like the Jackson family to be on stage and take part in the show, with celebrity friends of the late icon rotating as stand ins for Jackson.

On Monday, the concert promoters announced that 750,000 Michael Jackson fans could get full refunds for the pop star's canceled 50-night "This is It" concert extravaganza — or opt to receive souvenir tickets instead.

If the show is indeed canceled, the move could help recoup some of AEG's losses from the ill-fated tour. Fans could choose to receive the actual tickets, which it said feature graphics "inspired and designed" by Jackson himself.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529606,00.html

[Pool Hall Ace]

1. Tacky. Beyond. Belief.

There is just no more to say.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. i don't agree. I think he would have liked the show to go on.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. It's so sad really. It would be nice that the celebs would do the concert for him.

I think it would be appropriate to do the concert with a line up of his best friends in the music business.

[Johonny]

8. I don't see the big deal

I've heard he has 8 siblings with musical talent. So it's not like a tribute concert wasn't going to happen. Particularly now with the total fan reaction we've seen. Heck the money it raises could bury some of his debt which wouldn't be bad for his kids. Really I was pretty sure this was going to happen already so I'm not shocked.

The other point being... since Jackson lip siced on several songs in concert before and this practice is pretty standard these days... would there be any real difference. The talk was he wasn't going to be on stage a whole lot anyways for the concerts. (which may or may not be true because it's MJ news which means it's hard to know if it's accurate). I mean the stage is still going to be filled with dancers, and the music is the same. Heck for the lip sic parts, it will be exactly the same. I don't see the difference. These modern "concerts" are more choreographed stage shows these days. Everyone has an understudy, even Michael Jackson I guess.

If people want it, enjoy it and have fun, I really don't see the problem. What better way to celebrate MJ than to play and perform his music? If people make money in the process... well MJ was into the business aspect of show business too.

[Bobbie Jo]

4. no.

thank you.

[msongs]

5. they don't want to give back the $$$ nt

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. They're trying the "keep your 3D ticket as a souvenir instead of a refund" ploy too

No way of knowing how many of those tickets will find their way onto eBay, but one thing's for sure...the asking price is likely to be one hell of a lot higher than the original ticket price.

For the next few days, weeks, months...it's all going to be about gaming the system, finding ways to make a profit from the brand while the brand is still hot.

[Ron Green]

6. Over the top much?

There's always been an uneasy but necessary relationship between art and commerce. Michael Jackson's death has skewed the balance to a new extreme.

[kestrel91316]

9. If this puts money back into his estate so his kids can have SOMETHING,

I'm all for it.

[Fuzz]

10. Put MJ in a glass casket and let the kids push it out on stage for the encore.

Everyone can hold up lighters and sing "We Are The World" as the casket is lifted by invisible cables and rotates first above the stage, then over the audience where in a flash of light it just vanishes, Ave Maria is played as the crowd wails.

[Generator]

18. And maybe a hologram of Lady Di to boot

Oh vey.

[regnaD kciN]

11. Reminds me of the old NNTN (?) skit...

...about "Elvis's Jacket -- On Tour!!!"

[elehhhhna]

12. i'm in, if i can cover "never can say goodbye'

[Amerigo Vespucci]

13. It's a shame that The Chef went ahead of Michael...

...because his version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" was one of the greatest performances of his career.



:toast:

[Mike 03]

14. Tragic and sad.

He was exploited his entire life, and even now, it took two days for the parasites and leeches to come crawling out of the woodwork, and most of them are either his own family or his hired protectors.

Al Sharpton was the first leech I heard hold a press conference.
Then it was Jesse Jackson
And I could go on, and maybe I should in a separate discussion.

Disgusting.

His death is the thing that will reverse his debt, and his henchmen and abusive parents will be the beneficiaries.

[Mike 03]

15. The guy was a half billion in debt. Anybody who thinks this or any other exploitation is

an "honor" or "tribute" to Michael Jackson is demented or naive beyond all belief.

Look at how long it took his own father to turn this "tragedy" into an opportunity to shill his own business enterprise on TV?

Come on, folks.

This is so sad, but this is a father son rivalry that has ended in disaster, and the father won.

[PurityOfEssence]

16. The symbolism of the whole thing is just icky

Fame in all its toxicity.

So trapped in the fantasy life and its security systems that his doctor can't even find a working phone to save the guy's life; THAT'S irony writ large. His bulwarks against the outside world may have literally caused his death.

A man who tried all his life to conquer his body finally succeeded.

He never really did grow up, but then, what was the impetus to do so?

With no real grounding, a life based on style and presentation has no there there.

How can one have any real sense of reality when one soars so very, very high from virtually the beginning? Perhaps if the person got there after a rough climb, there would be some perspective, but to be groomed as a prize pony in early childhood and have the world literally worship you isn't a fertile ground for reality.

Now the basest of opportunists surface, often indistinguishable from the real friends and protectors. It's all so very, very sad, and what's worse is that the intoxicating lust for fame is excused in the process. It's like religion: above everything, special beyond mere specialness.

It's sometimes very hard to love humanity in the face of all its cupidity and obsessive, deep shallowness, and this is a mesmerizing floor show. Then again, perhaps an event like this, despite its dubious motivations and sheer mawkish bathos, will provide some catharsis to those who have lost their hero. Still, the whole thing smacks of the worst side of hero-worshiping, and those who blindly defend/exalt him are just as irritating as those who thirst for his humiliation.

On a purely analytic level, though, it will be interesting to see how this enterprise sorts out in the end...

[Canuckistanian]

17. The "Dead Jackson" Tour. Delightful.

I won't fail to miss it.