La începutul lunii decembrie 2010, Pierre Bergé & Associés vor organiza o licitaţie specială a unor portrete inedite ale lui Michael Jackson, stă scris pe site-ul oficial al fotografului francez Arno Bani, www.arnobani.fr.
Fotografiile-portret ale artistului sunt rezultatul unei aventuri extraordinare pe care a trăit-o tânărul fotograf francez, căruia Michael Jackson i-a oferit excepţionala ocazie de a-i încredinţa propria imagine.
Arno Bani, având libertate absolută în ceea ce priveşte concepţia şi realizarea şedinţei respective, a creat patru scenarii artistice diferite şi a ales câţiva dintre cei mai mari creatori de modă care să lucreze cu el şi, implicit, pentru Michael Jackson: Yves Saint Laurent, François Lesage, Topolino, Seb Bascle, Frédérique Lorca şi Maïda etc.
În cursul acestei licitaţii vor fi supuse atenţiei 12 portrete unice, absolut necunoscute până acum, ca şi foile de contact ale şedinţei foto, între care şi cele selectate de Michael Jackson însuşi. Se estimează că licitaţia pentru fiecare portret va începe de la 1.228 de dolari
Catalogul licitaţiei va fi disponibil încă din luna octombrie. În acelaşi timp, va fi lansată şi o cutie (?) de lux - ce va cuprinde una dintre fotografiile realizate pe parcursul acestei şedinţe foto, în ediţie limitată.
Arno Bani s-a făcut remarcat de foarte tânăr ca fotograf de modă, ajungând un colaborator apropiat al revistei Sunday Times. Michael Jackson a fost impresionat de realizările acestuia - chiar în paginile de modă ale revistei menţionate - şi a hotărât să colaboreze cu acesta, în vederea realizării copertei albumului Invincible. La vremea aceea, Arno Bani avea 23 de ani.
Portretul care este postat sus, intitulat "Ochiul albastru al lui Michael Jackson" ("Michael Jackson's Blue Eye"), a fost făcut de Arno Bani în 1999, la Paris, şi a fost una dintre variantele pentru coperta celui de-al zecelea album al superstarului - şi ultimul - Invincible. (www.realitatea.net).
Colaborarea cu Michael Jackson i-a adus lui Bani o notorietate deosebită, obţinând contracte cu mai multe case de modă celebre cum sunt Lacroix, Givenchy, Cartier - dar şi cu muzicieni renumiţi, precum Bob Sinclair.
Concluzie: albumul a apărut fără fotografiile lui Arno Bani. Întrebare: de ce le scoate tocmai acum la vedere, ba - mai mult - la licitaţie?
Chris Brown a pregătit - pentru gala care a avut loc alaltăieri - şi a prezentat un moment aparte, un omagiu dedicat lui Michael Jackson. Absolut magnific, până la momentul "Man in the Mirror", când a cedat nervos şi vocea i s-a pierdut în lacrimi:
E, de fapt, reluarea la CNN International (adică pentru noi - de la 12.05 la 13.00) a emisiunii transmise vineri la ei (dar pe care n-aveam cum s-o vedem de aici) şi reluată, tot la ei, duminică seara. Tocmai găsisem transcriptul şi o bucăţică video. Acum văd produsul integral - dar profit de pauzele de publicitate şi...
Ce nu înţeleg este de ce nu e invitat Randy (care, pe Twitter, scrie lucruri amare: cum se adună bani pentru o fundaţie, bănuim care, care nu e legal constituită, ori cum sunt asaltaţi de oameni care vor să profite - mai ales părinţii).
Deci:
CNN LARRY KING LIVE
Jermaine Jackson Discusses His Brother's Death and Legacy
Aired June 25, 2010 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight on the first anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, Jermaine Jackson returns to his brother's tomb for the first time since the pop icon was laid to rest.
JERMAIN JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: Michael, I miss you.
KING: Revealing the anguish.
JACKSON: He got a bum wrap because he's just -- he was so misunderstood.
KING: Sorrow and torment which has pained the entire Jackson family.
JACKSON: We felt that he was being threatened and someone was trying to kill him.
KING: Jermaine Jackson's emotional interview, next, on a very special edition of LARRY KING LIVE.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Good evening. It was a year ago today that news out of Los Angeles shocked the world. Michael Jackson had died. People all over the planet poured into the streets, mourning the loss of a singer that moved generations of music lovers.
Michael was buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California. Jermaine Jackson returns to his brother's final resting place for the first time since then, and sat down with me for an eye-opening interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: This is where Michael Jackson is interred. One year ago today, the nation stunned by the death of this incredible superstar at age 50.
By the way, other people buried or interred here include Lucille Ball, Jack Baron, Clark Gable, George Burns, Jimmy Stewarts, Humphrey Bogart, Carol Lombard, Spencer Tracy.
Our special guest is Jermaine Jackson.
What can we say? What's this year been like? JACKSON: It's been tough, Larry. It went so fast. We've been just putting the pieces together and the family's having a lot of meetings and we're just trying to hold on.
KING: Have you come to terms with it? You ever really accept it? Because he was so young?
JACKSON: It's hard. It's -- no, we haven't come to terms. It's something we're learning to live with. But we will never accept it. It's just -- it's tough. Very tough.
KING: We all remember watching that funeral. Who didn't watch it? Now we're here in front of the mausoleum where your brother was interred. Where was the funeral? Was it right here?
JACKSON: I think it was around the corner someplace.
KING: They had a -- they laid a carpet, right?
JACKSON: Yes. Right. They laid a carpet. That was the private funeral that the immediate family and special friends and guests had. Yes.
KING: That was some night.
JACKSON: It's tough. I'm very emotional when I drove up.
KING: Was it emotional today?
JACKSON: Yes, Larry. Very, very much because I just can't believe a year has gone by. But to just -- when it happened, so many things came back to my mind. Just the childhood and things that we used to do as a family and a group as the Jackson Five. It was very tough.
KING: You know, when that film came out, I think we finally get to realize what a really -- not only great performer but sensational person he was.
JACKSON: Yes, but why they didn't know that when he was alive? Because his music -- if we listen to the content of his lyric in his music, that's what he is. That's what he wrote from his heart, from his soul. And it's sad because now people realize what kind of person he was all along, but he's not here to see that.
KING: You think he got a bum wrap in life?
JACKSON: He got a bum wrap because it's just -- he was so misunderstood. And he was trying to take the world on his shoulders and to bring an awareness to the world and what we need to do as people. Yes, he got a bum wrap, yes.
KING: Does the family visit here often?
JACKSON: We come, and friends come and they bring flowers because I have been here and see a lot of different seating arrangements around his -- his burial site, and it's very cold in there. It's a dark corridor.
KING: We're not allowed in. But it is dark and cold?
JACKSON: It is cold, Larry. It's -- it's -- to walk this corridor and all hear is your footsteps and it's -- Michael shouldn't be here. I always felt that.
KING: You wanted him where?
JACKSON: At Neverland.
KING: We were there together.
JACKSON: Right. I said it then.
KING: We taped this earlier in the week. How is the family going to mark the anniversary? Are they going to do anything special on the Friday, this Friday, when we're broadcasting?
JACKSON: Yes, we -- we're getting together and probably going to have songs and sing and things like that to remember all of the good that he's done.
KING: And try to make it joyous?
JACKSON: Try to make it joyous, but it hurts at the same time. But he would want us to be happy. Michael was very special in the sense that he -- I kind of felt that he -- he felt something about his life, and he did say on numerous occasions at times to my mother that he felt that he was being threatened and someone was trying to kill him.
KING: Really?
JACKSON: Yes, yes.
KING: He had a premonition of early death by violence, or some method?
JACKSON: Yes. Someone.
KING: How is Randy? We heard he had a scare.
JACKSON: Randy is fine. He scared me, too, because Randy --
KING: What happened?
JACKSON: He had some chest pains that was -- but they were in his heart. He has been working very, very hard and just keeping things together with the family and everything. And we got a call right during the -- I guess the Lakers playoff that he was rushed to the hospital.
He is doing fine now. I saw him the past weekend, and he said he's -- he's doing much, much better. So he's taking it easy. Thank you, though.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Michael's children impressed the millions who saw that memorial service. How are Blanket, Prince and Paris? Jermaine is going to fill us in.
And we'll get into Dr. Conrad Murray and the dark side of Michael's death, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EARVIN "MAGIC" JOHNSON, NBA LEGEND: This is a celebration of his life. Of his legacy.
BROOKE SHIELDS, ACTRESS: He was caring and funny, honest, pure, and he was a lover of life.
PARIS MICHAEL KATHERINE JACKSON, MICHAEL'S ONLY DAUGHTER: Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. And I just wanted to say I love him.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Jermaine Jackson. We're at Forest Lawn Cemetery. How are Michael's kids?
JACKSON: Michael's kids --
KING: You all live together, huh, the kids?
JACKSON: Yes, but they live with my two -- Jaffar and Jermajesty and they're having a good time. They're being kids. And they're playing with skateboards and the dogs running around the house and the parrot and the iguanas and things like that.
KING: Are they into music?
JACKSON: Very, very much so. But they more like -- they are into film and they love behind the scenes, directors and producers, they can tell you just about anything about a film and who produced it. And --
KING: Really?
JACKSON: Yes. They love that.
KING: How are they doing in school?
JACKSON: They are doing very, very well. There was -- there's been some announcements I think that they're going to take a private school next year. But they are doing very, very well. They are all ahead and so are my two. So we're very happy about that.
KING: Are you -- is everybody fathering everybody? Is it like it takes a village? JACKSON: Yes. Well -- well, we have to. We're the adults, and they are children, so we -- if we see them doing something wrong, we're going to say something. Not -- it's not up to the nanny or the housekeepers or whoever to reprimand them. It's up to us as adults.
KING: Kids come here often?
JACKSON: No, no.
KING: No. Do they get along well? The kids?
JACKSON: Oh, yes.
KING: Because kids always fight.
JACKSON: Yes. They --
(LAUGHTER)
JACKSON: They get along very, very well. They -- it's the video games and all that stuff, and having the little fights and just -- and then they get bored and they want to go out to the movie theater and catch the latest animation film, but they are getting along.
KING: Did they see their father's film?
JACKSON: I don't know yet. I think they may have a copy. Because according to my two sons they --
KING: Because it's on HBO now.
JACKSON: Yes. Yes. But they are not allowed to do too much on the Internet and all that kind of stuff.
KING: Good idea.
JACKSON: Yes.
KING: How -- were you surprised how well they did at the memorial service?
JACKSON: Very, very well.
KING: Everyone was.
JACKSON: Yes. They were -- I guess right when it happened, the therapist felt that it was important for them to go in and see Michael right then and there, and they got it all out. But, still, it will always be there. They are learning to live with it, too. But they've done a tremendous job of just being strong and being so young.
KING: Bow, your mom is 80 now. And how is she doing?
JACKSON: She's doing very well.
KING: She's got Michael -- how does it work? They float? JACKSON: Well, see, what it is, they're at the house. My mom is there, and there's all kinds of help. There's tutors, there's cooks and security and kids and they get a chance to just be children.
And my mother just -- she runs the rules. She -- she enforces the rules. This is what's going to happen. They all have a meeting. They had a meeting last week, and -- about them just getting together on vacation trips and things like that, so it looks like there's going to be some travels going on, too.
KING: Everyone took it hard, but Katherine took it especially hard, didn't she? Well, you lose a child.
JACKSON: Yes. It's hard to imagine how that feels, but she -- she gets numb and quiet sometimes, and I think she sort of relives the childhood of his and just hearing his laugh and what he used to do when he was young.
KING: Your father recently said -- I don't know how it affected the kids -- but she should have been a more attentive mother.
JACKSON: You know, Larry, everybody has taken that out of context.
KING: Straighten that out for him.
JACKSON: I think my father my said that -- my father said that because my mother -- Michael -- my mother was very, very close to him. And she could get him to say and do things before my father and before any of us, so the fact that he said my mother should have -- a mother should have done that.
But the bottom line is we all were very busy in trying to tear down this wall that was surrounded -- that Michael surrounded himself with. These were the outside people who didn't want us in.
And that's what he meant by breaking that barrier or trying to. She should have been more attentive to trying to get through because he knew she had a -- and just a pass all the time. Not a pass, but just an OK, just to get through it. It was tough. Very tough.
KING: Also probably still a lot of pain in him, isn't it?
JACKSON: Yes, he's still grieving, yes.
KING: Your -- I want to get this right. Your sister Janet has talked about the fact that Michael had a problem, and the family tried several interventions with regard to the problem with drugs. You think you could have done more?
JACKSON: We all say that after the fact, but some of the attempts of intervention, I wasn't there.
KING: You weren't?
JACKSON: I was out of the country. But I had heard about them, but Michael would never, ever, ever take his own life, and I -- if Michael were sitting here right now, and we were to say to him, Michael, you're not going to be here, and your kids are going to be left fatherless, he would say, oh, no, that would never happen.
And the fact that there's been so many ridiculous things being said by Dr. Klein and all these idiots who were saying these horrible things now that he's not here. I'm very much against that.
Michael loved life. He was the type of person who saw a fly in the room, he wouldn't smash it against the wall. He would let it out. He would open the door to let the fly out. He loved preserving life and life for others. Why would he take his own life?
KING: Professor Klein has a great love for him.
JACKSON: No. He -- how can he love him and not like me or the rest of the family? It's all BS.
KING: Yes.
JACKSON: Yes
KING: Dr. Murray -- Conrad Murray -- charged with involuntary manslaughter. His hearing starts in August. Would you attend that trial?
JACKSON: Yes. Yes. I'm there for support. There to keep my mother strong and my father and the family. And keep myself --
KING: How do you feel about the doctor? I mean a judge has allowed him to keep his medical license.
JACKSON: You know, Larry, it's not even important whether he keeps his license or they take his license away. The bottom line is Michael is not here. What he administered in Michael should have been in a hospital setting and he did not act alone.
I all feel, myself, Randy, Latoya, all of us feel that he's the fall guy. And knowing how this whole thing works, and knowing it's higher up than just the doctor, and he's there. And if you squeeze him hard enough, he will talk.
KING: In the year since Michael died there have been rumors of all kinds about what really happened. From day one, the Jackson family has made surprising allegations.
When we come back, Jermaine will address the truth and the lies surrounding Michael's death.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, I'm Randi Kaye with a "360 Bulletin." Breaking News, Dick Cheney is in a Washington hospital. A spokesman says the former vice president wasn't feeling well this afternoon when he was admitted for testing.
He's expected to remain hospitalized over the weekend. The latest on his condition on "360" at the top of the hour. A tropical depression in the western Caribbean could spell trouble for cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. If the storm moves into the area, Admiral Thad Allen, the national incident commander, says all cleanup vessels will be moved out before gale force winds arrive. That could mean oil would be freely gushing out of the well and into the gulf for several days.
Michael Jackson's father files a wrongful death lawsuit against Dr. Conrad Murray on the one-year anniversary of his son's death. The suit alleges that Murray withheld information from doctors and paramedics trying to save Jackson's life, specifically that he had given the singer Propofol.
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges in the criminal case.
Those are the headlines. Back to "LARRY KING" after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're following the breaking news out of Los Angeles. Michael Jackson has been taken to a hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Paramedics tried to perform CPR and get him breathing again.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: CNN is confirming from the L.A. coroner that Michael Jackson is dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: American icon. King of pop.
(CROSSTALK)
JACKSON: He attempted to resuscitate him. And they were unsuccessful.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The pain of Michael's passing is with his brother Jermaine every day. It was not easy for him to return to Forest Lawn for our interview, and it's not easy for him to talk about the circumstances surrounding his death. But he does.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Do you think your brother was killed?
JACKSON: Yes, of course. Of course.
KING: No doubt in your mind.
JACKSON: No doubt in my mind.
KING: Have the authorities done enough? They haven't -- JACKSON: No.
KING: Well, they've stopped at Murray, haven't they?
JACKSON: Yes, but we looked at the authorities they've done their part but at the same time, it's the D.A.'s office, and I just don't trust anybody. I really, really don't. We lost a brother. What really has really -- one of the hearings we went to, they were sitting there laughing, Larry. They're laughing. I felt like getting up and walking out.
KING: Who?
JACKSON: The -- first of all I think TMZ was filming this, and they all showboating for the camera, and they were talking about whether the license should be taken or not, and there was chuckles and laughs, and I'm seeing this, and we lost our brother. How disrespectful.
And we're sitting there and I wanted to get up so bad and just walk out. This is our system, our judicial system. And they are sitting there laughing.
KING: Is the family planning any civil action?
JACKSON: Well, we're in meetings, and that's a good question, but right now we're just trying to make sure that every rock is turned over and we can really get a thorough investigation.
KING: Do you think we'll ever find out the whole story?
JACKSON: Yes. Yes. You know why? Because this family is not going to let it not happen. We love him, we miss him. The world needs to know the truth. We need to know the truth. You need to know the truth. And absolutely. We're going to do everything in our power as a family to make sure the world knows on what really happened.
KING: Has the estate paid the city, by the way, to cover the public memorial at Staples?
JACKSON: Yes. That seems --
KING: There were stories about that. What is it?
JACKSON: Larry, it's -- Michael's estate is probably one of the most successful financial estates, close to $1 billion now up to this day, and to have all these things about debt and this and that, it's like when he was alive, they beat him down with this child molestation stuff. They try to make it seem like he did this.
You beat someone down with the very thing that they love. And this was all planned. This was all to try to kill him with that. They couldn't kill him with that. So he had a dependency on sleeping pills or whatever, so they found a way to kill him with that. They found a way.
KING: But the city has been paid, all that has been cleared? JACKSON: Yes.
KING: The day Michael died, how did you find out? I remember you told me but --
JACKSON: I found out --
KING: Where were you?
JACKSON: I was in Azuza. Not too far -- on the other side of Pasadena. Someone from your office called my wife's phone.
KING: CNN told her?
JACKSON: Yes. You guys told us first. And they said do you know anything about Michael being rushed to the hospital? So I said no. Then I got off the phone and then I called my mother right away, and my mother said, yes, I'm on my way to the hospital right now.
So the -- once I got off with her, 45 minutes had gone by, I've spoken to an attorney, friend Joel Katz, then I spoke to my sister Janet, and then Joel admitted to me saying it was pretty bad.
And I said, mom, and then I called my mother back and she was there in the hospital. And I heard her say he's dead, he's dead. The tone of her voice, Larry, was a tone that I've never heard before. And I cried.
I didn't know how to get from Westwood -- from Azuza so we put it in the navigation. And we were crying along the way, and the phone is ringing off the hook, and people texting and calling, and then as we hear -- the whole phone system crashed, and we got closer to Westwood, we see all of these helicopters --
KING: In the UCLA hospital?
JACKSON: Yes. We saw these helicopters -- hovering in the sky, and Westwood is people just standing still and it's taped off, and so I drive up to the policeman and they let me in. And I go to the emergency part, and I go straight to my mother, and she is sitting there like in a daze.
She was just in a daze, numb, staring into space. And then said I -- I consoled her a bit and then I went to see him. I said, well, where is he? And she says he's down the hall. And I walked in this room, then -- it took a lot, Larry, to walk into the room and see your brother laying there lifeless. Laying on the -- this gurney thing like.
And he -- and I sort of touched his face, and it was still soft. He was still soft, and I pulled his eyelid back to look at his eyes, and I just kissed his face and it's a horrible feeling to have death in your family, that close.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Where were you when Michael Jackson died? Tell us. Go to Facebook.com/CNNLarrykinglive and let us know.
Jermaine sang Michael's favorite song at his brother's memorial service. We'll go back to that day right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: How were you able to perform so well at that funeral service, the memorial service? I mean, you were incredible that day. Where did you get that from?
JACKSON: The strength of wanting to do something for him. And I asked my mother -- my other family members didn't want anybody from the family to perform, because they wanted us to sort of just sit there and support everybody. But I wanted to do this song for him because I love that song. And then I realized that was his favorite song. And I so I asked my mother, can I do a song for him. She said, yes, baby, do whatever you can for your brother.
And I went up there, and when I started, and you saw me holding my ear like this, some of the music was going in and out of my ear. And then I said, uh-oh, here comes a train wreck. So I kept going, but there was no music, and I just kept singing.
But it was emotional for me because I knew that was his favorite song. And we had visited the Chaplain family before. He showed up in Vervais (ph), Switzerland, and I would show up. He didn't know that I was friends with Charlie Chaplain's sons as well.
KING: "Smile" is one of the great songs ever written.
JACKSON: It's a wonderful song.
KING: One of the great, great songs ever written. The story was everywhere. Were you shocked at the coverage? Were you at all surprised at how immense the story was?
JACKSON: Not really. You know why, Larry? Because Michael's success is not his talent. It was his message. People cried because they knew what his message was, what he was trying to do through his music. And we're very appreciative as a family, and we will stay strong and united and stand strong as a family. But the world cried because they knew they had lost someone who really cared about them, who cared about the planet, who cared about life.
KING: By the end of the week, the top three albums in sales all over the world were his. Nearly half a million albums were sold; 2.3 million downloads of single tracks. Did that surprise you?
JACKSON: No. You know what surprised me? What surprised me is the fact that I can't go anywhere without someone knowing what happened in any corner of this globe.
KING: You just performed in Africa.
JACKSON: Yeah, in the Gambia. I did a sort of tribute to him. There was -- we started the show with a three-minute poem of his, Larry. And the strangest thing. Before we started, the Moon was covered with clouds. And Michael was talking about planet Earth for three minutes, and just his voice ringing all over the stadium. It was so beautiful. And all of a sudden, the Moon was so bright and clear. And then, when it finished, the clouds closed the Moon up against it.
Everybody, after the show, said did you look at the Moon when your brother was talking? I said, I felt a very magical moment during that time.
KING: Everywhere you go, almost every day, you hear the name Michael, right?
JACKSON: Yes.
KING: Paparazzi still follow you around?
JACKSON: Yes, there was one that I really wanted to jump and just knock him out the other day. He was being disrespectful. But I'm glad I didn't, because I held my cool. You get like that sometimes, too, I'm pretty sure.
KING: By the way, you can see video of Jermaine's trip in Africa by going to CNN.com/LarryKing.
Michael Jackson was a pop icon before he died. As a child and front man with the Jackson Five, he made music magic. But his popularity and sales have soared in the past year, assuring that Michael will remain alive forever. Jermaine talks about it all, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: What was the magic of the Jackson Five?
JACKSON: The magic of the Jackson Five was having a team like Motown, having Barry Gordy, Susan Depasse, Shelly Berger, all of these people who knew how to take what we had and put it into this Motown machine and just present it for the world. That was the magic. And then we were so young, singing these grown up songs, and Michael singing about who is loving you, and he has never experienced love at that age. It was just unbelievable.
KING: And it will never go away, you know.
JACKSON: But we -- my kids are playing "I Want You Back," ABC stuff. I'm hearing this all the time now. Yeah.
KING: It's safe to say you think about him every day.
JACKSON: Every day. Every day. I just -- sometimes, I just say Michael, Michael, Michael. Michael, where are you? Michael, I miss you. Yes.
KING: You believe he's somewhere?
JACKSON: Yes. Absolutely.
(CROSS TALK)
KING: Because that cloud is moving in front of the Moon is a little shaky.
JACKSON: No, no. You know why, Larry? See, his spirit is very much alive. I went to Mumbai, and I went to go on the side of town in India to tailors. And I saw this outfit in the window. And I loved this outfit, but it was in an appliance store. But the store that had this outfit was three stories up. So I walked in and said, where is the store for this outfit. They say it's three stores up. So I go in this elevator, go three stories up, and the guy said, oh, my God, your brother was here. I said who? He said, Michael. I made clothes for him.
So he brought all the pictures out, everything. What are the chances, a billion people, all these tailors in India, and I end up in the same place where Michael was to get clothes? I feel him, just because his spirit is very much alive. He was a positive soul.
KING: How is he going to be remembered?
JACKSON: He's going to be remembered as a great humanitarian that cared about people, cared about life, and a great artist, and a humanitarian.
KING: And one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived, right? Where are you going to put him?
JACKSON: In Neverland.
KING: You keep going back to Neverland.
JACKSON: Yes, because it's a beautiful place. When you go -- Larry, you were there.
KING: I never expected it to be --
JACKSON: You felt his spirit. This is all his ideas. It's like his imagination. I want this there, that there. This is all him.
KING: We're going back to Neverland. Jermaine will tell us what it meant to Michael and why he won't give up on moving Michael's remains. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Welcome back to this special edition of LARRY KING LIVE. We're marking the one-year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death. Jermaine Jackson returned to Forest Lawn with me for the first time since his brother was laid to rest there. It's a beautiful place. But Jermaine wants Michael at Neverland, as he told us during a visit there last year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Hi, Jermaine. Needless to say, this is unbelievable. Where are we?
JACKSON: We are at -- we are looking over Neverland. This is what he considered as the ultimate joy, the ultimate happiness, the ultimate wonderment, the ultimate peace. This is Neverland.
KING: And this is one small part of this whole picture, right?
JACKSON: Yes. This is one small part. There is so much more. there are other valleys beyond these hills here that are just flat surfaces. There's Mt. Katherine around here.
KING: Named for your mother. Is that it up there?
JACKSON: Yes, it's the part that's shaved off there, Mt. Katherine. It's just a place where we would come with all the children. And there would be birthdays and fun. Then the times when we wanted to get out here, it was booked for just busloads of just kids who were dying and this and that, less fortunate, wheelchairs. And the theme park is this way, beyond that way. And there's wheelchair ramps and just give kids that happiness.
KING: A lot of under-privileged and poor kids.
JACKSON: Under-privileged, poor, and they would have a wonderful time.
KING: What's that way?
JACKSON: That way is just where we used to take the quads, and go around and act crazy and ride horses and stuff. There's just so much land to still develop. But here is where he considered his happiness. This is what he felt that was --
KING: Did he see this first? How did he pick this place?
JACKSON: I understand when they did the video "Say, Say, Say." my sister Latoya was here and Paul McCartney and Michael and he really liked it. To back up, before that, I had a ranch in Hidden Valley, and Michael would come over. And he loved what I had out there, because I had swans and everything. He said, Jermaine, I'm going to buy a beautiful ranch one day, because he loved the ranch life. This is -- I think that's what inspired him to do this.
KING: Did he spend a lot of time here in the heyday? JACKSON: A lot of time. A lot of time.
KING: This is -- I don't think the general public would have any concept -- I'm feeling -- of what Neverland is. I think the thought would be that it's rides, games and toys. There was all that, right? But this is so much more.
JACKSON: Yes. See, with our family, Larry, we travel so much. I can see bits and pieces of different parts of the world here. That's what's great about --
KING: You see Europe here.
JACKSON: Oh, yeah. You see Filipino. You see all types of things. That's what Michael enjoys. He brought bits and pieces of those different places that he enjoyed into his haven.
KING: Therefore, what is it like for you to stand here now at this place that he loved so much and know he's gone?
JACKSON: Larry, it's so hard. But at the same time, I feel him.
KING: You do?
JACKSON: Yes. I feel his presence, because this is he -- this is his creation. This is his ideas. To come here and to feel him here, I'm happy. And I really felt and still feel that this is where he should be rested, because it's just him. It's so -- listen, it's serene. It's wonderful.
KING: What do you need a state thing to change that?
JACKSON: Larry, anything could be done today.
KING: The law says you have to be buried in a cemetery, right? I think that's the law.
JACKSON: Yes, but people who make the laws, they can also --
KING: They can change them.
JACKSON: Yeah.
KING: Well, this is obvious -- would be one of the magnificent burial places in the world.
JACKSON: It's gorgeous. Tell me what impression you had when you first came here.
KING: I couldn't believe it. I don't know what I was expecting.
JACKSON: That's the same impression I had the first time I came. It's the kind of place, when it's time to go, you don't want to leave. You want to hide. You want to chain yourself to a tree or something. You don't want to leave, because there's so much joy and so much happiness. Larry, at the same time, to think about that certain people tried to turn this into a negative place for him to bring kids here, and this and that, for the wrong reasons. And that disturbs us the most.
KING: That hurt him, didn't it?
JACKSON: Oh, it hurt him tremendously. Not only him, our whole entire family, because our kids come out here. There's candy, there's -- right in that space right, there where you see the little kid sitting on the Moon there, that's the grand station for this theme train to go from there to the theater, down that way. And he got the only steam operator in the nation to come here and work the steam train.
KING: Thank you for showing us this.
JACKSON: Thank you.
KING: I have never -- never expected it, nor have I ever seen anything quite like it.
JACKSON: Thank you so much, Larry.
KING: Thanks, Jermaine.
JACKSON: It means a lot to all of us, especially me. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Jermaine and I will show you Michael's mausoleum at Forest Lawn next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Would Michael have chosen this, do you think? You want Neverland.
JACKSON: Yeah.
KING: You don't like him in here, right?
JACKSON: No, no. He needs to be somewhere special. Larry, I really feel that with what my brother has done just for people all around the world, there should be something special.
KING: Not inside --
JACKSON: A monument in D.C. for Michael Jackson.
KING: In Washington? JACKSON: Yes, absolutely. Not because of the music, because of the message in the music, and how it touched so many people. That's what it should be. But he should be laid to rest --
KING: Who decided here, though? Who said let's do it here?
JACKSON: Well, my mother and -- I think it was like because we needed to put him somewhere for the moment. But I think it's -- it's not too late.
KING: He can move.
JACKSON: To Neverland, right?
KING: Do the rest of the families have plots here?
JACKSON: Larry, plots.
KING: Plots. No, I mean --
JACKSON: Meaning -- no.
KING: Do you all want to be around each other?
JACKSON: I don't want to be here.
KING: I don't want to be anywhere.
JACKSON: No way.
KING: That's what Woody Allen said, I just don't want to be there when it happens.
JACKSON: I would love to -- oh, my God. I don't even want to talk about it.
KING: OK. What events are planned here on the anniversary day, when we are broadcasting this at night? A lot of people are expected, right?
JACKSON: Yeah. Well, it's probably going to be inundated with people, fans and things. I know the family is getting together and it's going to be great.
KING: You coming out at night or early in the day?
JACKSON: Probably in the middle.
KING: I hear there is going to be balloons, music. They're going to make it like a celebration, in a sense, of his life.
JACKSON: It's going to be exciting. But, at the same time, that's what he would want, a celebration.
KING: His ex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley, asked everyone to bring flowers. JACKSON: That's sweet. That's very, very sweet. Do you know when she was married to him, I really loved the idea of them being together.
KING: Two legends.
JACKSON: Yeah, yeah. And she was always nice to me in the times that I spoke to her. Yeah. No, but this corridor here, Larry, when you walk down this corridor, you hear this --
KING: I don't want to go in. They won't let me in. You can get in.
JACKSON: Yeah. And it's -- wow, you see, Larry? Look. Just look down. You see? Right at the end, that's where he is, right there.
KING: At the end of the corridor?
JACKSON: Right, right there.
KING: It looks like a little Shegal (ph) glassware.
JACKSON: Right.
KING: Can the camera see in there?
JACKSON: It's very cold in there, Larry. It's like marble. And you hear an echo when you walk.
KING: What are they like slabs?
JACKSON: There are people all up here.
KING: Names next to them?
JACKSON: Yeah. And see anyone that comes to see their loved one, they can stand right in front of Michael's site and say, Michael is right here.
KING: Clark Gable is here.
JACKSON: Take a picture. Yeah. Here are some flowers.
KING: Some flowers already.
JACKSON: Yeah. But that's where he is, Larry.
KING: Look at that setting.
JACKSON: It's so beautiful and peaceful. But Neverland is more peaceful than this.
KING: Stay well, Jermaine.
JACKSON: Thank you, Larry.
KING: You can find an excerpt from Katherine Jackson's new book "Never Can Say Good-Bye" at CNN.com/LarryKing. Thanks for joining us for this very special hour. We want to thank Jermaine and the entire Jackson family for their help and the people at Forest Lawn, too.
În vreme ce unii îl comemorau, alţii... Dar iată ce scrie în Adevărul de ieri: Amintiri de la Michael: un milion de dolari
O licitaţie organizată de casa Julien’s din Las Vegas, la un an de la moartea lui Michael Jackson (foto), a înregistrat un succes fulminant.
Mai multe obiecte care au aparţinut regelui muzicii pop au fost vândute contra sumei de un milion de dolari, potrivit contactmusic.com.
Astfel, o mănuşă purtată de Michael Jackson în timpul turneului „Victory Tour" din 1984 a fost vândută pentru 190.000 de dolari, iar o jachetă de piele purtată de megastar a costat 120.000 de dolari.
Printre obiectele scoase la licitaţie s-au numărat trofeul Moonman (primit de Michael Jackson în cadrul galei MTV pentru videoclipul piesei „Scream") vândut cu 43.750 de dolari, dar şi o pălărie albă a starului, achiziţionată pentru 56.250 de dolari, deşi preţul estimativ era de 3.000 de dolari.
Pe facebook a fost postată o fotografie ce-l înfăţişează pe Michael Jackson, cu spatele, pregătindu-se parcă să intre într-o scenă scăldată în lumină şi abur, peste care fotografie se află un text. Textul reproduce ceea ce Deepak Chopra a povestit în emisiunea lui Larry King de la CNN, la 3 septembrie 2009:
KING: Will that agony be in the first paragraph of the final obituary, Deepak?
D. CHOPRA: I think so, you know, he was a tortured soul but he was also an ecstatic soul. He could go into a state of ecstasy, which is nothing short of the existential spirit and he could do that in such a way that he brought that ecstasy to people.
I remember a concert I was with him in Bucharest, Romania. The entire city was on fire. There were people on tree tops, there were people on window ledges, on the tops of buses. As far as the eye could see there was a seething mass of humanity, and he went to an ecstatic dance and you could see the ecstasy in the whole city.
G. CHOPRA: Can I make a prediction?
KING: Yes.
G. CHOPRA: In the 20 years I knew him he was never on time for anything so my money is on this not starting on time
M-am tot căznit să găsesc vreun filmuleţ, ceva, din emisiunea aceea. Niente. poate s-o găsi cineva care...
Interesant este că, se pare, Bucureştiul l-a marcat pe Deepak Chopra - poate în aceeaşi măsură în care l-a marcat şi pe Michael Jackson însuşi (probabil acesta să fie răspunsul la întrebarea cum s-a făcut că taman concertul de la Bucureşti a fost singurul din toată cariera lui Michael Jackson pe care acesta a acceptat sau a dorit să-l transpună pe DVD).
A mai vorbit despre Bucureşti şi când a pomenit, pe blogul său, cum stăteau ei la taclale, bând apă de la sticlă (şi-atunci, cum rămâne povestea spusă de o bucătăreasă de la hotelul unde era cazat, că s-a trezit la miezul nopţii cu el în bucătăria hotelului, cerând un pahar cu apă? - personal, o prefer pe aceasta...):
When we first met, around 1988, I was struck by the combination of charisma and woundedness that surrounded Michael. He would be swarmed by crowds at an airport, perform an exhausting show for three hours, and then sit backstage afterward, as we did one night in Bucharest, drinking bottled water, glancing over some Sufi poetry as I walked into the room, and wanting to meditate.
Dar... pentru că tot am cotrobăit, am găsit ceva care ar putea să mai lămurească ceva... Ceva ce a sucit neuronii multora până acum... Este vorba despre o afirmaţie pe care, din câte am observat (asta nu înseamnă că observ bine; da' poţi să ştii?) nimeni nu a băgat-o în seamă şi, prin urmare, nimeni n-a tocat-o mărunt: un început de frază, tot de pe blogul lui Deepak Chopra, de la o postare datată 23 iunie 2010, dar şi 24... şi, dacă nu mă înşel, e scrisă cam anul trecut pe vremea asta (mai exact, la 26 iunie 2009):
His children’s nanny and surrogate mother, Grace Rwamba, is like another daughter to me.
Dar iată întreaga postare:
June 23rd, 2010
A Tribute to My Friend, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson will be remembered, most likely, as a shattered icon, a pop genius who wound up a mutant of fame. That’s not who I will remember, however. His mixture of mystery, isolation, indulgence, overwhelming global fame, and personal loneliness was intimately known to me. For twenty years I observed every aspect, and as easy as it was to love Michael — and to want to protect him — his sudden death yesterday seemed almost fated.
Two days previously he had called me in an upbeat, excited mood. The voice message said, “I’ve got some really good news to share with you.” He was writing a song about the environment, and he wanted me to help informally with the lyrics, as we had done several times before. When I tried to return his call, however, the number was disconnected. (Terminally spooked by his treatment in the press, he changed his phone number often.) So I never got to talk to him, and the music demo he sent me lies on my bedside table as a poignant symbol of an unfinished life.
When we first met, around 1988, I was struck by the combination of charisma and woundedness that surrounded Michael. He would be swarmed by crowds at an airport, perform an exhausting show for three hours, and then sit backstage afterward, as we did one night in Bucharest, drinking bottled water, glancing over some Sufi poetry as I walked into the room, and wanting to meditate.
That person, whom I considered (at the risk of ridicule) very pure, still survived — he was reading the poems of Rabindranath Tagore when we talked the last time, two weeks ago. Michael exemplified the paradox of many famous performers, being essentially shy, an introvert who would come to my house and spend most of the evening sitting by himself in a corner with his small children. I never saw less than a loving father when they were together (and wonder now, as anyone close to him would, what will happen to them in the aftermath).
Michael’s reluctance to grow up was another part of the paradox. My children adored him, and in return he responded in a childlike way. He declared often, as former child stars do, that he was robbed of his childhood. Considering the monstrously exaggerated value our society places on celebrity, which was showered on Michael without stint, the public was callous to his very real personal pain. It became another tawdry piece of the tabloid Jacko, pictured as a weird changeling and as something far more sinister.
It’s not my place to comment on the troubles Michael fell heir to from the past and then amplified by his misguided choices in life. He was surrounded by enablers, including a shameful plethora of M.D.s in Los Angeles and elsewhere who supplied him with prescription drugs. As many times as he would candidly confess that he had a problem, the conversation always ended with a deflection and denial. As I write this paragraph, the reports of drug abuse are spreading across the cable news channels. The instant I heard of his death this afternoon, I had a sinking feeling that prescription drugs would play a key part.
The closest we ever became, perhaps, was when Michael needed a book to sell primarily as a concert souvenir. It would contain pictures for his fans but there would also be a text consisting of short fables. I sat with him for hours while he dreamily wove Aesop-like tales about animals, mixed with words about music and his love of all things musical. This project became “Dancing the Dream” after I pulled the text together for him, acting strictly as a friend. It was this time together that convinced me of the modus vivendi Michael had devised for himself: to counter the tidal wave of stress that accompanies mega-stardom, he built a private retreat in a fantasy world where pink clouds veiled inner anguish and Peter Pan was a hero, not a pathology.
This compromise with reality gradually became unsustainable. He went to strange lengths to preserve it. Unbounded privilege became another toxic force in his undoing. What began as idiosyncracy, shyness, and vulnerability was ravaged by obsessions over health, paranoia over security, and an isolation that grew more and more unhealthy. When Michael passed me the music for that last song, the one sitting by my bedside waiting for the right words, the procedure for getting the CD to me rivaled a CIA covert operation in its secrecy.
My memory of Michael Jackson will be as complex and confused as anyone’s. His closest friends will close ranks and try to do everything in their power to insure that the good lives after him. Will we be successful in rescuing him after so many years of media distortion? No one can say. I only wanted to put some details on the record in his behalf. My son Gotham traveled with Michael as a roadie on his “Dangerous” tour when he was thirteen. Will it matter that Michael behaved with discipline and impeccable manners around my son? (It sends a shiver to recall something he told Gotham: “I don’t want to go out like Marlon Brando. I want to go out like Elvis.” Both icons were obsessions of this icon.)
His children’s nanny and surrogate mother, Grace Rwamba, is like another daughter to me. I introduced her to Michael when she was eighteen, a beautiful, heartwarming girl from Rwanda who is now grown up. She kept an eye on him for me and would call me whenever he was down or running too close to the edge. How heartbreaking for Grace that no one’s protective instincts and genuine love could avert this tragic day. An hour ago she was sobbing on the telephone from London. As a result, I couldn’t help but write this brief remembrance in sadness. But when the shock subsides and a thousand public voices recount Michael’s brilliant, joyous, embattled, enigmatic, bizarre trajectory, I hope the word “joyous” is the one that will rise from the ashes and shine as he once did.
Şi:
June 24th, 2010
Dear Friends,
On the 1 year anniversary of Michael’s death I would like to share with you a poem I co-wrote with him entitled “Planet Earth” which was published in his book “Dancing the Dream.” This poem is particularly prescient given the destruction of the eco-system. Watch the video, Planet Earth.
Love, Deepak
Planet Earth
Planet Earth, my home, my place A capricious anomaly in the sea of space Planet Earth, are you just Floating by, a cloud of dust A minor globe about to bust A piece of metal bound to rust A speck of matter in a mindless void A lonely spaceship, a large asteroid
Cold as a rock without a hue Held together with a bit of glue Something tells me this isn’t true
You are my sweetheart, soft and blue
Do you care, have you a part In the deepest emotions of my own heart Tender with breezes, caressing and whole Alive with music, haunting my soul.
In my veins I’ve felt the mystery Of corridors of time, books of history Life songs of ages throbbing in my blood Have danced the rhythm of the tide and flood Your misty clouds, your electric storm
Were turbulent tempests in my own form I’ve licked the salt, the bitter, the sweet Of every encounter, of passion, of heat Your riotous color, your fragrance, your taste Have thrilled my senses beyond all haste In your beauty I’ve known the how Of timeless bliss, this moment of now.
Planet Earth, are you just Floating by, a cloud of dust A minor globe about to bust A piece of metal bound to rust A speck of matter in a mindless void A lonely spaceship, a large asteroid
Cold as a rock without a hue Held together with a bit of glue Something tells me this isn’t true You are my sweetheart, gentle and blue Do you care, have you a part In the deepest emotions of my own heart Tender with breezes, caressing and whole Alive with music, haunting my soul.
Planet Earth, gentle and blue With all my heart, I love you.
Michael Jackson, un an mai târziu Andrei Craciun www.adevarul.ro
Michael Jackson a şters toate zidurile pe care secolele de prejudecăţi şi civilizaţie le ridicaseră între noi. Puterea iubirii.
„Michael Jackson a murit" este o ştire mincinoasă, un neadevăr evident şi derutant. Da, inima unui bărbat de cincizeci de ani a încetat să mai bată, la morga din Los Angeles a ajuns un cadavru care seamănă izbitor cu ce rămăsese din cel mai altruist artist al vremurilor noastre, atât si nimic în plus. taguri
„Michael Jackson a murit" este o propoziţie falsă şi caraghioasă dintr-un motiv atât de banal şi de inexplicabil încât nu-l pot scrie decât aşa: Michael Jackson nu a murit, fiindcă el nu a fost doar un om din carne şi oase. Mai mult şi, de fapt, mai exact: Michael Jackson a fost o idee generoasă care n-a avut loc între graniţele comune, de aceea s-a răspândit, repede şi just, pretutindeni.
Michael Jackson a fost (de la început şi mult dincolo de morga din Los Angeles) un vers infinit şi trist de frumos despre puterea iubirii. Cântecele sale, uneori zgomotoase şi şocante, sunt doar ambalajul sclipitor în care cultura populară a îmbrăcat esenţa de poezie care l-a făcut înţeles peste tot, de la vest la est şi de la nord la sud.
Moştenirea pe care Michael Jackson ne-a lăsat-o nu se numără în vânzări de discuri, în ştachete ridicate prea sus într-o industrie, fie ea şi a muzicii. Suntem în eroare: Michael Jackson n-a lucrat într-o industrie. El s-a apropiat, inconştient ca orice copil, de suflet. Complet spus: de sufletul zbârcit şi tulburat al omului modern.
Fiindcă nu au ştiut cum să-i mulţumească pentru că îi face fericiţi, oamenii i-au dat lui Michael Jackson faimă şi bani şi i-au luat dreptul de a-şi mai aparţine. Din uşurinţa cu care a risipit şi faima, şi banii am înţeles greşit că era nebun şi periculos. Ni s-a părut suspect ca un om să rămână cel mai bun până la capăt, ne-am îndoit, vraja s-a rupt, am uitat să aplaudăm, regele ni s-a prăbuşit la picioare, gol, neputincios şi sfâşiat.
Da, inima unui bărbat de cincizeci de ani, un om slab, exploatat, care înspăimânta şi fermeca prin lipsa de limite, a încetat să mai bată. Am auzit împreună cu zeci de mii de oameni cum palpita inima aceasta, într-o seară de septembrie, demult, pe un stadion acum dărâmat. Se lăsase frigul acela plăcut de început de toamnă, intrase în noi, strecurându-se printre melancolie şi zâmbete.
Michael Jackson, omul, era obosit. Abia acum se poate întoarce acolo unde n-a fost niciodată: în copilăria pe care nişte oameni răi ca nişte piraţi i-au răpit-o. Cortina a căzut, nu mai sunt concerte, muzica a tăcut, e li-niş-te. Doar Peter Pan zboară, pluteşte, se luptă pentru o fregată fermecată, încărcată cu libertate.
Am scris cuvintele de mai sus în iunie 2009. Un an mai târziu adaug doar că lumea e mult mai tristă şi foarte urâtă.
(Fain: la min 1'53" i s-a răsucit brusc breteaua din dreapta...) Roberta Flack avea, în 1974 - când s-a făcut filmarea aceasta, 37 de ani (cf. Wikipedia).
La un an de la disparitia lui, fanii sai par mai numerosi ca niciodata, familia cauta inca adevarul despre 25 iunie 2009, iar publicatiile financiare ii contabilizeaza vanzarile de muzica si contractele: in jur de un miliard de dolari.
Simpla mentionare a faimosului catalog Sony/ATV, cunoscut drept "catalogul Beatles" si care intotdeauna a fost mentionat ca piesa de baza a averii lui Michael Jackson, trezeste fiori in randul fanilor. Dupa ce LaToya Jackson a sustinut in repetate randuri ca fratele ei ar fi fost ucis pentru bani, mai exact ca sa i se ia catalogul, a carui valoare totala este acum estimata la 1,6-2 miliarde de dolari, fanii au asteptat cu infrigurare sa vada care va fi soarta acestuia in mainile executorilor testamentari, avocatul John Branca si producatorul muzical John McClain.
Sony si Jackson detin fiecare jumatate din firma Sony/ATV, care administreaza catalogul. Speculatiile ca executorii vor vinde catre Sony cota de 50% din catalog detinuta de Jackson pentru a plati datoriile de sute de milioane de dolari ale megastarului n-au incetat nici acum, insa a disparut temeiul lor obiectiv: vanzarile de muzica, de obiecte promotionale, contractele pentru viitoare spectacole si albume si filmul "This Is It" au generat in ultimul an suficienti bani incat spectrul instrainarii catalogului pentru plata datoriilor sa fi disparut. Sa vedem insa din ce se compune miliardul aproximativ de dolari estimat de presa americana ca fiind generat in anul care a trecut de la moartea lui Michael.
Vedeti aici cum a crescut mostenirea financiara a lui Michael Jackson in ultimul an.
ALBUMELE
Circa 9 milioane de albume şi compilaţii, de la "Thriller" la "Number Ones" sau "The Essential Michael Jackson", au fost vandute in SUA, conform Nielsen SoundScan, iar in afara SUA s-au vandut circa 24 de milioane de copii - ambele, cifre record pentru o industrie muzicala in declin si pe baza carora Billboard estimează ca au fost generate in total 383 de milioane de dolari. Conform aceleiasi surse, au fost descarcate in toata lumea aproximativ 26,5 milioane de fisiere cu piesele lui Michael, in valoare neta de 34 de milioane de dolari. La acestea se adauga vanzarile de tonuri de apel pentru telefon (circa 5 milioane de dolari) si drepturile de difuzare in media electronica (6,5 milioane de dolari).
Anul acesta, conform New York Daily News, în SUA au fost vândute 723.000 de exemplare din albumele megastarului, insa cifrele pentru cele comercializate in afara SUA vor fi facute publice abia la 30 iunie. Totusi, pe baza datelor existente, continua cotidianul, se poate estima ca profitul pentru mostenitorii lui Michael ar fi de 62 de milioane de dolari. Astfel de date confirma ca artistul a castigat dupa moarte un contingent important de fani noi, unii abia iesiti din adolescenta, care il descopera datorita parintilor lor sau pur si simplu gratie impactului emotional provocat de ultramediatizarea figurii lui dupa 25 iunie 2009.
PIESELE NEPUBLICATE
Sony Music Entertainment a semnat in martie cu Branca si McClain un contract-mamut, in valoare de pana la 250 de milioane de dolari, pentru publicarea a zece albume pana in 2017, o compilatie de clipuri pe DVD si drepturile de folosire a pieselor in cadrul unor viitoare filme, show-uri si jocuri video. Este posibil ca averea lui Jackson sa fi crescut deja cu circa 31 de milioane de dolari (după alte surse, 125 de milioane) din vânzarea dublului album "This Is It" (continand piesa inedita omonima) si din avansurile pentru viitoarele albume, dintre care primul va fi o selectie de piese inedite, in luna noiembrie.
Nu sunt insa acestea singurele melodii inedite. Imediat dupa 25 iunie a inceput sa circule zvonul ca muzicianul a compus in ultimii ani 200 de cantece pe care voia sa le lase mostenire copiilor lui - Prince, Paris si Prince Michael II. Fostul lui manager Frank DiLeo a suspectat ulterior ca LaToya si restul familiei, cand au recuperat din locuinta lui Michael obiectele acestuia, au luat si computerele unde s-ar fi aflat aceste piese, insa nici pana acum nu se stie care e soarta lor; e foarte posibil ca atunci cand acestea vor iesi la iveala, administratorii averii sa incerce sa le recupereze, spre a le valorifica in folosul copiilor.
Zilele trecute, administratorii au anuntat deja ca asa vor proceda cu un numar de 273 de cântece descoperite intr-un depozit cu obiecte ale lui Jackson, cumparat de un fost intreprinzator din industria jocurilor de noroc. Intreprinzatorul, pe nume Howard Mann, sustine ca piesele dateaza de la mijlocul anilor '70 - in unele Michael canta solo, in altele cu familia Jackson, in altele in duet cu Tina Turner si altii. Evident, Mann vrea sa le publice si sa faca bani din ele, insa administratorii intentioneaza sa-l dea in judecata pentru folosire ilegala a numelui si a creatiilor lui Jackson, asupra carora numai succesorii lui au drept de proprietate intelectuala.
Istet, Mann s-a asociat deja cu Katherine Jackson, mama lui Michael, căreia tocmai i-a editat o carte ilustrată de amintiri despre fiul ei, "Never Can Say Goodbye". De luni încoace, cartea s-a vândut deja în 25.000 de exemplare.
THIS IS IT
Billboard vorbeşte de 392 de milioane de dolari încasate de pe urma filmului "This Is It", care a cuprins secvente din repetitiile pentru concertele care ar fi trebuit sa inceapa anul trecut la Londra in iulie.
"Michael Jackson: This Is It" a fost lansat in octombrie 2009 si a obtinut incasari de 72 de milioane de dolari in SUA, conform BoxOfficeMojo.com, ceea ce il face filmul-concert cu cele mai mari venituri din istorie. Peste hotare, filmul a incasat 188 de milioane de dolari, din care 56 numai in Japonia. Dupa ce firma organizatoare a concertelor "This Is It", AEG, si-a recuperat investitia in concertele anulate si in film, estimata in total la 35 de milioane de euro, majoritatea veniturilor ramase au intrat in averea lui Michael Jackson.
Ulterior, DVD-ul "This Is It", lansat in ianuarie 2010, a produs si el 43 de milioane de dolari in SUA din vanzari si circa 25 din inchirieri. In Japonia, DVD-ul a generat 18 milioane de dolari numai in prima zi de la punerea pe piata. Alte 7 milioane au venit din cele 351.000 de copii in format Blu-ray. Pentru DVD-uri, intelegerea a fost ca banii sa se imparta egal intre AEG, Sony si mostenirea lui Michael Jackson.
In noiembrie, Viacom a cumparat pe sase ani drepturile exclusive TV pentru a difuza "This Is It" in retelele MTV si BET - un contract a carui valoare a fost estimata la peste 15 milioane de dolari. Contractele de difuzare in avioane, vase de croaziera si televiziuni ale hotelurilor ar fi adus si ele circa 24 de milioane.
LICENŢE ŞI SUVENIRURI
La jumătatea lui iunie, producătorul de jocuri Ubisoft a anunţat că dezvoltă un joc video interactiv pentru console Playstation, Xbox sau Wii, inspirat de muzica si dansul lui Michael. Jucatorii pot intra in rolul megastarului si pot recrea aparitiile lui in piese ca Beat It sau Billie Jean, pot invata miscari de dans si pot sa-si testeze capacitatile vocale.
Associated Press estimeaza ca avansul pentru joc si incasarile din licentierea dreptului de folosire a imaginii lui Michael pentru obiecte promotionale, vandute prin intermediul exclusiv al Bravado, divizia de merchandising a Universal Music Group, se ridica la 26 de milioane de dolari. Cat priveste incasarile din vanzari de obiecte promotionale, acestea sunt mult mai mari. La ele se adauga veniturile din expozitia de suveniruri si obiecte personale produsa de AEG, compania cu care Jackson avea contractul pentru seria de concerte "This Is It" (3,5 milioane de dolari), banii din biletele la concerte pe care fanii au preferat sa le pastreze ca suveniruri (6,5 milioane) si obiectele promotionale pentru "This Is It" (15 milioane).
Surse citate de Billboard sustin ca nu s-au platit avansuri pentru seria de spectacole tematice pe care Cirque du Soleil le va sustine incepand din 2011 la Las Vegas si intr-un turneu international. Pentru aceasta serie de spectacole, similara celor concepute pentru Elvis si Beatles, costurile sunt împărţite între Cirque du Soleil si administratorii averii lui Jackson.
Alte venituri, incluzandu-le pe cele din reeditarea autobiografiei "Moonwalk" si vanzarile de bilete comemorative pentru concertele anualte, au adus alte 25 de milioane de dolari, sustine Associated Press.
CATALOAGELE DE MUZICĂ
Tot dupa estimarea Billboard, cota de 50% din catalogul Sony/ATV si proprietatea asupra celui cu propria muzica, Mijac, au contribuit cu 130 de milioane de dolari la veniturile post-mortem ale lui Jackson in ultimul an.
Pe baza unei valori de peste 75 de milioane de dolari, in 2005, a catalogului casei de publishing muzical Mijac, estimarea valorii actuale ar fi de circa 150 de milioane de dolari, ceea ce inseamna venituri anuale generate de peste 25 de milioane pe an, dupa unele surse chiar 50.
Cat priveste catalogul Sony/ATV, care cuprinde drepturile asupra unor piese de Beatles, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Bob Dylan sau Lady Gaga, estimarile despre valoarea lui difera. Consultantul Barry Massarsky de la Massarksy Consulting sustine ca ar fi vorba de 1,6 miliarde de dolari, din care companiei Sony si lui Michael Jackson le-ar reveni cate 800 de milioane, ceea ce ar insemna venituri de 80 de milioane de dolari pe an.
In schimb, The Wall Street Journal estimeaza valoarea catalogului la 2 miliarde de dolari si subliniaza ca Sony, care castigase de la Jackson cu cativa ani in urma dreptul de a cumpara partea de catalog a acestuia la pretul fix de 250 de milioane de dolari, nu va face uz de acest drept, intrucat are tot interesul sa ramana partener cu administratorii averii lui Jackson, in aproape toate proiectele bazate pe muzica megastarului (in loc sa cumpere si sa-si atraga un boicot global din partea fanilor furiosi, ar fi aici de adaugat).
Sony a obtinut dreptul de preemptiune de la Michael Jackson pentru ca l-a ajutat sa-si refinanteze o datorie de 270 de milioane de dolari catre un fond de investitii, datorie garantata cu cota de 50% a lui Michael din catalogul Sony/ATV. La sfarsitul lui 2010, cand datoria - detinuta acum de banca Barclays - va ajunge la scadenta, The Wall Street Journal considera ca Sony va accepta din nou o refinantare, in loc sa forteze o cumparare a cotei de catalog folosite de Jackson ca garantie. Cotidianul sustine ca din totalul initial de 500 de milioane de dolari, cat ar fi fost datoriile solistului la momentul mortii sale, executorii testamentari au reusit pana acum sa achite circa 200.
In plus, parteneriatul cu Branca si McClain, care reprezinta mostenirea lui Jackson in consiliul de administratie al firmei Sony/ATV, e o garanţie pentru Sony că se vor face de-acum încolo multe afaceri împreună, avand in vedere seriozitatea, competenta si abilitatea de a face bani a celor doi. Desigur, fanii vor continua sa acuze relatii ascunse intre administratorii averii si Sony, ba chiar sa creada, pe urmele familiei Jackson, ca testamentul din 2002 al lui Michael, care ii numeste pe Branca si McClain executori testamentari si lasa toata averea copiilor lui si asociatiilor caritabile, ar fi de fapt un fals. Va mai trece insa mult pana ce toate acestea vor fi lamurite - poate chiar mai mult decat va fi nevoie pentru ca lumea sa afle circumstantele exacte ale pieirii artistului, in dimineata stranie de 25 iunie 2009.
I was a junior in highschool when my friend Michael Jackson asked me to go on tour with him. He was spending the summer in Europe staging the largest ever (at the time) rock tour for his latest album DANGEROUS. I begged and pleaded with my parents to let me go. We’d known Michael for a few years by then and grown quite close. He’d even come and stayed at our house in suburban Boston for a few days. Who could forget the time he clumsily tried to make his bed in the guestroom in the morning in an effort to impress my mother so he might be invited back? Or the ill-fated breakfast he tried to cook for my sister and I that we forced down our throats with strained smiles as he carefully watched us? Aside from being the biggest celebrity on the planet, he seemed like a pretty good guy so eventually my parents relented and let me go.
To describe it in one word: impossibly awesome (because one word is not nearly enough). To be seventeen and the sidekick of the greatest rockstar the world had ever known was indescribable. Paris, Rome, London, Munich, Athens and more. Every city we went to essentially shut down to host him. Where Michael roamed, a million cameras followed. A buzz reverberated and the bright light of fame trailed. And I felt the halo effect, often donning one of his iconic fedoras, his signature sunglasses, and one of the countless slick tour jackets Pepsi supplied us with. Private planes, police escorts, marching soldiers (an inexplicable MJ favorite), Michael was more than happy to share his celebrity because he had more than he’d ever know what to do with. He joked that I could ride "shotgun" with him anytime I liked. He knew I was living vicariously through him and he was happy for it.
Arriving to stadiums hours before showtime, while he’d have to go through elaborate pre-show routines and wardrobe sessions, I’d wander out onto the stage where dozens upon dozens of sound techs, engineers, and roadies would be rigging the massive stage and prepping the show. Even four or five hours before showtime, thousands of fans would push as far forward as possible so as to get as close to MJ when the show began. You’ve seen the videos of crazy fans, dehydrated and dazed, having to be dragged out of the crowd by hustling paramedics. I saw it up close and personal – even got involved once or twice when fans started dropping by the dozens.
During the show itself, sometimes I’d hang around just off the stage watching Michael kill it. The man knew how to perform and it was like a meditation to just to witness it. At other times, I’d hang in his dressing room, outfitted to the nines with candy, orange juice, and video games.
After the show, Michael would retreat back to the dressing room too and then be forced to stand around awkwardly and greet VIPs, celebrity guests, sponsors and others who’d earned backstage privileges. It was easy to see that he was far more comfortable singing and dancing in front of a 100,000 strong than socializing with a dozen.
After those formalities, he and I would retreat back to his hotel, usually the biggest and best suite in the whole city. Michael almost always had the place stocked with old movies, more candy, and more orange juice. Even as thousands of adoring fans chanted his name from the streets below, we’d chat about music, movies, video games, girls, and occasionally the meaning of life.
But then something unexpected happened. The awesomeness wore off for me. Believe it or not, I started to get bored of sitting up in that suite with just MJ. And then I started to feel claustrophobic. I was seventeen years old, in freaking Europe, surrounded by a rock band, sexy dancers who could bend in all sorts of ways and backup singers who hit octaves I fantasized about. They liked to rage every night after the show and openly talked about their exploits the following day. Soon enough, I gained the courage to ask Michael if he minded if I slipped out with some of the others after his shows.
Not only did he say it was okay, he encouraged me. Outfitted with his fedora, sunglasses, and tour jackets, getting the best table at the best restaurants, into the VIP sections of the hottest clubs, and the adulation of all the local girls was easier than could be imagined. Often when I got back from a night on the town, Michael would call me in my hotel room and summon me. I’d head up to his suite and proceed to narrate my night’s misadventures to him and debrief him on all the latest gossip surrounding his band. I didn’t really need to dramatize my exploits, but I did anyway because I knew that he was living vicariously through me and I was happy for it.
It’s a cliché to say that your highschool summers are the most memorable of your life, but I challenge anyone to say how mine could not be. For years, I wore the badge of that summer and my many exploits over it boldly and boastfully. Then of course, as time passed and Michael became embroiled in scandals involving teen boys, all of a sudden my summer as his teen sidekick didn’t have the same glamour to it. Now it was a stigma, something I treasured but certainly did not tout.
Over the years my brotherhood with Michael evolved. When I went to college in NYC and lived uptown, he lived at the Four Seasons in midtown and I’d see him regularly, sharing with him collegiate exploits and adventures. Years later when he became a father, he invited me over to Neverland to see “the greatest thing he ever created” – his son Prince. More time passed. I watched as he endured the agony of his dramatic fall from grace, his resurrection through his children Prince, Paris, and Blanket, and then once again the agony of his descent into the shadows of things he couldn’t control.
During the last years of his life, I got to see his creativity up close and personal once again. He and I were working on a graphic novel together entitled THE FATED. He had big plans for it. One day he wanted to direct it as a film, impress his mentor Steven Spielberg, and have his favorite actor Will Smith be in it. It was classic MJ in terms of process, intense at times, with intermittent months of total inaction in between. The story of an iconic Rockstar worn out by the agony of his fame, driven to the most desperate measures, only to discover that his super-stardom has him “fated” for far more than just fame and fortune. Of course, I eventually realized Michael was giving me a window into his own personal allegory and I felt privileged to help record it. Sadly, we never were able to complete the story and I was left instead with an eerie tale without a proper ending (note: I hope with the assistance of Michael’s Estate - in the hands of some very capable and conscious stewards - that we’ll one day be able to share The Fated with all the dignity it and Michael deserves).
Like The Fated, we never got to see a proper ending to Michael’s tale. Instead there’s a tangled legacy, the bright light of fame shining over the tumbled necropolis of unfounded allegations twisted around the neverending tenderness for his own children. it's funny to me how in the last year, in death Michael has been canonized by many of the same commentators who were so relentless in tearing him down while he lived. He'd see the irony in it and call them bad names - the man could curse like a drunken sailor.
One night while on that tour with him, toward the end when I was getting ready to go back to school and the real world, Michael asked me if I was glad that I had come, even though I couldn’t stay for the whole tour. He knew I was sad that I wouldn’t get to stay until the very end. Still, it was an insane question and I told him so. “Are you kidding?” I said. “Every second I was here with you was a privilege. Thank you for letting me ride shotgun even for a little while."
Pe site-ul oficial, www.michaeljackson.com, a fost deschisă, anul trecut, o carte de condoleanţe. S-au adunat în primele săptămâni mai toate omagiile scrise acolo, după care - pauză. Aşa se face că acţiunea s-a cam oprit pe la 600.000 de semnături (din care destul de multe duble, poate chiar triple sau mai mult).
Acum s-a reluat acţiunea, administratorii site-ului nădăjduind să se adune un milion de semnături (şi nu-s pentru premiul Nobel...). Iată adresa:
La începutul lunii decembrie 2010, Pierre Bergé & Associés vor organiza o licitaţie specială a unor portrete inedite ale lui Michael Jackson, stă scris pe site-ul oficial al fotografului francez Arno Bani, www.arnobani.fr.
Arno Bani s-a făcut remarcat de foarte tânăr ca fotograf de modă, ajungând un colaborator apropiat al revistei Sunday Times. Michael Jackson a fost impresionat de realizările acestuia - chiar în paginile de modă ale revistei menţionate - şi a hotărât să colaboreze cu acesta, în vederea realizării copertei albumului Invincible. La vremea aceea, Arno Bani avea 23 de ani.
