What will happen to Jackson’s flowers, cards?

‘We didn’t want to throw things away,’ says Chamber of Commerce rep

Chris Pizzello / AP Michael Jackson fans sit among flowers and candles on Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES - Since Michael Jackson died June 25, fans from around the world have expressed their grief in flowers, balloons, teddy bears, candles, pictures and handwritten notes left throughout the city — at his rented Holmby Hills mansion, at the Jackson family home in Encino, at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and at his Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County.

Now that the “King of Pop” has been memorialized publicly and privately, some say it’s time to start clearing the mementos away. The family has yet to decide what to do with the keepsakes, spokesman Ken Sunshine said Wednesday.

Just as the sun was rising, city workers began packing up flowers, cards and gifts left on Jackson’s star on Hollywood Boulevard. By afternoon, they had filled five boxes, which they delivered to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for safe keeping.

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Chamber spokeswoman Ana Martinez-Holler, who has overseen activities on the Walk of Fame for more than two decades, said she has never seen so many mementos left for a fallen star.

“This has never happened at this magnitude,” she said. “We didn’t want to throw things away. This was a tribute paid to Michael by his fans. We just want to know if the family wants them and we’re hoping to hear back from them soon.”

Fans continued to contribute to the makeshift memorials outside the family compound and Neverland Ranch on Wednesday.

Sandra Darvish, 42, was moved by Tuesday’s televised memorial to pay respects in person at the family’s home. As she left a bouquet of tulips, the official export from her homeland of Holland, Darvish said she wasn’t always a Jackson fan.

“But after yesterday, I sort of understood the family,” she said. “It was very touching.”

While she and others added to the collection of flowers, balloons, posters and flags from around the world in front of the home, a groundskeeper piled up the mementos to give to the family. Dead flowers peeked out from one of eight black plastic trash bags sitting nearby.

Anjanette Butler, who went to Encino from Ventura, said she hoped the family would keep fans’ cards and letters for Jackson’s children.

“Maybe they can show it to the kids to show how much everyone loved Michael,” the 32-year-old Butler said. “It was their father, not this whole icon.”

‘I think we should still be able to leave stuff’
Sisters Tanya and Yolanda Vasquez, who left a colorful bouquet of flowers, were sad to see the keepsakes being cleared.

“They’re taking them down and it’s kind of upsetting,” said Tonya Vasquez, 23. “I think we should still be able to leave stuff.”

Her 27-year-old sister suggested that the family might take the mementos to Neverland as part of a permanent display.

Scores of fans gathered Wednesday at Jackson’s sprawling ranch north of Los Angeles, where hundreds of flower bouquets flanked the estate’s front gates.

One woman left a velvet painting of Jackson. Others left flowers and stuffed toys. One note read, “Hawaii loves you, Michael.” Another said, “Angels aren’t supposed to live on Earth. Thank you for trying.”

Fans decorated the outside walls with posters and hung toys and flags in the trees.

Owen Blicksilver, a spokesman for Colony Capital LLC, which owns the ranch with Jackson, said there are no plans to move any of the tributes.

“Out of respect to Michael and his family we will continue to be a steward for the tributes, flowers and mementos brought to Neverland by his extended family of loving and respectful fans from all parts of the globe,” he said Wednesday.

Police said that representatives for the Jackson family also began packing up the photos and flowers left outside Jackson’s rented home.

When Princess Diana of Wales died in 1997, fans left toys and nearly 15,000 tons of flowers outside her homes at St. James Palace, Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace. About five days after her funeral, Diana’s family donated the stuffed toys and some of the flowers to local children’s hospitals.

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Apollo’s amateur show dedicated to Jackson

Show will feature moonwalking contest and performances of his songs

Antonio Williams, 7, of Orlando Fla., performs the dance moves of Michael Jackson for those waiting online for the doors to open for amateur night, which is dedicated to the late singer, at the Apollo Theater in the Harlem neighborhood of New York on July 1.

NEW YORK - Tributes to the King of Pop continued Wednesday at the Apollo Theater, where the weekly Amateur Night turned into a Michael Jackson celebration, with impersonators emulating his outfits and mimicking his dance moves.

Teenager Mike Rios was the first to demonstrate his Jackson jinks and jukes when the Harlem theater’s doors opened Wednesday night. The Elizabeth, N.J., boy wore a Jackson-inspired red jacket and pants and grooved to the 1987 hit “Bad.”

The crowd cheered on the 16-year-old, and a female audience member jumped on stage with him.

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Celebrity impersonator C.P. Lacey paid homage to the pop legend, who died last week at age 50. Lacey arrived on stage dressed as Jackson of the latter years, sporting a black suit, white socks, black wig and sunglasses. As the crowd roared, he performed “Man In the Mirror” and “Billie Jean.”

Hundreds of people had lined up outside before the Amateur Night show, which also featured a moonwalking contest.

Brooklyn resident Marlene Villalona, 21, said she loved Jackson’s “style, his moves, his music.” She said she was excited about her first visit to the Apollo, where Jackson performed as a child.

Several young moonwalkers — too young to remember Jackson in his heyday — slid across the stage, showing off their best Jackson moves.

A young singer named Zaccheus, an Apollo regular, performed “Who’s Loving You” in honor of Jackson, who sang the Motown hit on the night the Jackson 5 won Amateur Night in 1967.

The event followed Tuesday’s Apollo memorial service. Thousands of fans including director Spike Lee watched a video tribute to Jackson and danced to his songs, including “Thriller.”

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Pelosi says Jackson resolution unnecessary

Speaker says action by lawmakers would invite ‘contrary views’ of singer

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she sees no need for a House resolution in praise of Michael Jackson.

Pelosi, D-Calif., says Jackson was a great performer, but she thinks the resolution is unnecessary.

She said at a news conference Thursday that lawmakers could honor Jackson in speeches in the House. But she said a resolution would open up Jackson’s life to “contrary views that are not necessary at this time.”

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Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, has proposed the resolution in Jackson’s honor.

Such a resolution is a nonbinding but symbolic expression from lawmakers.

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Who’ll fill Jackson’s O2 dates? No one knows

‘King of Pop’ had booked 50 nights at London's 23,000-seat arena

LONDON - An all-star Michael Jackson tribute show? A Jackson family concert, minus Michael? An ABBA reunion?

The death of the "King of Pop" has left 50 empty nights at London's 23,000-seat O2 Arena — and a heady mixture of business hope, hype and wishful thinking is already filling the gap. One week after his demise, however, there is still no firm plan for how to fill one of London's biggest and most important music venues.

"At the moment we're just waiting for the funeral to be out of the way and we'll let people know in due course," Lucy Ellison, a spokeswoman for O2 operator AEG Europe, said Thursday. "We're thinking about Michael Jackson now. We're just a very small part in this very tragic story."

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In the absence of firm facts, rumors are swirling about what will fill the dates Jackson was set to perform, starting this month, taking up most of the summer, and even stretching into 2010.

The Sun newspaper reported Thursday that AEG was talking to 1970s supergroup ABBA about reuniting to play the O2.

That seems likely to remain a pop fan's dream. AEG said the Sun's story was without foundation, and songwriters Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson have long said the Swedish foursome, who still sell millions of records a year a quarter century after they split up, will never perform together again.

Fans offer no shortage of suggestions
But, music fans from around the world were full of other suggestions about whom they'd like to see take Jackson's place onstage.

Maria Mertzani, 37, a bank teller from Athens, Greece, suggested Whitney Houston, "because they suffer the same pain and deal with the same demons: drugs."

Chloe Ego, 22, a T-shirt sales assistant from Milan, Italy, wanted to see Elton John, because "he'd adapt Michael Jackson's songs to his kind of music."

"I'd say Marilyn Manson because he's really good on covers," said Novella Ciceri, 22, a leather goods trader, also from Milan.

The most tenacious report is of a star-studded tribute concert featuring Jackson's siblings and other music stars.

Randy Phillips, chief executive of promoter AEG Live, told Britain's Sky News on Tuesday that such a show was in the works, likely featuring members of Jackson's family and other stars and using dance routines, sets and costumes created for the singer's O2 shows.

Difficult for other Jacksons to fill O2
No details have been announced, but industry experts say it would be logistically impossible for a tribute show to play more than a few nights at the venue.

"Fifty nights is absolutely out of the question," said music writer John Aizlewood. "Nobody in the Jackson family is capable of selling out the O2 for even one night, not even Janet.

"Bands who are capable of selling out the O2 have a huge turning circle — they have to be booked well in advance."

The O2 opened as a concert venue two years ago with a performance by Bon Jovi. In a previous incarnation, the big white tent beside the River Thames was the Millennium Dome, an unloved and unlamented tourist attraction. As a concert venue, it has been a roaring success.

Prince played 21 dates there in the summer of 2007, a stint that helped inspire Jackson's marathon run of shows. In December 2007, Led Zeppelin reunited for a one-off gig at the O2, the group's first concert in more than 25 years.

Britney Spears, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen have all played the arena, and Madonna is due to open the final leg of her Sticky and Sweet tour at the O2 on Saturday.

Summer could be lost for venue
Even without the Jackson shows, the venue will be full for 170 nights in 2009, up from 150 last year.

"I think for autumn there are artists out there that AEG can find," said Chris Cooke, editor of British music-business bulletin CMU Daily. "I can't believe they won't fill those spaces from September onwards.

"But it leaves it pretty empty between now and then. For one of the country's biggest venues, that's obviously not ideal. ... It's obviously a lost opportunity to have a space that big sit empty for three months."

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Jackson’s 5Top groundbreaking moments

Some of the greatest events in the career of the ‘King of Pop’

‘Motown 25’ performance

Bettmann / Corbis

When “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever,” a televised special celebrating Motown Records’ 25th anniversary, aired in 1983, viewers had no expectation of the pivotal pop-culture moment in store for them. The broadcast drew millions eager to see performances by Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, as well as the highly anticipated reunions of label legends The Supremes, The Miracles and the Jackson 5. But in the end, it was Michael Jackson’s solo spot that stole the show. It was the night the future “King of Pop,” sporting a single white glove, first lip-synched to the soon-to-be megahit “Billie Jean” and debuted his jaw-dropping moonwalk moves.

The release of ‘Thriller’
In November of 1982, Michael Jackson released what became the best-selling album of all time, “Thriller.” For the 24-year-old, “Thriller” proved a career-defining accomplishment. The seven singles that reached Billboard’s top 10 (some simultaneously) and the landmark music videos that accompanied them catapulted Jackson from famed singer to pop icon. But the phenomenon now known as “Thriller-mania” went beyond Jackson and his personal Grammy-sweeping success — it was a transitional moment in the history of pop music. The album’s fusion of pop, rock, funk, dance and R&B inspired countless acts and created a new musical direction in the post-disco/post-punk era.

Henry Diltz / Corbis

Redefining the frontman
By the time the Jackson 5 released their first chart-topping singles (including, “ABC,” “I’ll Be There” and “The Love You Save”) in 1970, the group’s 11-year-old centerpiece was already a veteran frontman. Michael Jackson began performing with his brothers (Jackie, Jermaine, Tito and Marlon) at the age of 6 and took over lead vocals three years before the act even landed on the Motown map. What made Jackson’s leading role unique wasn’t just his age — it was the fact that the child singer was no mere novelty act or in-name-only frontman. Performing along his siblings, Jackson stood out and packed enough preternatural talent and charisma to solidly lead the group.

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Rusty Kennedy / AP

The Super Bowl XXVII halftime show
The powers that be behind the annual Super Bowl halftime show decided to forgo the requisite ensemble tributes to Hollywood and cheesy Up With People routines in 1993 and instead selected a single star big enough to carry the show on his own. Thus Michael Jackson took over the helm of the Super Bowl XXVII halftime event, delivering one of the most memorable performances of his career and making halftime history. Jackson, with the help of a few backup dancers, fireworks and wind machines, mesmerized viewers with a medley of his hits. As a result, the sideshow overshadowed the main event, earning higher ratings than the game itself.

Mark J. Terrill / AP file

Creating Neverland
Long before Michael Jackson earned more money than he knew what to do with, past superstars Liberace and Elvis Presley showed the world the ropes of celebrity excess. But no amount of piano-shaped pools or jungle rooms could compete with what Jackson’s massive fortune and eccentric taste allowed. In 1988, the “King of Pop” took up residence in the custom-built, Peter Pan-inspired Neverland Ranch. The nearly 3,000-acre Southern California property functioned as home, private zoo and full-featured amusement park to Jackson. Though mounting debt and millions in annual upkeep eventually forced the late legend to part with his massive estate, for almost two decades it stood as the ultimate emblem of celebrity indulgence.

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Live Vote Which was the greatest Michael Jackson moment? * 1891 responses "Motown 25" performance 26% The release of "Thriller" 27% Redefining the frontman 0.6% The Super Bowl XXVII halftime show 2.8% Creating Neverland 0.5% The Jackson 5 reunion 0.6% 1984's Grammy sweep 3.2% Starring in Disney's "Captain EO" 0.5% Purchasing the Beatles catalog 1.4% The "Thriller" video 27% His film debut as the Scarecrow in "The Wiz" 0.7% The release of "Off the Wall" 1.4% Duets with Paul McCartney 0.8% His first solo single, "Ben" 1.3% Co-writing and performing "We Are the World" 3.8% Creating the Heal the World foundation 2.4%

Jackson reportedly finished video before death

‘Dome Project’ could be the singer’s final production, AP reports

LOS ANGELES - Two weeks before he died, Michael Jackson wrapped up work on an elaborate production dubbed the "Dome Project" that could be the final finished video piece overseen by the King of Pop, The Associated Press has learned.

Details on the project are scarce. Two people with knowledge of the project confirmed its existence to the AP on condition that they not be identified because they signed confidentiality agreements.

They said it was a five-week project filmed at Culver City Studios, which 70 years ago hosted the classic film "Gone With the Wind." Four sets were constructed, including a cemetery recalling Jackson's "Thriller" video.

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Shooting for the project lasted from June 1-9, with Jackson on the set most days. Now in post-production, the project is expected to be completed July 15.

Producer Robb Wagner, founder of music-video company Stimulated Inc., did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the project.

It's unclear what final form or forms the video project will take. According to Stimulated's Web site, the company also was hired to produce screen content for Jackson's planned comeback concerts in London.

Stimulated has worked with Def Leppard and the Pussycat Dolls, and produced content for the Academy Awards and the Emmys.

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Jackson memorial cost L.A. $1.4 million

Bill included overtime pay for 4,173 police officers, traffic control, cleanup

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles spent $1.4 million to provide security, traffic control and other services for Michael Jackson's memorial service, city officials said as they looked for ways to have others help the financially troubled city pick up the bill.

The amount included $1.1 million in overtime pay for the 4,173 officers who worked to secure Staples Center, Forest Lawn cemetery and other areas that attracted fans and members of the media, the Police Department said in a statement.

City officials said Wednesday that the remaining amount covered traffic control, cleanup and other costs related to Tuesday's public memorial service, which was attended by a total of more than 17,000 fans and watched by tens of millions of people around the world.

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Matt Szabo, a spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, hailed the tally a success. He said it was "far less" than the initial estimate of $4 million.

Nonetheless, city attorney Carmen Trutanich said his office was investigating how the city can legally press third parties to pick up at least some of the tab.

Trutanich aims to have a report ready for the City Council by Friday, said spokesman John Franklin.

The city has also set up a Web site urging fans to make tax-deductible donations through credit cards, PayPal or check to help defray costs.

Fans have thus far donated $17,000, but contributions have been hampered by technical problems, Szabo said in a statement.

The site received so many hits that the servers crashed Tuesday night and several times Wednesday, Szabo said. The city's information technology department is working to rectify the problems.

Anticipating about 250,000 people would converge on downtown streets for the service, the Police Department deployed 3,240 officers starting at midnight. When only about 1,000 fans showed up, police brass let about 1,000 officers go early.

AEG Live, the owner-operator of Staples Center, has not committed any money to the Jackson memorial, which it organized and promoted. Company spokesman Michael Roth did not return messages on Wednesday.

City Controller Wendy Greuel called on the City Council to create a policy declaring who should pay for city services associated with such events.

In a letter to the emergency management department, Greuel criticized the nearly $49,000 expense for police officers' lunches, which were ordered from a restaurant located 80 miles from Los Angeles.

Greuel said her office called a local sandwich shop that could have provided box lunches for less than $17,500. The purchase would have had the added benefit of supporting a local business, she said.

The Jackson memorial was the second recent event that resulted in extraordinary costs at a time when the city is a half-billion dollars in debt and facing employee layoffs.

Last month's victory parade for the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers cost an estimated $2 million.

AEG Live gave $1 million to the city for that event and other private donors stepped in.

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Jermaine Jackson: ‘I wish it was me’

Michael’s brother reveals new details of death scene: ‘I kissed his forehead’

View related photos

The scene is still fresh in Jermaine Jackson’s mind: his mother’s grief-choked voice on the phone telling him the awful news; rushing to UCLA Medical Center and seeing the helicopters hovering overhead; kissing his brother’s lifeless form; watching the three children of Michael Jackson being brought in with a therapist to stand by their father’s body.

“There is nothing to be compared to this, ’cause we lost our brother, our hero. The world is mourning. We are mourning. The fans are mourning. It is unreal. Unbelievable,” Jermaine Jackson told TODAY’s Matt Lauer in an exclusive interview recorded at the famous Neverland Ranch of the “King of Pop” — the first in-depth interview with any Jackson family member since the singer’s shocking death last week.

‘Michael is dead’
His voice choked with emotion, Jermaine Jackson, wearing a vintage Jackson 5 shirt, wiped away tears as he described his mother calling him last Thursday to tell him that his brother was dead.

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“She was crying, saying he was dead. And Matt, to hear my mother say, ‘Michael is dead,’ to feel and hear the tone in her voice to say her child is dead, is nothing that anyone can ever imagine.”

Katherine Jackson was already at the hospital when Jermaine arrived. “I tried to console her,” he told Lauer, “but I wanted to see Michael and I wanted to see my brother. To see him there lifeless and breathless was very emotional for me. But I held myself together because I knew he’s very much alive in his spirit, and that was just a shell. But I kissed him on his forehead, and I hugged him, and I touched him and I said, ‘Michael, I’ll never leave you. You’ll never leave me.’

“He went too soon,” the singer’s big brother added. “I wish that it was me. I’ve always felt that I was his backbone, someone to be there for him. I was there and he was sort of like Moses. The things he couldn’t say, I would say them.”

The children’s viewing
A therapist at the hospital advised that it would be best if Michael Jackson’s three children —Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael II, nicknamed Blanket — saw their father so they could understand that he really was gone and begin the grieving process.

“I know it’s tough, but I think it was the best thing to do. At first I was against it, but what do you say if you don’t show them?” Jermaine Jackson told Lauer.

Details of the autopsy report that have been published in the media agree that Jackson weighed a mere 112 pounds at his death. Partially digested pills were found in his stomach, and he had needle marks on his hips and shoulders.

But Jermaine Jackson insisted that his brother was in good physical shape as he prepared for a 50-show concert stand in London. There has been rampant speculation that the singer was in no condition to take on the rigors of the show.

“I do believe and I do know that Mike is very strong, not just mentally but physically. He’s a dancer, he never stopped dancing, he was already ready physically. He passed the physical, he was strong; he was ready.”

Lauer asked Jermaine what his reaction would be if reports of his brother’s drug use turned out to be true.

“I would be hurt,” Jackson said, “because Michael has always been a person who was against anything like that. I’m not saying it’s right, because it’s not right. But in this business, the pressure, and things that you go through — you never know what people might turn to.”

Michael Jackson left custody of his children to his mother, Katherine, who is 79 years old. Diana Ross was named as the secondary custodian. Lauer asked Jermaine if his mother was up to the task.

“She's capable, she’s up to it,” he replied. “She’s always with all the children, she loves laughter and the crying and all the excitement. Yes, she is.”

‘1,000 percent innocent’
Jackson talked about how painful it was and is to read and hear the things that people say about his brother. The allegations that Michael Jackson was a pedophile and his 2005 trial on molestation charges were particularly hard on the family. Jackson was acquitted in that trial, but after it was done, he abandoned Neverland Ranch and lived a nomadic life.

“I knew he was 1,000 percent innocent,” Jermaine Jackson asserted. “I knew. We all knew.”

“You never doubted [it] as a brother?” Lauer asked. “You never took the brother hat off for a second, Jermaine, and said, ‘Let me look at this from a different point of view. Is it possible that this is true?’ ”

“Michael is a gift from Allah, and he is taking him back. The world didn’t appreciate him,” Jackson said. “The world loved him and certain people, certain industries didn’t appreciate him, and in his time on this earth he did good. He wanted good for everyone. He saw the good in even people that claimed to be bad. But he wanted to change things, so the message is through his songs, through his lyrics, his actions, going to hospitals, going to orphanages, trying to cure children, trying to bring enlightenment.

“Look at this place,” he added, gesturing toward the grounds of his brother’s onetime refuge. “Neverland. Look at this place. I love it here because I feel him.”

Jackson described how his brother’s view of Neverland — the place where the star lived the eternal childhood he felt he’d never had — changed after the trial.

“He was hurt, he was torn apart, and to be treated like you’re not from here, to be made a mockery for the world to see, he felt that they sort of invaded his privacy,” Jackson said. “A place that was so beautiful — [to] turn it into something so ugly.”

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Many call Jackson a loving, attentive father

‘They loved him so much,’ says close friend Dr Tohme Tohme

Jackson’s children unveiled

NEW YORK - When Rabbi Shmuley Boteach brought his children to play with Michael Jackson’s kids at Neverland Ranch some eight years ago, the rabbi’s youngsters naturally made a beeline for the fabulous rides — the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, the bumper cars.

But when Jackson’s own kids asked to go on the rides, he gently reminded them of the family rules, according to Boteach: The rides were only for birthdays or special occasions. “He was very concerned that the kids grow up with the right values,” says Boteach, Jackson’s former friend and spiritual adviser.

They are the children of one of the most famous men to have walked the planet. But unlike other children of mega-celebrities, whose faces are recognizable around the world, those of Jackson’s three kids — 12-year-old Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael; 11-year-old Paris Michael Katherine; and 7-year-old Prince Michael II, known as Blanket — are barely known.

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Home-schooled and often isolated in mansions or hotels, the children have appeared only in rare paparazzi shots, their faces usually covered by scarves or brightly colored masks.

That fact alone — that Jackson sought to hide his children’s faces — would seem to speak of a dark, strange life. But those who’ve witnessed the family up close paint a brighter picture: a trio of engaging, intelligent, well-adjusted youngsters who adored their father. A father who, despite his eccentricities and the terrible controversy that surrounded him in later life, lived for his children and tried to make their lives as normal as — well, as normal as Michael Jackson could.

“To the extent that Michael Jackson’s kids could have a normal life, he wanted them to have it,” says Boteach, who eventually fell out with Jackson.

“Listen, I’m not here to whitewash the sins of Michael Jackson — he was accused of some abominable things,” says the rabbi, referring to the pop star’s trial and acquittal on molestation charges. “But when it came to being a father, there was much to admire.”

Dr. Tohme Tohme, a close friend and adviser to Jackson over the last year of his life, said he had “never seen a better father.”

“He was the father and the mother,” Tohme said. “He washed them and dressed them. I’m a father but I’m not sure I could do what he was doing with his children. They loved him so much.”

An over-protective dad
Of course, even Jackson’s closest friends are at a loss to explain what for many is the single most memorable image of Jackson as a father: the shocking moment when he dangled Blanket, then an infant, over a hotel balcony in Berlin, showing the baby off to fans with a delighted grin.

“What made that incident so inexplicable was that he was an over-protective father,” Boteach says.

Others who’ve been close to Jackson in the past agree. When the children stayed in hotels, says one photographer who spent several years working for Jackson, his handlers had long lists of all the foods the children could and could not eat. He was afraid of allergies but also poisoning, says the photographer, Ian Barkley. At the ranch, Jackson would not let the children roam far for fear of coyotes, he says.

When Barkley spoke to the kids himself, he was impressed. “Paris and (the older) Prince really blew me away with how smart they were. They were really well-mannered and nice.” And Jackson made sure they kept up with their studies. “Once I heard him ask the nanny if the kids had done their homework that day, and they hadn’t yet and he was really not happy.”

Yet Jackson also indulged his children in extravagances — he was known to rent out entire movie theaters so he and his kids could see a first-run movie in peace, said close friend Uri Geller, the entertainer, who accompanied the family on one such outing.

“The times I’ve seen Michael with his kids, he was simply a great father,” says Geller. “When I saw him alone in London, the first thing he said is how much he missed them. I know he loved them, and they loved him.”

US Weekly editor Janice Min, whose magazine reported on Jackson’s children this week, was surprised to discover how positive an outlook many Jackson associates had on the kids and their lives. “I would have thought it was a very gloom-and-doom picture, but across the board, everyone talked about these nice and seemingly normal kids,” she says.

Why the masks?
Still, for many people, the hardest thing to get past about Jackson’s parenting style was those facial disguises. Geller, for one, is convinced the family saw it as a game. “It was a private joke on the media between Michael and the kids — the kids loved it,” Geller says. “That’s what Michael told me.”

But others speak of more serious reasons. Stacy Brown, a former Jackson family confidant who fell out with the family at the time of the 2005 molestation trial — he was a prosecution witness — says Michael was truly afraid of kidnapping. But also, Brown notes, there was a strategy: If the kids wore masks when they were with Jackson, they could go safely unmasked when they weren’t with him.

Still, says Brown, who co-wrote “The Man Behind the Mask,” a Jackson biography, “mentally, it was just not right. Why put a mask on these beautiful children?”

There may be another, more poignant reason. “He detested the media interest in whether he looked like his children,” says Boteach, the rabbi. “I think that was another concern. Those rumors were hurtful to them.”

Such discussion has only increased since Jackson’s death, as the world wonders not only who will get custody of the children but also whether Jackson is their biological father. Jackson’s ex-wife, Deborah Rowe, the mother of the two older children, says the children were conceived by artificial insemination. The surrogate mother of the youngest has not been revealed.

For now, Rowe is weighing whether to seek custody of her two children, while Katherine Jackson, the singer’s 79-year-old mother, has temporary guardianship of all three. Jackson’s will asks that permanent custody go to his mother.

Brown, the biographer, recalls running into Jackson and the kids in a town near Neverland shortly before the trial.

“They were the most well-behaved, well-mannered, immaculately groomed children,” Brown says. “It was all ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and ‘excuse me.’ Little Blanket was wearing a kilt, and Prince a three-piece suit, and Paris a white dress with blue flowers. We chatted. I’m telling you, the guy was tremendous with those kids.”

Whatever happens, Boteach says, it was Jackson’s greatest wish that his children know how much he loved them.

“Michael often said he knew that when the kids grew up, they’d be asked by biographers what kind of father he was,” Boteach says. “He wanted the kids to know that he always put them first.”

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Jackson’s death returns his father to spotlight

Joe Jackson has disputed Michael Jackson’s claims of childhood abuse

Matt Sayles / AP Michael Jackson once said he would get physically sick just looking at his father, saying he was both physically and emotionally abused by him.

NEW YORK - At the BET Awards over the weekend, Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, was back in front of the cameras. Wearing a black fedora and oversized sunglasses, he spoke proudly of his son, paid tribute to "a superstar" and promoted his own new record label.

Joe Jackson has returned to the spotlight. It is a place he is familiar with, having long presided as the iron-willed, behind-the-scenes patriarch who ruthlessly — some say cruelly — pushed his talented children into the music business, driving Michael in particular to enormous fame at a young age.

The 80-year-old former steelworker is again fully immersed in the family's dealings since his son's death. The return of Joe Jackson — a controversial, sometimes vilified figure who Michael said abused him as a child — is sure to renew questions about his influence on his troubled son.

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Since Michael Jackson died Thursday of what his family has said was cardiac arrest, his father has been vocal about his son and the posthumous arrangements being made. Medical examiners in Los Angeles are perhaps weeks away from officially determining the cause of death, though a second autopsy was held Monday at the family's request.

The elder Jackson and other relatives have been mostly holed up at the family's compound in Encino. He made an unexpected appearance Sunday night at the BET Awards, which became a tribute to the King of Pop.

Joe Jackson said in an emphatic statement at the show that he and his wife, Katherine, have the "personal and legal authority to act, and solely ... have authority for our son and his children."

Michael Jackson's 79-year-old mother asked a judge on Monday to name her administrator of the singer's estate so she can ensure his three children — two boys and a girl — are its beneficiaries. Her husband supported her in the request.

Also Monday, Katherine Jackson was granted temporary guardianship of the children and is asking to be named their permanent guardian.

Londell McMillan, the Jacksons' attorney, said the family has not heard from Deborah Rowe, the mother of Jackson's two eldest children, about custody. The youngest son was born to a surrogate mother. In court papers, Jackson's parents said they believe the singer died without a valid will.

"This is where they belong," Joe Jackson said a news conference Monday. "We're going to take care of them and we're going to give them an education they're supposed to have."

‘I whipped him with a switch and a belt’
Joseph and Katherine Jackson married in 1949 and settled in Gary, Ind. They have nine children together, Michael being one of the youngest.

Jackson was a boxer, a guitarist for a local band and a crane operator at U.S. Steel. When he recognized the musical talents of his children, he organized and trained the Jackson 5, also serving as their manager.

"When I was little, it was all work, work, work," Michael Jackson said in a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Joe Jackson was a strict father who pushed his children relentlessly in rehearsals and performances. He had them call him not Dad or Father, but "Joseph."

In Michael's 1988 book "Moonwalk," he wrote of his father: "He's a mystery man to me." In the interview with Winfrey, he said that his father beat him and that "just a look would scare you."

Michael said that he would get physically sick — as a child and as an adult — just at the sight of his father. He also spoke of emotional abuse.

"I was so shy I would wash my face in the dark," Michael said, referring to an acne outbreak. "I wouldn't look in the mirror and my father teased me. I just hated it. I would cry every day. He would tell me I'm ugly."

Appearing still fearful of his father, Michael repeatedly turned to the camera during the interview and said, "Sorry, Joseph."

Michael always believed that he had missed out on childhood and sought to experience it again as an adult. He surrounded himself with children and built an amusement park at his Neverland Ranch, his nearly 3,000-acre California property named after the Peter Pan fantasy island.

Joe Jackson disputed his son's claims of abuse, telling the BBC in 2003: "I whipped him with a switch and a belt. ... I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick."

In a 2005 interview with The Associated Press, Jackson said: "Katherine whipped Michael more than I did." He also acknowledged driving his children hard: "When they said they didn't want to go, I pulled them by the hand and said, `We're going. We're going to do this.'"

Michael's brother Jermaine defended their father in a 2005 interview with Larry King: "We grew up like any other black family. You did something, you got your butt tore up ... you got a spanking." Added Jermaine: "He kept us off of the streets."

Joe Jackson's parenting is likely to be brought up in court as part of the request for custody of his grandchildren.

It was Joe Jackson who brought the Jackson 5 to a deal with Motown Records and helped build the solo careers of Michael and Janet. By the 1980s and the mega-success of "Thriller," Michael was operating professionally on his own. All of Joe Jackson's children eventually cut professional ties to their father.

Joe Jackson remained president of Jackson Family Entertainment Inc. and opened the Joe Jackson Talent Agency. In 1999, he filed for bankruptcy.

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In 2005, he launched Joe Jackson's Hip-Hop Boot Camp, a rap contest meant to find "the best hip-hop artist in the world."

"Everybody is liking hip-hop now," Jackson said then. "I'm gonna have to clean it up a little bit — all that vulgar language out there."

On Sunday at the BET Awards, Jackson spoke vaguely of a new record company he is launching with Marshall Thompson, lead singer of the Chi-Lites, as a partner. He again discussed the label at a news conference Monday in front of the family's Encino home, along with Rev. Al Sharpton.

That he would use such an opportunity for self-promotion struck many Jackson fans as inappropriate.

But Sharpton defended him: "Some misinterpreted why Mr. Jackson went and what he said. He said it and went because he wanted to send a signal to the world that the Jackson family is going to continue doing what Michael did: give music and love to the world across all boundaries and across all nationalities."

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Jackson family: ‘Our pain cannot be described’

Statement they issued about singer's death thanks fans for support

Transcript of statement issued by the family of Michael Jackson through People magazine:

"In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter. Our beloved son, brother and father of three children has gone so unexpectedly, in such a tragic way and much too soon. It leaves us, his family, speechless and devastated to a point, where communication with the outside world seems almost impossible at times.

"We miss Michael endlessly, our pain cannot be described in words. But Michael would not want us to give up now. So we want to thank all of his faithful supporters and loyal fans worldwide, you — who Michael loved so much. Please do not despair, because Michael will continue to live on in each and every one of you. Continue to spread his message, because that is what he would want you to do. Carry on, so his legacy will live forever.

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"In addition, Joseph Jackson wishes to personally convey: 'My grandchildren are deeply moved by all the love and support you have shown for them and their father, Michael Jackson.'"

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)

Jackson lived like king but died awash in debt

He sold over 60 million albums, but was about $400 million in debt

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson the singer was also Michael Jackson the billion-dollar business.

Yet after selling more than 61 million albums in the U.S. and having a decade-long attraction open at Disney theme parks, the “King of Pop” died Thursday at age 50 reportedly awash in about $400 million in debt, on the cusp of a final comeback after well over a decade of scandal.

The moonwalking pop star drove the growth of music videos, vaulting cable channel MTV into the popular mainstream after its launch in 1981. His 1982 hit “Thriller,” still the second best-selling U.S. album of all time, spawned a John Landis-directed music video that MTV played every hour on the hour.

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“The ratings were three or four times what they were normally every time the video came on,” said Judy McGrath, the chairman and CEO of Viacom Inc.’s MTV Networks. “He was inextricably tied to the so-called MTV generation.”

Five years later, “Bad” sold 22 million copies. In 1991, he signed a $65 million recording deal with Sony.

Jackson was so popular that The Walt Disney Co. hitched its wagon to his star in 1986, opening a 3-D movie at its parks called “Captain EO,” executive produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The last attraction in Paris closed 12 years later.

One of Jackson’s shrewdest deals at the height of his fame in 1985 was the $47.5 million acquisition of ATV Music, which owned the copyright to songs written by the Beatles’ John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The catalog provided Jackson a steady stream of income and the ability to afford a lavish lifestyle.

He bought the sprawling Neverland ranch in 1988 for $14.6 million, a fantasy-like 2,500-acre property nestled in the hills of Santa Barbara County’s wine country.

Financial problems begin
The bombshell hit in 1993 when he was accused of molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler.

“That kind of represents the beginning of the walk down a tragic path, financially, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, legally,” said Michael Levine, his publicist at the time.

He settled with the boy’s family, but other accounts of his alleged pedophilia began to emerge.

When he ran into further financial problems, he agreed to a deal with Sony in 1995 to merge ATV with Sony’s library of songs and sold Sony music publishing rights for $95 million. Then in 2001, he used his half of the ATV assets as collateral to secure $200 million in loans from Bank of America.

As his financial problems continued, Jackson began to borrow large sums of money, according to a 2002 lawsuit by Union Finance & Investment Corp. that sought $12 million in unpaid fees and expenses.

In 2003, Jackson was arrested on charges that he molested another 13-year-old boy. The 2005 trial, which ultimately ended in an acquittal, brought to light more details of Jackson’s strained finances.

One forensic accountant testified that the singer had an “ongoing cash crisis” and was spending $20 million to $30 million more per year than he earned.

In March of last year, the singer faced foreclosure on Neverland. He also repeatedly failed to make mortgage payments on a house in Los Angeles that had been used for years by his family.

In addition, Jackson was forced to defend himself against a slew of lawsuits in recent years, including a $7 million claim from Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain.

Memorabilia auctions were frequently announced but became the subject of legal wrangling and were often canceled.

Borrowed millions, leaned on friends
Time and again, however, Jackson found a way to wring cash out of high-value assets, borrowing tens of millions at a time or leaning on wealthy friends for advice, if not for money.

Al Khalifa, 33, took Jackson under his wing after his acquittal, moving him to the small Gulf estate and showering him with money.

In his lawsuit, Al Khalifa claimed he gave Jackson millions of dollars to help shore up his finances, cut an album, write an autobiography and subsidize his lifestyle — including more than $300,000 for a “motivational guru.” The lawsuit was settled last year for an undisclosed amount. Neither the album nor book was ever produced.

Another wealthy benefactor came to Jackson’s aid last year as he faced the prospect of losing Neverland in a public auction.

Billionaire Thomas Barrack, chairman and CEO of Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm Colony Capital LLC, agreed to bail out the singer and set up a joint venture with Jackson that took ownership of the vast estate.

Barrack was unavailable for comment Thursday, but referred to the singer in a statement as a “gentle, talented and compassionate man.”

A final piece of the financial jigsaw puzzle fell into place in March, when billionaire Philip Anschutz’ concert promotion company AEG Live announced it would promote 50 shows in London’s O2 arena. Tickets sold out, and the first show of the “This is It” tour was set for July 8.

Jackson, who has won 13 Grammys, hadn’t toured since 1997. His last studio album, “Invincible,” was released in 2001.

But the opening date was later postponed to July 13 and some shows moved back to March 2010, fueling speculation that Jackson was suffering from health ailments that could curtail his comeback bid.

His death, caused by cardiac arrest according to his brother Jermaine, raised the question whether an insurer would refund money to ticketholders. AEG Live did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Jackson was practicing for the concert in Los Angeles at the Staples Center with Kenny Ortega, a choreographer and director of the “High School Musical” movies, who has worked on previous Jackson videos like “Dangerous” in 1993.

“We had a 25-year friendship. This is all too much to comprehend,” Ortega said in a statement. “This was the world’s greatest performer and the world will miss him.”

(source:-msnbc.msn.com)