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2009 VMA Awards ft Janet Jackson

Webmaster — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 08:00:26 +0000

MTV royalty Janet Jackson kicked off 2009's VMAs with a musical tribute to the life and career of her brother Michael Jackson. The man who helped shape MTV from the beginning and provided many memorable VMA moments, of course, was honored in an exhilarating fashion with large screen videos and live dancers.

One of the most talked-about participants of the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was tragically there in absentia. Though many people ended up talking about Kanye West, the anticipation was focused squarely on Michael Jackson, who received a tribute from Madonna, his sister Janet and an army of dancers re-enacting some of his most famous dance moves. According to reactions from fans, it was a fitting tribute.

"Madonna almost had me in tears with her speech," charchar1982 commented. "And I loved the part when [Janet] danced to ‘Scream’ and it looked like she was dancing with [Michael] again. My fav part of the show." She wasn't the only one who got a little choked up during the start of the show. "I am still in tears over the performance," Frances wrote. "I can only imagine that Janet needed all the strength she could get. They were so close. I'm thankful to MTV for allowing that to happen. It was a fitting tribute to MJ, since his videos did launch a whole new audience to MTV and the world." Bluestrawberry51 also appreciated Janet's effort, noting, "It was beautiful and Janet was just perfect. It was (nearly) flawless."

But the outpouring of support for Michael Jackson didn't end with the show-opening tribute. At the close of the show, MTV premiered the full trailer for the upcoming film "Michael Jackson's This Is It," which brings together performance and behind-the-scenes footage from the rehearsals for what would have been the shows that made up Michael's planned residency at the O2 arena in London. The trailer inspired similar waterworks from readers. "It's bittersweet, it's a dream," Karma commented. "It makes tears flow in my eyes, but also makes me feel proud of this man, who gave his best for his fans. He was a visionary, a loving soul and the best entertainer on earth." Sam concurred. "The trailer honestly almost made me tear up. The man was dancing like he was in his 20s … energetic. I miss Michael very, very much."

Clearly the anticipation over "Michael Jackson's This Is It" — which opens on October 28 and will run for only two weeks — is extremely high, and based on the outpouring of emotion and support for the tribute at this year's VMAs, his legions of adoring fans still aren't quite ready to let Michael Jackson go.

The first moments of MTV's Video Music Awards are always memorable, and VMA vet Madonna certainly did not disappoint with a tearful tribute to the late King of Pop.

Walking onto the darkened stage wearing a black zippered jacket and skirt, Madonna said:

"Michael Jackson was born in August, 1958. so was I. Michael Jackson grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest. So did I. Michael Jackson had eight brothers and sisters. So do I. When Michael Jackson was 6 he became a superstar and was perhaps the world's most beloved child. When I was 6 my mother died. I think he got the shorter end of the stick.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7-7-09 Memorial Highlights

Webmaster — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 08:04:39 +0000

Part 1 (above) features introduction,

Mariah Carey, & Berry Gordy

Part 2 features Michael montage,

Rev. Al Sharpton, & Brooke Shield

Part 3 features Usher, Heal the World, and the Jackson Family

Dateline The Michael Jackson Tapes

Webmaster — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:01:19 +0000

Part 1 Above – Part 2

through 6 Below

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6 Transcript

By Meredith Vieira

Dateline NBC

Fri., Sept . 25, 2009

His voice is instantly familiar:

Michael Jackson: I wanted to become such a wonderful performer that I would get loved back.

… But his words are so haunting.

Michael Jackson: If it weren’t for children, I would choose death.

Words of pain and torment.

Michael Jackson: Anybody else would probably be dead by now, or a junkie, with what I’ve been through.

Bitterness and rivalry.

Rabbi Shmuley: What about jealousy from other stars and things like that? Is there a lot of jealousy?

Michael Jackson: Absolutely … and “M” is one of em. Madonna. Hate to say that on tape.

And a legendary star’s deepest fears.

Rabbi Shmuley: Do you want to have a long life?

Michael Jackson: I think growing old is the ugliest, the most, the ugliest thing.

Rabbi Shmuley: I don’t think that Michael Jackson will ever be looked at the same after this book. It’s impossible. There’s just too much rawness and honesty of Michael in this book for anyone to ever perceive him as the same.

Now, for the first time, spilling out across page, and on tape: Michael Jackson in his own words. Up until now, these recordings have never been released.

They’re being played exclusively on NBC, along with the release of a new book: The Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul In Intimate Conversation.

Author Rabbi Shmuley Boteach — a relationship expert who calls himself “America’s Rabbi” — calls it “The King Of Pop Raw,” exposed like never before.

Rabbi Shmuley: You could see that there was a woundedness to him, he wasn’t very trusting, he opened up very slowly.

Meredith Vieira, NBC News: But one of the first questions that people might ask is “did you betray his confidence in any way by releasing these tapes now, after his death?”

Rabbi Shmuley: Not only have I not betrayed any confidences, Michael used to hold the tape recorders directly to his mouth. He would constantly talk to me about the book. “Make sure this is in the book.” He desperately wanted this out.He counted mega-celebrities like Diana Ross and Elizabeth Taylor among his closest friends. But this is Michael Jackson bluntly dissing Hollywood.

Rabbi Shmuley: Why don’t you hang out with those celebrities, more Hollywood people?

Michael Jackson: They love the limelight and I don’t have anything in common with them. They want to go clubbing and afterwards they want to sit around and drink hard liquor and do marijuana and all kinds of crazy things that I wouldn’t do.

And forget the mask, the chimp, the baby dangling, and any other eccentric behavior we already know about. Here, Jackson talks openly about his oddest — and saddest — habits.

Michael Jackson: I needed someone. That’s probably why I had, uh, the mannequins, I would say. Because I felt I needed people, someone, and I didn’t have, I was too shy to be around real people. I love them, it’s like real babies, and kids, and people, but it makes me feel like I am in a room with people.Rabbi Shmuley first met Michael Jackson in 1999, and began recording their conversations a year later, when Jackson was 42 years old. Theirs was an unlikely friendship — but the Orthodox rabbi had became a confidant and spiritual advisor to the King Of Pop.

Rabbi Shmuley: As we got to know each other more, I think he began to believe that I got him.

Meredith Vieira: Did he see in you then, Rabbi, the opportunity to be a regular guy?

Rabbi Shmuley: So many of us look at Michael as strange and weird, that’s not what I experienced. He never wore a mask in my presence. The kids were never veiled in my presence. Michael wasn’t a celebrity for me anymore.

Meredith Vieira: What did you see?

Rabbi Shmuley: Indescribable pain. Tremendous remorse and regret.

Shmuley says Jackson, who was still reeling from 1993 sexual abuse allegations, wanted the public to hear his voice.

Meredith Vieira: The plan was always to publish the conversations?

Rabbi Shmuley: Absolutely.

Meredith Vieira: But why did he want that out there? Why did he want a book of the conversations?

Rabbi Shmuley: He knew that the public was deeply suspicious of him. I think he wanted be known as a man without a mask.

During the nine-month period when the tapes were made, the rabbi says he and Jackson were so close, he considered him part of the family.

Shmuley’s children still have Marshmallow, the dog Jackson gave them, along with fond memories of the many Friday nights when the King Of Pop joined them in Englewood, New Jersey for Sabbath dinner.

Rabbi Shmuley: He used to tell me they were the most special evenings of his life. He would arrive with Prince and Paris, very often his– security detail would join us. And we would just sit around and Michael would just laugh and giggle.

Prince and Paris, who were toddlers at the time, were often in tow when the tape recorders were rolling too — sometimes jumping right into the conversation.

Rabbi Shmuley: How old were you now?

Prince (in background): We’re three! (laughter)

If the world sees him as the strange father who cloaked his children in masks, the tapes reveal the tender dad we didn’t see.

Michael Jackson: Like I say to Prince and Paris, “You know why I bought you this?” They say “because you love me.” I say “yes, that’s why I bought it.” They need to know that.

The rabbi says family bonding was such a central part of his friendship with Jackson that they began working on a national campaign to promote Friday nights as family night.

Rabbi Shmuley: A national family dinner time. Because families who eat with their children, it minimizes drug use, early sexuality, there are so many benefits.

It’s a dream rooted in Jackson’s own childhood scars.

Michael Jackson: If I had, if there were a children’s day when I was little, and I looked at my father and say “OK, Daddy, Joseph,-what are we going to do today?”, you know what that would’ve meant to me? He go “Well, want to go to the movies?” That would’ve meant so much to me, Shmuley. (tearing up)

With his tears sometimes audible, the Michael Jackson you’ll hear now comes out from behind his mask, unveiling a man few people knew –or could ever comprehend.

Michael Jackson: And I’m — I’m going to say something I’ve never said it before, uh, um, and this is the truth, Shmuley. I– I have no reason to lie to you. God knows I’m telling the truth. I think all my success and fame –and I’ve wanted it. I’ve wanted it. Because I wanted to be loved. That’s all.

As the lead singer of the Jackson 5, Michael Jackson was a childhood sensation. But behind his beaming smile, there was searing pain.Michael Jackson: It’s true, Shmuley. I suffered a lot in that way.

Rabbi Shmuley: Michael had a broken childhood. There were always two Michael Jacksons. There was Michael Jackson, African-American boy from Gary, Indiana, who grew up in abject poverty. And then, there was the King Of Pop.

Jackson, the King Of Pop, has talked about Michael, the boy, before … But never like this. In unsettling detail, he opens up about his fear of his father and manager, Joe Jackson.Michael Jackson: You’d look in the audience, and he’d make a face like this. You’d go,”I can’t mess up, he’s gonna kill us.” It would scare the bejesus out of you and you’d be like, everybody’s clapping and he’d be like, like looking at you hard, like “Don’t you mess up” and you know, I’m like, “Oh God, I’m in trouble after the show.”

Rabbi Shmuley: There was no one on Michael’s mind more than his father Joseph, no one. His father came up constantly, usually in painful, negative stories.

Jackson told Shmuley that growing up, he and his siblings would dread the moment their father came home.

Michael Jackson: We’d hear his car comin’ the driveway. He always drove a big Mercedes and he drives real slow. “Joseph’s home, Joseph’s home, quick!” Doors slam, everybody runs to their room.

Like there’s sometimes I’d be in bed at night sleeping, it’s 12 at night. The door is locked. He said, “I’m giving you five seconds, you don’t open, I’m going to kick it down.” And he starts kicking it, boom! Like breaking the door down. Why didn’t you sign that contract today? I go, “I don’t know.” He goes, “Well, sign it. If you don’t sign it, you are in trouble.”

Rabbi Shmuley: So you would sign?

Michael Jackson: I had to! He would, he was very physical. He’d throw you and hit you as hard as he can.

And as Michael describes to the rabbi, they were beatings that sometimes got brutal.

Michael Jackson: He was rough. The way he would beat you, you know, was hard, you know. Sometime he take, um, he would make you strip nude first. He would oil you down. It would be a whole ritual. He would oil you down so when the flip of the ironing cord hit you, you know. And it would just like be dying and you had whips all over your face, your back, everywhere. And I always hear my mother, “No, Joe! You’re gonna kill ‘em. You’re gonna kill ‘em, no!” I would just give up, like there was nothing I could do, you know? And I, and I hated him for it, hated him.

Rabbi Shmuley: Michael was terrified of his father.

Terrified, and also resentful.

Rabbi Shmuley: Did you begin to feel that you were like a moneymaking machine for him?

Michael Jackson: Yes. I’ll never forget it, one day he said, “If you guys ever stop singing, I’ll drop you like a hot potato.” That’s what he said. It hurt me. You don’t say that to children and I never forgot it.

It was a shunning of affection that colored almost all Jackson’s childhood memories of his father.

Michael Jackson: I never felt love from him. And he would never hold me or touch me.

Rabbi Shmuley: He only has one memory of his father ever doing anything loving for him as a child. He was about 5 years old. He was at a carnival. And his father picked him up and put him on a horse. And he said he has relived that moment almost every day of his life. Michael learned the devastating effects of neglecting a child.Jackson told Shmuley his sadness created a torment so wrenching that he and his siblings even fantasized about their father being dead.

Michael Jackson: We used to say to our mother, we used to say to each other, and I’ll never forget this. Janet and myself, we say, I would say, “Janet, shut your eyes.” She’d go, “Okay, they’re shut.” I’d say, “Picture Joseph in a coffin. He’s dead. Did you feel sorry?” She’d go, “No.” That’s what we used to do to each other as kids. We’d like play games like that. She’d go, she’d go, “Nope.” Just like that. And that’s how hateful we were.

Jackson’s siblings have said in the past that Joe Jackson was hard on them, but their descriptions are inconsistent. And Joe Jackson has said he whipped his son, but never beat him. A spokesman for the Jackson family told us “The family will not dignify this with a comment.”

Meredith Vieira: You’ve met Joe Jackson.

Rabbi Shmuley: I have.

Meredith Vieira: Does this ring true to you, does it make sense to you?

Rabbi Shmuley: What’s not important, as far as Michael is concerned, is whether or not these allegations are true, they may not be true, but Michael certainly perceived them to be true.

And like most things in Jackson’s life, nothing was black and white. At times, he spoke fondly of his father — crediting him with much of his own success.

Michael Jackson: And God bless my father because he did some wonderful things, and he was brilliant, he was a genius.

Meredith Vieira: He always talks about how brilliant his dad was.

Rabbi Shmuley: Michael was wrestling with his anger and his disappointment.

Rabbi Shmuley: And how do you view him today?

Michael Jackson: I’m scared of my father to this day. My father walk in the room — and God knows I’m telling the truth. I’ve fainted in his presence many times. I’ll say once, to be honest. I fainted once. I’ve thrown up in his presence because just when he comes in the room, ugh, this aura comes and my stomach start hurting and I know like I’m in trouble. And now, he’s so different now. And he wants to be a better father. I just wished he had of learned that earlier.

Rabbi Shmuley: Why are you still scared then?

Michael Jackson: Because the scar is still there. I’m like an angel in front of him, I’m scared. One day he said “Why are you scared of me?” And I couldn’t answer. I thought, I said, “Joseph, do you know what you’ve done? Do you know what you’ve done to me?”

Rabbi Shmuley: I think that it was Michael’s inability to be reconciled with his father that ultimately, more than anything else, consumed him.

Meredith Vieira: Because?

Rabbi Shmuley: Because he wanted his father’s validation and love more than anything else.

Meredith Vieira: And when he didn’t get it?

Rabbi Shmuley: He couldn’t heal. Millions of fans couldn’t heal him.

If Michael Jackson was a man who never had a childhood, he seemed to spend most of his adulthood chasing it. If he could, he told the rabbi, he would stay a child forever.Michael Jackson: I would love to come back as as a child that never grows old, like Peter Pan.

In fact, even at age 27, when “Thriller” was topping the charts, the King Of Pop was still living at home with Mom and Dad.

Michael Jackson: I thought I was still this little kid. It’s not time for me to go yet. I said I’m still a boy. I’m not supposed to leave home yet. I really felt that in my heart. And when he did finally move out, Michael Jackson remained as childlike as ever — famously naming his ranch “Neverland” — a place where he surrounded himself with laughing children, and relished playing games like hide-and-go seek.

Michael Jackson: I see beauty in all children. They all beautiful to me. They’re so beautiful and I love them all — equally.

Rabbi Shmuley: He wanted to have an ordinary life. But for him, ordinary meant reversing to his childhood. That if he could just build Neverland and have rides, which he didn’t have when he was a kid. If he could just have monkey bars and merry-go-rounds, which he didn’t have when he was a kid, that he would heal.

But Neverland was a place where innocence and darkness would collide as the real motives behind the King Of Pop’s connection to children raised unsettling questions.

Rabbi Shmuley: He didn’t like talking about that. That was very painful for him. To the extent that he talked about it, he would say that it was a lie– it was a lie.

What Jackson does talk openly about on tape — at great length – is his deep empathy for children, telling the rabbi he can’t bear to see them suffer.

Michael Jackson: It can be in a movie or I could be in a department store and I’ll hear someone arguing at their child, I break down and cry. Because it reflects how I was treated when I was little. I cry — I break down at that moment and I shake and I cry. I can’t take it. It’s hard.

Jackson didn’t just love children, he told the rabbi. He needed them — they were his refuge, his saviors.

Michael Jackson: The happiness and the joy that I see in the eyes of the children. They give me– they saved my life so I want to, give it back [starts crying]. They saved me, Shmuley. I’m not joking.

Meredith Vieira: He says children have literally saved his life. What did he mean?

Rabbi Shmuley: That it’s the only thing left he has to live for. He had achieved all his dreams. He’d become a billionaire, but that didn’t make him happy. He had become the most recognizable face on earth, arguably, but that didn’t make him happy. The only thing that did was to learn from the pain of his absent childhood, to teach others that children are precious. And that gave him purpose.

But it was a mission Jackson seemed to take to an extreme — even telling the rabbi he sees himself as a universal father who has the power to heal sick children.

Rabbi Shmuley: Do you feel that God gave you a certain healing power?

Michael Jackson: Yes. And I’ve seen children just shower all over me with love. They want to just touch me and hug me and completely just hold on and cry and not let go. And mothers pick their babies and put them into my arms. “Touch my baby, and hold them, touch my baby, touch my baby.”

Meredith Vieira: He did see himself as somewhat of a Messiah, with healing powers

Rabbi Shmuley: He would say to me, “I want to devote my whole life to helping kids, that’s the only thing that’s important to me.” And I would say, “You can help kids. But you’re not their parent. Stop believing you’re the child’s Messiah.”

In august of 2000, Jackson invited Rabbi Shmuley and his family to Neverland. At the very same time, a young boy, a 13-year-old cancer patient, was also visiting.

Michael Jackson: Every time I talk to him, he is in a better spirit.

Rabbi Shmuley: You’re healing him, not just speaking to him?

Michael Jackson: I KNOW I’m healing him. He says, “I need you Michael.” Then he calls me “Dad.” I go, “You better ask your Dad if it is OK for you to call me that.” He goes, “Dad, is it OK if I call Michael ‘Dad?’” [laughs] And he says, “Yeah, no problem, whatever you want.” [laughs]. Kids always do that and I always feel that I don’t want the parents to get jealous that it happens sometimes and it rubs fathers in a strange way. And the kids end up just falling in love with my personality. Sometimes it gets me into trouble, you know, but I’m just there to help.

Three years later, that boy would accuse Michael Jackson of molesting him during that sleepover visit to Neverland. And though Jackson was ultimately vindicated after a 14-week trial, the charges would forever tarnish Jackson’s name.

Meredith Vieira: You went to Neverland. You were there when that boy was there.

Rabbi Shmuley: Correct.

Meredith Vieira: Did you ever see anything untoward? Did you get the feeling there’s something odd here?

Rabbi Shmuley: No, I never saw anything.

And, Shmuley says, the singer had repeatedly — and emphatically — denied similar allegations lodged against him in 1993, when another 13-year-old boy who had traveled around the world with Jackson filed a civil suit against him.Meredith Vieira: All of the attraction that he had to children, and the attention that he paid to children, you believe all of it was innocent?

Rabbi Shmuley: I don’t know. What was certainly true is that he wasn’t a monster. He may have done something that was unforgiveable even, but that didn’t make him a monster.

If the King Of Pop was drawn to children, he was often shy and awkward with women, as you’ll hear in candid revelations about his celebrity dates, and crushes, from Madonna to Brooke Shields to Princess Diana.

On Tape, Michael Jackson is a man full of contradictions.Michael Jackson: I pray when I see something totally magnificent. How could you not see that and go “Wow, what a good God”?

Reflective and grateful at times, so self-absorbed and brazen at others, that he sounds almost delusional about his power.

Rabbi Shmuley: You believe if you were face to face with Hitler you could have… Michael Jackson: Absolutely.

Rabbi Shmuley: You really think you could have gotten through to Hitler?

Michael Jackson: Yes. Mm hmm.

Rabbi Shmuley: By finding the good in him somehow?

Michael Jackson: Yes, I think I could have. I really do. I think nobody really talked to him. I hate to say — brownnosers. But that’s what they were. That’s what he wanted. That’s what they did.

Meredith Vieira: On the one side, he seems to be very self-loathing, hates what he sees in the mirror, insecure. On the other hand, he paints himself to be somebody who could heal sick children, who could turn Hitler around.

Rabbi Shmuley: Unbelievable statements. He was either showing me an incredibly wholesome side that made you fall in love with the kind of person he was, or a strange, bizarre dimension messiah complex. Insatiable for attention.

When it comes to women, the King Of Pop sounds especially conflicted. He describes his mom Katherine as nothing short of saintly.

Michael Jackson: I don’t know anybody like her, she’s like a Mother Teresa. There’s very few people like that.

Rabbi Shmuley: He adored his mother and cherished her.

Meredith Vieira: And yet, when he talks about other women, you got the sense that he didn’t trust women.

Rabbi Shmuley: Michael exhibited tendencies of misogyny. That women are materialistic, that women want things from you.

Michael Jackson: Women can do some things that make guys very unhappy. I’ve seen it with my brothers. I’ve seen my brothers crying, in tears and pulling the grass out of the lawn out of frustration because of their wives.

Jackson describes women as manipulative, disappointing. Here, he talks about how badly Lisa Marie Presley let him down when she didn’t want children.

Michael Jackson: She promised me that before we married, that would be the first thing we’d do is have children. So I was broken-hearted and I walked around all the time holding these little baby dolls and I’d be crying, that’s how badly I wanted it, you know.

For a 42-year-old man, the immaturity that comes across on Michael Jackson’s tapes is startling. Sometimes, he sounds just like a teenager.

Michael Jackson: I’ve never asked a girl out in my life, they have to ask me.

Rabbi Shmuley: Really?

Michael Jackson: Yeah. I can’t ask a girl out.

Had he been able to muster up the courage, Jackson told Rabbi Shmuley there was a certain princess who would have been at the top of his list.

Michael Jackson: I liked the way Lady Diana would make her kids wait in line, you know, at amusement parks and things. Like everybody. I thought that was so beautiful. She was good.

Rabbi Shmuley: You felt an immediate connection with her?

Michael Jackson: Yeah, I loved her very much. Yeah, she was my type, she was my type for sure.

There was no date with Lady Di. But romance was definitely in the air when the King Of Pop stepped out with other high profile celebs. Tatum O’Neal was his first girlfriend.

Michael Jackson: When I held Tatum’s hand, I was, like, in heaven. It was the most magical thing. It was better than kissing her, it was better than anything. I remember we went to this club, and I don’t go to clubs, which was called the Roxy. And I watching the band, I was sitting there, and underneath the table, she was holding my hand, and I was, like. melting.

Rabbi Shmuley: She held your hand and you felt love?

Michael Jackson: Fireworks going off.

The song “Pretty Young Thing” could easily have been inspired by his affection for Brooke Shields.

Michael Jackson: That was one of the loves of my life. I think she loved me as much as I loved her, you know? We dated a lot. We, we went out a lot. Her pictures were all over my wall, my mirror, everything. And I went to the Academy Awards with Diana Ross and this girl walks up to me and says “Hi, I’m Brooke Shields.” Then she goes “Are you going to the after-party?” I go, “Yeah.” “Good, I’ll see you at the party.” I’m going “Oh my God, does she know she’s all over my room?” So we go the after-party. She comes up to me she goes, “Will you dance with me?” I went, “Yes. I will dance with you.” Man, we exchanged numbers and I was up all night, singing, spinning around my room, just so happy. It was great.

At Jackson’s memorial service, Shields would reflect tearfully on their tender bond.

Brooke Shields: When we were together, we were two little kids having fun.

Meredith Vieira: Did you get the feeling talking to him that he ever got beyond that sort of that adolescent approach to romance, the kind of giggly, almost kid-like?

Rabbi Shmuley: For me, it was actually something, you know, it was a blessing to see such a famous man saying that holding hands was suddenly so special. But if you asked me in general, do I think that there was an adolescent quality to Michael? Of course.

It’s a quality that made for an odd match with one star who wasn’t the least bit shy about doing the asking out:

Madonna (at the MTV music awards): I asked him out to dinner: I said, “My treat, I’ll drive, just you and me.”

Jackson was all smiles in the car. But on these tapes, he reveals that the material girl’s saucy ways felt more than a little dangerous.

Michael Jackson: You know, at the time I was with Madonna, she was into books, all over, a whole collec–like a library of books of women who were tied to walls, different things. She said, “I love spanky books.” Why would I want to see that? I think she likes shock value.

Madonna laid down the law to me before we went out. “I am not going to Disneyland, okay? That’s out.” I said “I didn’t ask you to go Disneyland.” She said, “We are going to the restaurant and afterwards we are going to a strip bar.” I am not going to a strip bar, where they cross dress. Guys who are, are girls. Said “I am not going to go there,” and I think afterwards she wrote some mean things about me in the press and I said that she’s a nasty witch.

Rabbi Shmuley: Michael’s tough on Madonna in the book. And he seems to be saying that the reason is that Madonna tried to drag him into a world of prurience. And maybe there was somewhat of a rivalry between them.

Whether it was a true rivalry or not, Jackson does paint Madonna as envious when he talks about jealousy in Hollywood.

Michael Jackson: They admire you and know you’re wonderful and great but just they’re jealous ’cause they wish they were in your place, wish they were in your shoes. And “M” is one of ‘em. Madonna. She’s not a nice, she hasn’t been kind -

Rabbi Shmuley: She’s jealous?

Michael Jackson: Absolutely. She’s a woman and I think that’s what bothers her. Women don’t scream for other women. men are too cool to scream for women and i get that. I get the fainting and the adulation and the notoriety but she doesn’t. She can’t get that.

Click for related content

‘I am scared of my father’: Read book excerpts
Discuss this story
fridayisfamily.com: Shmuley’s site for parents
Shmuley.com: More about Rabbi Shmuley

But like Brooke Shields, Madonna had only fond memories of her time with Jackson when she hailed him in a moving speech at the MTV video music awards.

Madonna: We sat on the couch like two kids, and somewhere in the middle of the film, his hand snuck over and held mine. It felt like he was looking for a friend more than a romance and I was happy to oblige him.

And Shmuley suspects that now, Jackson would be far less harsh on his friend Madge than he was in the tapes recorded 9 years ago.

Rabbi Shmuley: At the time, you know, Madonna had a certain image. She has– changed that image substantially. Michael — used to speculate that as a mother, she would change. And he probably would agree with that today.

One thing was clear though — to the rabbi, Jackson seemed incapable of sustaining any meaningful relationship with a woman. And with no adult love in his life, was the writing on the wall?

He talked about vanishing.Michael Jackson: I would like to- some kind of way disappear, where people don’t see me anymore.

His fear of growing old…

Michael Jackson: I just don’t want to look old and start forgetting.And hauntingly, his own death.

Michael Jackson: When the body breaks down, and you start to wrinkle, I think it’s so bad.

Rabbi Shmuley: So you would die before that happens?

Michael Jackson: Uh.. I don’t want to grow old.

Rabbi Shmuley: You don’t want to die young?

Michael Jackson: Um, you’re asking me an interesting question. You sure you want my answer?

He couldn’t stand the thought of himself with gray hair – and at 42, Michael Jackson was already fixated on his final resting place.

Michael Jackson: I want to be buried right where there’s children. I would feel safer that way. I want them next to me. I need their spirit.

Meredith Vieira: There are a number of comments that Michael made to you in these tapes that in light of his premature death are– are eerie.

Rabbi Shmuley: Michael said to me constantly, “If I can’t help kids, then I will find a way to terminate my life.”

Meredith Vieira: Did he have a death wish?

Rabbi Shmuley: He lost the will to live. Did that mean that he consciously wanted to die? Probably not. I think he was just going through the motions of life toward the end and medicating away almost any kind of human response.

In 2001, after counseling Michael Jackson for two years — and capturing 30 hours of his innermost thoughts on tape– Rabbi Shmuley cut ties with the star.

He says the King Of Pop was slipping from his reach, so lured by the pull of fame – and the seduction of pain numbing drugs — that he completely lost interest in their philanthropic projects.

Rabbi Shmuley: For two years, I really felt that I was making headway in helping Michael restructure his life, but once I saw that Michael was treating my advice as if I were a nuisance. I had to end our relationship. Was I gonna applaud as he slowly self-immolated? If I’m just another someone who’s afraid to tell him that he’s got to stop doing drugs, then what was I doing there?

Meredith Vieira: But was there a part of you, as a rabbi, as somebody who had explored his deepest pain with him, who felt, I’m deserting him?

Rabbi Shmuley: If I had gone back, Meredith, not only would I not have helped him, I would have been dragged into that destructive vortex, and I would have needed help.

To the rabbi, the tragic writing was already on the wall. In 2004, he stated publicly that he feared the worst.

Rabbi Shmuley: That Michael will be dead in a few years. He is headed toward Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Janice Joplin. It’s almost inescapable.

Still, the rabbi was devastated, when at age 50, Michael Jackson did suddenly die.

Meredith Vieira: Your initial reaction to his death was anger.

Rabbi Shmuley: My first reaction was, you stupid, stupid man, how could you do this? How could you orphan your children? Your children have no mother.

Meredith Vieira: Is that what hurt you most, the fact that he is not there to father his children anymore?

Rabbi Shmuley: What hurt me most is that Michael threw away his life, and God endowed this special man with talent that the rest of us could only dream of. Why did it have to end tragically?

Michael Jackson: I want to always be youthful and have the energy to run around and play hide and seek, which is one of my favorite games.

It is Michael Jackson’s own voice, his own words, his deeply personal revelations – that now make the rabbi hopeful that in some way America can make sense of his death, that we can learn something.

Rabbi Shmuley: Michael’s life demands redemption. You can’t have someone die at 50 from an overdose and not try to learn some moral lesson.

Michael Jackson: I wanted to become such a wonderful performer that I would get loved back. I was hoping I could get love from other people.

Shmuley believes the book, and the tapes, will help the public see in Jackson a tragic example of what happens when the scars of neglect never heal.

Rabbi Shmuley: A world renowned superstar invites the public into the pain of his childhood, so that parents would learn from that they will now truly understand the horrors that were visited on him.

Meredith Vieira: But forgive me Rabbi, some people are gonna look at the book and say “Well, wait a minute, the book comes out after Michael Jackson has died, but you profit off the book.

Rabbi Shmuley: Well Meredith, let’s remember. I’ve written 21 books, so publishing books is what I do. This book earned a modest advance. Much of the proceeds are gonna be used for organizations that promote family and values. This book is a redemptive book, and it’s a beautiful book.

Michael Jackson: I’ve seen the worst, the nightmare of the human condition, the human soul, of what I would never even think common man would be capable of behaving in such a way.Meredith Vieira: When you hear his voice now, when you play those tapes over, what do you hear in that voice?

Rabbi Shmuley: It’s the saddest thing in the world. A man trying to break through this– this cage. A man trying to break through the people’s perception, the fame, saying, “I’m a person.”

Rabbi Shmuley: You’re not angry at God, you’re not angry at the world?

Michael Jackson: I’m not angry — I’m very, taken by it. I’m hurt. I cry an awful lot.

Michael Jackson: I think all my success and fame and – I’ve wanted it, I’ve wanted it because I wanted to be loved. That’s all.

Michael Jackson’s tapes leave us clues, but like other tragic icons before him, questions will linger for years about the broken soul behind the mask.

This Is It Dancer Auditions

Webmaster — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:30:35 +0000

This documentary chronicles the the dancers auditions for the This Is It Tour scheduled for the O2 Arena concerts.

Michael Jackson Interviews, Documentaries and Awards Performances

Webmaster — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:05:29 +0000

Michael Jackson Biography

MJ’s Greatest TV Moments

1981 Michael On the Diana Ross Show

1983 On the Set of Beat It Interview

1987 Bad Interview

1987 – 2300 Jackson Street – Jackson Family Music Video

1993 Private Home Movies

1993 Famous Oprah Interview

1993 Legend Award Grammy’s

1995 Michael & Lisa Marie Interview

1995 MTV Video Music Awards Interview

1995 MTV Video Music Awards Performance

1996 BRIT Awards Earth Song Performance

1999 Barbara Walters Interview

2003 Living with MJ, Take Two Interview

2003 60 Minutes Interview

2006 Michael’s Last Interview with Will.i.am

7-7-2009 – Memorial Highlights

2009 Michael as Father

2009 Michael Jackson Humanitarian

2009 New Pics of Prince and Paris

2009 Dr. Arnie Klein Interview

2009 Uri Geller Interview on British TV

Michael Jackson’s Last Interview with Will.i.am

Webmaster — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:32:55 +0000

Billy Bush traveled to Ireland back in 2006 where he met up with Michael Jackson and the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am in the studio. They discussed what the sound they were looking to produce together and how they first decided to work together.

From Billy Bush's Blog at Access Hollywood:

"What did God say when Michael arrived? DID he arrive? Was he consoled and embraced and ultimately released from all of his childhood pain or was he admonished for what many suspect but thankfully don't have confirmed?

There is an inescapable question mark as to the ethics and balance of Michael Jackson that goes with him to his grave. It is most assuredly not what Michael had in mind when he set out to be pop music's "P.T. Barnum", the man in the middle of the circus.

Although, let's be real, anyone who reportedly invites a gossip tabloid to shoot him in a hyperbaric chamber courts the bizarre.

I was the last person to get Michael Jackson to go on camera. Technically, it was his last interview as I asked some questions and he answered them, but its not one I'd choose to hang my hat on. Michael was alternately petrified and obsessed with my camera. He loved the small HD handheld 24P size camera and demanded to know where he could get one. But, before the cameras got rolling, while sitting in the small kitchen of his temporary Irish countryside cottage, Michael asked, "Is 5 minutes ok?"

Interviews hadn't gone well for him in their aftermath since pre-Oprah in 1993.

Our meeting took place in October 2006 about 2 hours outside of Dublin in a recording studio. Will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas was there, mixing and collaborating with Michael. Michael was much relieved to have Will join us and in truth, Will mostly did the talking. When the music came on, MJ started tapping and moving. He got up and danced, he sang. I was 8 feet away. Wow. I'll always have that.

Of course my intent was to get him relaxed and talkative. It never really happened cuz that wall wasn't coming down. I saw the pain in Michael. I knew he could not take one more ounce of disappointment. Michael simply wanted to be universally adored. Loved by ALL. That leads to the ultimate conclusion of his death:

Michael will never be disappointed again. He is right now universally adored. His legacy of hits and impact on music and everyone that came after him is undeniable and EVERYONE in the music community will see to it that THAT wall does not come down. Michael will be immortalized like Elvis, Lennon and JFK. Michael never met an honor he did not want to accept. The love of yesterday and today means so much to him, so I'm sure he is finally…. happy. But back to God.

What did God say? "You are forgiven?", "I'm sorry?", "I made Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy and John Landis as well as Joe and Katherine, so therefore I made YOU!"? "You should have trusted Billy Bush and loosened up. He was NOT there to 'catch' you in any way?" (My personal regret related choice).

The enigma of that scenario is very much like its subjects, The Lord of Hosts and the King of Pop."

Michael as Father

Webmaster — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:52:15 +0000

Michael Jackson was a loving father and cherished by his children.

Michael Jackson Humanitarian

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:00:48 +0000

Michael Jackson was a true humanitarian, an example to us all. He devoted much time and money to a wide range of charities. He loved children and took time out when touring secretly visting sick children. He also had special rooms at his home Neverland for sick and terminally ill children to stay over. He was listed in the 2000 edition of the Guiness Book Of World Records for breaking the world record for the "Most Charities Supported By a Pop Star." It states that Michael Jackson has supported 39 charity organizations either with monetary donations through sponsorships of their projects or by participating in their silent auction.

The Heal the World Foundation is a charitable organization founded by entertainer Michael Jackson in 1992. The foundation's creation was inspired by his charitable single of the same name. Through his foundation, Jackson airlifted 46 tons of supplies to Sarajevo, instituted drug and alcohol abuse education and donated millions of dollars to less fortunate children, including the full payment of a Hungarian child's liver transplant. Failure to file yearly accounting statements saw the charity lose its tax exempt status in 2002 but it was re-gained, under new management, in 2008.

Background

Prior to the creation of the Heal the World Foundation, Jackson had expressed great interest in humanitarianism, equality and world peace. Songs such as "Can You Feel It", "We Are the World" and "Man in the Mirror" convey this. Jackson also donated millions of dollars to charity, including his $5 million share from the Victory Tour.^[1]

In 1984, while filming a Pepsi Cola commercial, Jackson suffered second degree burns to his scalp after pyrotechnics accidentally set his hair on fire.^[2] PepsiCo settled a lawsuit out of court, and Jackson gave his $1.5 million settlement to the "Michael Jackson Burn Center" which was a piece of new technology to help people with severe burns.^[2]

Shortly afterward, Jackson was invited to the White House to receive an award presented by American President Ronald Reagan. The award was given for Jackson's support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse.^[3]

In 1985, Jackson co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" with Lionel Richie, which was released worldwide to aid the poor in Africa and the US. He was one of 39 music celebrities who performed on the record. The single became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with nearly 20 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated to famine relief. It was also the first time Jackson was recognized for his humanitarian efforts.^[4]

Mission

Jackson founded the charity in 1992, naming it after his hit song, "Heal the World". The purpose of the charity was to provide medicine to children and fight world hunger, homelessness, child exploitation and abuse. Jackson stated that he wanted "to improve the conditions for children throughout the world".^[5]

The foundation also brought underprivileged children to Jackson's Neverland Ranch, located outside Santa Ynez, California, to go on theme park rides that Jackson had built on the property after he purchased it in 1988.

Fundraising

The Dangerous World Tour began on June 27, 1992, and finished on November 11, 1993. Jackson performed to 3.5 million people in 67 concerts. All profits from the concerts went to the "Heal the World Foundation", raising millions of dollars in relief.^[6] Through the foundation, Jackson airlifted 46 tons of supplies to Sarajevo, instituted drug and alcohol abuse education and paid for a Hungarian child's liver transplant.^[7]^[8]

One of Michael Jackson's most acclaimed performances came during the halftime show at the National Football League's Super Bowl XXVII. At the show, Jackson performed his anthem "Heal the World", to help promote the organization with the assistance of a choir of 750 people and a flash card display involving 98,000 volunteers. Jackson donated his entire fees to the foundation, with the NFL also donating $100,000 and a 30-second TV spot to push for contributions.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Following the Super Bowl, Jackson ran a full-page advertisement in the newspaper USA Today, providing a toll-free number. A coupon was provided that could be clipped and mailed in along with a contribution. Those donating $35 or more were given a "Heal the World" T-shirt.^[12]

The environmental themed music video for "Earth Song" closed with a request for donations to Jackson's foundation.^[13]

In 1997, Jackson earned money from photographs of his son, Prince Michael. The photographs were sold to "OK!" magazine and the National Enquirer, raising $3 million for the foundation. ^[14]

Heal the Kids

In February 2001, Jackson launched Heal the Kids, an initiative of HTWF and part of the foundation's attempt to boost children's welfare.^[15] Jackson launched the charity initiative, stating, "Heal the Kids will help adults and parents realize it's in our power to change the world our children live in".^[16]

Jackson gave a speech at Oxford University about raising children, as part of the launch of his "Heal the Kids" initiative. The website healtheworld.us described the initiative and this Oxford speech. In the speech, Jackson spoke rhetorically of his children, "What if they grow older and resent me, and how my choices impacted their youth?…Why weren't we given a normal childhood like all the other children? And at that moment I pray that my children will give me the benefit of the doubt. That they will say to themselves: Our daddy did the best he could, given the unique circumstances he faced. I hope that they will focus on the positives things, on the sacrifices I willingly made for them…". Journalist J. Randy Taraborrelli concluded that Jackson's performance during the speech was "absorbing" and well received.^[17]

Disbandment

In 2002, the Heal the World Foundation was suspended, after failing to file yearly accounting statements, required for tax-exempt organizations.^[18] Records showed that the foundation had net assets of $3,542 and reported $2,585 in expenses.^[19] The foundation did not have a director, president or other top manager besides Jackson, who was listed as chairman.^[20]

From 2002 to 2008 the charity held many poor yielding fundraisers and took two questionnaires and 'polls' to measure public 'approval' following Mr. Jackson's trial and acquittal. ^[21]

Relaunch

In 2008, the Heal The World Foundation was relaunched under new management after several years of R&D, fund raising experiments by HTWF volunteers and was publicly resurrected with a more robust and detailed plan to address global problems, according to the foundation's official website. HTWF is believed to be launching a 'new' way of donating to charity, now that they are recognized again by the IRS as of March, 2008 as a public Charity with tax exempt status.^[22]

Heal the Word Foundation Website Link

Notes

^ Taraborrelli, p. 320
^ ^a ^b Taraborrelli, p. 279–287
^ Taraborrelli, p. 304–307
^ Taraborrelli, p. 340–344
^ "Jackson's foundation aimed at helping kids", The Seattle Times.
^ Harrington, Richard (1992-02-05). "Jackson to Tour Overseas". The Washington Post.
^ Mack, Joe."Music legend deserves privacy, respect, admiration from public", The Western Front.
^ "Jacko's childrens' foundation now defunct", Fox News.
^ "Michael Jackson to headline Super Bowl halftime", The Seattle Times.
^ "Jackson's foundation aimed at helping kids", The Seattle Times.
^ Taraborrelli, p. 454
^ "Jackson's foundation aimed at helping kids", The Seattle Times.
^ Michael Jackson HIStory on Film volume II VHS/DVD
^ "Jackson baby photo money to go to charity", MTV.com.
^ "Fans worship Michael Jackson at NY appearance", MTV.com.
^ "Fans worship Michael Jackson at NY appearance", MTV.com.
^ Taraborrelli, p. 626–627
^ "Jacko's childrens' foundation now defunct", Fox News.
^ "Jackson's childrens' foundation now defunct", Fox News.
^ "Jackson's childrens' foundation now defunct", Fox News.
^ http://www.healtheworldfoundation.org/
^ http://www.healtheworldfoundation.org/

References

Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Terra Alta, WV: Headline. ISBN 0-330-42005-4.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Michael Jackson Bad Interview

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:45:04 +0000

Part 1 Above – Part 2 Below

This rare interview with Michael Jackson on the set of the music video for "Bad" has recently been discovered. The interview features behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the video, as well as commentary about the album "Bad." The interview also gets more personal, including questions about whether Jackson is a 'prayerful person.'

Michael Jackson on Diana Ross’ Show 1981

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:15:52 +0000

Diana (a project for CBS network) was the first TV special of Diana Ross' not produced by Motown Productions. It was produced under Diana Ross Enterprises and it combined footage from a concert held in L.A. on February 5, 1981, with studio footage. This special coincided with her record breaking and hugely successful album of the same name. Guest stars included Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Larry Hagman (JR from the TV show Dallas) and The Joffrey Ballet. With an appearance by Mohammad Ali.

Part 2

On the Set of Beat It Interview 1983

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:00:16 +0000

Fascinating insights into the young Jackson's mind from an interview with Ebony Jet Magazine in 1983 on the set of the Beat It video production. I don't think either of them knew the impact of this video and how it was changing the music world on this very day.

Here is the transcript:

Michael: And they are coming together to rumble, to fight. And my object is to tell them to turn the other.., I mean don’t fight, turn the other cheek, I mean, it’s your brother who you are killing and…

Interview: ah…

Michael: And I do it through an aggressive beat and rhythm and dance and everything.

Interviewer: And you got a real gang in it too.

Michael: Yeah, we have real gang members integrated in with dancers, we got lots of real gang members in it.

Interviewer: Do crowds worry you?

Michael: Not on tour. I get afraid of. Well I don’t know people. I can get afraid of people sometimes. It’s a whole other life, that I haven’t really experienced that. Like friendship is a thing I am just beginning to learn about. I was raised on the stage and that is where I am comfortable. And everything else is like foreign to me. I’m just beginning to know to learn about people, friendship, things like that.

Interview: So you never really hit the streets, hm?

Michael: I know nothing about it. I guess from movies, or the schooling that I’ve had. We’ve had tutors throughout the years and private schools. When I was real little I went to public school once and I went to another public school for one week and it got so bad. The fans, they'd come into class and they chased us around and stuff.

Interviewer: So, who are your real friends?

Michael: I love our fans. Everyone who buys our records. From my heart and my work. I appreciate the fact that they enjoy it..

Interviewer: Mhm, but I mean just close personal friends, are those close personal friends?

Michael: Quincy Jones is a friend; and there is a few others.

Interviewer: Are they all in show business?

Michael: Jane Fonda is a good friend, Diana Ross, very dear friend Diana Ross, she is the kind of person I can tell her anything, the most private of secrets. And she tell me her secrets as well.

Interviewer: What about your house. I understand that you tore your house down and rebuilt it for your mother in the form of a castle. Is that true?

Michael: Somewhat, yeah. I’ve always loved English Tudor and so does she. And I fantasize a lot in my life, you know, the whole knight and the princess style. Very story book.

Interviewer: Well, we would love to see it when it’s completed.

Michael: Disney Studios is doing a whole Pirates of the Caribbean room. When you walk in there, there is like a pirate’s shootout. And these animatronic robots like, and they talk and they sing and they dance and they are shooting. You walk in the middle of this whole war. And there is smoke and canons and everything. And that’s exciting! It’s taken from the Pirate’s of the Caribbean.

Interviewer: And you got this in your house?

Michael: Yeah.

Interviewer: I’ve read a magazine article about your Sundays and how you spend your Sundays. Your Sunday ritual I think they called it.

Michael: Yeah.

Interviewer: Tell me about the Sunday rituals.

Michael: Well, every Sunday I fast. I don’t eat anything. It’s just something I decided to do for my body. And I dance every Sunday. And I feel better doing it.

Interviewer: You just fast and dance?

Michael: I don’t eat anything.

Interviewer: What music do you dance to when you do this?

Michael: Mine. Or, anything that’s got a fast beat to it.

Interviewer: And who do you like right now?

Michael: Who do I like? Classical Music.

Interviewer (interrupts): Classical…!

Michael: That’s what I sleep to. People who come around me, they are surprised, because that’s what I listen to all day, is classical music.

Interviewer: Well, hey, I know you gotta go. They are giving me the high signs, you gotta get out of here and finish this at the next shoot. But, Thanks.

(Beat It starts playing.)

Michael Jackson MTV Interview 1995

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:45:21 +0000

The 1995 MTV Video Music Awards was broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City in which Michael Jackson opened the show and riveted the audience.

He whipped out a medley of hits "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" and "Black or White." On the first song, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash surprised the crowd when he joined Michael onstage to lay down a few smokin' riffs. Not content with performing a medley of so many hits, Jackson also laid out full versions of "Dangerous" and "You Are Not Alone." Not a bad way to kick off the show.

Michael was also a winner that night, sharing three Moonmen with his sister, Janet Jackson. The superstar sibling pair's "Scream" netted the Best Dance Video, Best Art Direction and Best Choreography awards.

Once again, the MTV VMAs were pure spectacle and we were riveted.

60 Minutes Interview 2003

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:30:18 +0000

For most of his life, Michael Jackson has been in the spotlight, most recently because of what has been described as bizarre behavior -— bizarre behavior that has now led him to be charged with sexually molesting a 13-year-old boy. If convicted, he could spend 20 years in prison.

Out on bail and awaiting trial, Michael Jackson speaks out about his arrest, his accuser and the charges that have, for this moment, made his life a shambles.

60 Minutes sat down with Michael Jackson on Christmas Day, 1993 at a hotel in Los Angeles –one of several cities where he has been in seclusion since authorities in Santa Barbara officially charged him with seven counts of sexual molestation and two counts of using an “intoxicating agent” — reported to be alcohol — to seduce the boy.

ED BRADLEY: What is your response to the allegations that were brought by the district attorney in Santa Barbara, that you molested this boy?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Totally false. Before I would hurt a child, I would slit my wrists. I would never hurt a child It's totally false. I was outraged. I could never do something like that

ED BRADLEY: This is a kid you knew?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yes.

ED BRADLEY: How would you characterize your relationship with this boy?

MICHAEL JACKSON: I've helped many, many, many children, thousands of children, cancer kids, leukemia kids. This is one of many.

Michael Jackson says his accuser is among thousands of children he’s invited to his 2,600—acre Neverland Ranch in California to play in his amusement park, visit his zoo, watch movies, play video games, and feast on their favorite foods.

ED BRADLEY: But tell me why you developed Neverland.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Because I wanted to have a place that I could create everything that I that I never had as a child. So, you see rides. You see animals. There's a movie theater. I was always on tour, traveling. You know? And — I never got a chance to do those things. So, I compensated for the loss by — I have a good — I mean, I can't go into a park. I can't go to Disneyland, as myself. I can't go out and walk down the street. There's crowds, and bumper to bumper cars. And so, I create my world behind my gates. Everything that I love is behind those gates. We have elephants, and giraffes, and crocodiles, and every kind of tigers and lions. And — and we have bus loads of kids, who don't get to see those things. They come up sick children, and enjoy it. They enjoy it in a pure, loving, fun way. It's people with the dirty mind that think like that. I don't think that way. That's not me.

ED BRADLEY: And — and do you think people look at you and think that way today?

MICHAEL JACKSON: If they have a sick mind, yeah. And if they believe the trash they read in newspapers, yeah. And — and it's not — what — just cause — remember something. Just because it's in print doesn't mean it's the gospel. People write negatives things, cause they feel that's what sells. Good news to them, doesn't sell.

And Jackson says his relationship with this boy he first met a year ago was positive. He says he was determined to help him with his battle against cancer.

ED BRADLEY: So when he would come over what would he do? What would you do?

MICHAEL JACKSON: I'll tell you exactly. When I first saw him, he was total bald—headed, white as snow from the chemotherapy, very bony, looked anorexic, no eyebrows, no eyelashes. And he was so weak, I would have to carry him from the house to the game room, or push him in a wheelchair, to try to give him a childhood, a life. Cause I felt bad. Because I never had that chance, too, as a child. You know? That the— and so, I know what it— it felt like in that way. Not being sick, but not having had a childhood. So, my heart go out to those children I feel their pain.

Jackson says he tried to help in the healing process by taking the boy around the grounds of Neverland to Jackson’s favorite places.

MICHAEL JACKSON: He had never really climbed a tree. So, I had this tree that I have at Neverland. I call it, "My Giving Tree." Cause I like to write songs up there. I've written many songs up there. So, I said, "You have to climb a tree. That's part of boyhood. You just gotta do it." And — I helped him up. And once he went up — up the tree, we looked down on the branches. And it was so beautiful. It was magical. And he loved it. To give him a chance to have a life, you know? Because he was told he was going to die. They told him. They told his — his parents prepare for his funeral, that's how bad it was. And I put him on a program. I've helped many children doing this. I put him on a mental program.

The boy — whose name and face we’re not revealing — has credited Michael Jackson’s friendship and support with helping him to battle his cancer. And last February in a British documentary that was filmed before the boy alleged he was sexually molested — he said that he had stayed overnight at Jackson’s home many times, and had slept in his bedroom.

JACKSON ACCUSER: There was one night, I asked him if I could stay in the bedroom. And he let me stay in the bedroom. And I was like, Michael, you can sleep on the bed. And he was like, no, no you sleep in the bed. And then he finally said, ‘Okay, if you love me, you’ll sleep on the bed.’ I was like, ‘Oh, man.’ And so I finally slept on the bed.

That comment – along with Michael Jackson’s startling confession that he had shared his bed many times with children – spurred an investigation last February by the Los Angeles county department of children and family services, which interviewed the boy and his mother to determine whether he had been sexually molested by Michael Jackson.

According an agency’s memo, “the child denied any form of sexual abuse,” and “the investigation by the sensitive case unit concluded the allegations of neglect and sexual abuse to be unfounded.” Over the next several months, relations between the boy’s family and Michael Jackson deteriorated. According to sources close to the family, the boy’s mother had suspicions that Jackson was serving alcohol to her 13-year-old son, who was still suffering from cancer. Eventually she took her suspicions to the district attorney and that led to a full scale investigation by his office and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff.

SHERRIFF JIM ANDERSON: An arrest warrant for Mr. Jackson has been issued on multiple counts of child molestation. The bail amount of the award has been set at 3 million dollars.

REPORTER: If Michael Jackson’s watching this right now, what’s your message to him?

DISTRICT ATTORNEY THOMAS SNEDDON: Get over here and get checked in.

With that announcement two weeks ago, Michael Jackson’s future and his career were in serious jeopardy. He surrendered to authorities and was booked on child molestation charges of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child.

ED BRADLEY: What was going through your mind when you're taken into a police station, in handcuffs, to have a mug shot taken, that you know is gonna be shown around the world?

MICHAEL JACKSON: They did it to try and belittle me, to try and to take away my pride. But I went through the whole system with them. And at the end, I— I wanted the public to know that I was okay, even though I was hurting.

ED BRADLEY: What happened when they arrested you? What did they do to you?

MICHAEL JACKSON: They were supposed to go in, and just check fingerprints, and do the whole thing that they do when they take somebody in. They manhandled me very roughly. My shoulder is dislocated, literally. It's hurting me very badly. I'm in pain all the time. This is, see this arm? This is as far as I can reach it. Same with this side over here.

ED BRADLEY: Because of what happened at the police station?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yeah. Yeah. At the police station. And what they did to me — if you — if you saw what they did to my arms — it was very bad what they did. It's very swollen. I don't wanna say. You'll see. You'll see.

We were given a photograph said to be taken after Michael Jackson was released on bail. Jackson says the swelling above his wrist is where the police handcuffed him.

ED BRADLEY: How did they do it? I mean, what, physically, what did they do?

MICHAEL JACKSON: With the handcuffs, the way they tied 'em too tight behind my back —

ED BRADLEY: Behind your back?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yeah. And putting it, they put it in a certain position, knowing that it's going to hurt, and affect my back. Now I can't move. I — I — it keeps me from sleeping at night. I can't sleep at night.

And Jackson says there was more …

MICHAEL JACKSON: Then one time, I asked to use the restroom. And they said, "Sure, it's right around the corner there." Once I went in the restroom, they locked me in there for like 45 minutes. There was doo doo, feces thrown all over the walls, the floor, the ceiling. And it stunk so bad. Then one of the policemen came by the window. And he made a sarcastic remark. He said, "Smell — does it smell good enough for you in there? How do you like the smell? Is it good?" And I just simply said, "It's alright. It's okay." So, I just sat there, and waited.

ED BRADLEY: For 45 minutes?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yeah, for 45 minutes. About 45 minutes. And then — then one cop would — come by, and say, "Oh, you'll be out in — in a second. You'll be out in a second." Then there would be another ten minutes added on, then another 15 minutes added on. They did this on purpose.

What about Jackson's allegations? Was he mistreated? Did the police injure his arm and shoulder? Did they lock him in a bathroom for 45 minutes? To get answers to those questions, we made repeated calls to both the sheriff's office and the office of the district attorney. They declined our request for an interview and referred us to the statement on their Web site, which says about allegations of mistreatment: "That is not true." It was the sheriff's deputies who executed the search warrant of the Neverland ranch.

ED BRADLEY: How did you feel when they went into Neverland, I mean, with a search warrant? I mean, what were they looking for? What did they take?

MICHAEL JACKSON: My room is a complete wreck. My workers told me. They said, "Michael, don't go in your room." They were crying on the phone, my employees. They said, "If you saw your room, you would cry." I have stairs that go up to my bed. And they said, "You can't even get up the stairs. The room is totally trashed." And they had 80 policemen in this room, 80 policemen in one bedroom. That's really overdoing it. They took knives, and cut open my mattresses with knives. C — just cut everything open.

ED BRADLEY: Did — did they take anything from Neverland?

MICHAEL JACKSON: A— I'm not sure what they took. They never gave me a list.

ED BRADLEY: But you're saying that they destroyed your property?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yes, they did. And then they, what they did was they made everybody that work at the property, they locked everybody out of the house. They had the whole house to themselves to do whatever they wanted. And — they totally took advantage. They went into areas they weren't supposed to go into — like my office. They didn't have search warrants for those places. And they totally took advantage. And the room is a total, total wreck, they told me. I don't think I wanna see it. I'm not ready to see it yet.

ED BRADLEY: So, you haven't been back there?

MICHAEL JACKSON: I've been back there. But not in my bedroom. I won't live there ever again. I'll visit Neverland. It's a house now. It's not a home anymore. I'll only visit there. What time is it? Cause I'm hurting. You know what? I'm — I'm hurting. I have to go pretty soon anyway. Yeah. Okay. I don't feel good.

This is not the first time Michael Jackson has been accused of child molestation. Ten years ago, he was accused of sexually abusing another young boy. However, after the boy refused to testify, and after Jackson paid the boy’s family millions of dollars to settle a civil lawsuit, Jackson was never charged. Although the family in the current case against him has filed no lawsuit and says it does not intend to, Michael Jackson is still suspicious of their motives.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Somewhere greed got in there, and somebody — I — I can't quite say. But it has to do with money. It's Michael Jackson. Look what we have here. We can get money out of this. That's exactly what happened.

ED BRADLEY: You had helped him with his cancer. What I don't understand is why today and I know you say it’s money, but why would he turn around and say, "Michael Jackson sexually molested me," if it weren't true?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Because parents have power over children. They feel they have to do what their parents say. But the love of money is the root of all evil. And this is a sweet child. And to see him turn like this, this isn't him. This is not him.

ED BRADLEY: So, you don't think this comes from him? This —

MICHAEL JACKSON: No.

ED BRADLEY: — Comes from his parents?

MICHAEL JACKSON: No. This is not him. No. I know his heart.

Jackson said that even if he could, he would never settle this case as he did when similar charges were made in 1993.

ED BRADLEY: So — if you were innocent, why would you pay, I mean, to keep you quiet? I mean, why not go into court, and fight for your good name? I mean —

MICHAEL JACKSON: I'm not allowed to talk on that —

MARK GERAGOS: I'm gonna stop you for a second.

ED BRADLEY: Sure.

Jackson’s high powered attorney Mark Geragos told me that if I wanted an answer to that question I’d have to ask him.

MARK GERAGOS: I mean remember what happened to him ten years ago. He was humiliated. He was — he went through where somebody — was examining him. Was photographing him. Was having him — humiliating him in the worst way in terms of looking at his private parts and photographing his private parts. And — and he was subjected to some of the most, just intrusive kinds of things that you could ever imagine. I can only try to put myself into that situation and — and say look, if money could make that situation go away, maybe that — that was the calculus then. I don't know and I don't wanna second guess it.

ED BRADLEY: But — but what you end up with is the public perception that this has happened not once, this has happened twice. That young boys have — have come forward to accuse him of — of sexual molestation over the last ten years. And he has made public comments about how he enjoys sharing his bed with children. Can you understand how the public might feel that, hey, maybe there's something here. There's a lot of smoke.

MARK GERAGOS: Well, look. There's a lot of smoke. But a lot of the people who blow the smoke are — are twisting what's happened. I understand when people say, now, there's somebody else who came forward. But I — I think, in all fairness, most people get it. Most people understand that this case is not about anything but money.

We asked the mother of the accuser who made these latest allegations to tell us her side of the story, but she declined and would not authorize anyone else to speak on her behalf.

ED BRADLEY: That British documentary last February — which you didn't like —

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yeah, I didn't like it.

ED BRADLEY: You — you said in that documentary that— that many children have slept in your bedroom.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yeah.

ED BRADLEY: You said, and — and I'm gonna quote here, "Why can't you share your bed? A most loving thing to do is to share your bed with— with someone."

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yes.

ED BRADLEY: As — as we sit here today, do you still think that it's acceptable to share your bed with children?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Of course. Of course. Why not? If you're gonna be a pedophile, if you're gonna be Jack the Ripper, if you're gonna be a murderer, it's not a good idea. That I'm not. That's how we were raised. And I met — I didn't sleep in the bed with the child. Even if I did, it's okay. I slept on the floor. I give the bed to the child.

ED BRADLEY: But given all that you've been through —

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yeah?

ED BRADLEY: Given the allegations, given the innuendo — why would you put yourself in a position where something like this could happen again?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Well, I'm always more cautious. But I will never stop helping and loving people the way Jesus said to. He said, "Continue to love. Always love. Remember children. Imitate the children." Not childish, but childlike.

That may sound naïve, but Jackson attorney Mark Geragos says they did take precautions.

MARK GERAGOS: They were, at all times during that February 7 to March 10 period of time, whenever Michael was there, there was always a third party around. Always.

ED BRADLEY: What about the allegation that some kind of intoxicating agent, said to be wine, was given to this child to make him more pliable?

MARK GERAGOS: Ludicrous. I mean it's ludicrous on its face. There are in excess of 100 employees at any one time at that ranch. There is full—time security at that ranch. There are people who are there at all times, day and night, 24—7, who are specifically instructed to make sure that people don't do that. The kids are nowhere near alcohol and liquor.

ED BRADLEY: You're a parent. You've got three children.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yes.

ED BRADLEY: Would you allow your children to sleep in the bed with a grown man, who was not a relative, or to sleep in the bedroom?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Sure, if I know that person, trust them, and love them. That's happened many times with me when I was little.

ED BRADLEY: Would you, as a parent, allow your children to sleep in the same bedroom with someone, who has the suspicions and allegations that have been made against you, and about you today? Would you allow that?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Someone —

ED BRADLEY: If you knew someone, who had the same —

MICHAEL JACKSON: I'm not —

ED BRADLEY: —kind of allegations —

MICHAEL JACKSON: Ed, I — I know exactly what you're saying.

ED BRADLEY: — that were made against you — would you let your children —

MICHAEL JACKSON: My children?

ED BRADLEY: — sleep in that man's bedroom?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Mmm, if I — if I knew the person personally. Cause I know how the press is, and how people can twist the truth, if I knew the person personally, absolutely yes. Absolutely. I wouldn't have a problem with it.

ED BRADLEY: Do you know how this looks to a lot of people? I mean, do you understand that?

MICHAEL JACKSON: How does what look?

ED BRADLEY: How the fact that you —

MICHAEL JACKSON: Know why? People think sex. They're thinking sex. My mind doesn't run that way. When I see children, I see the face of God. That's why I love them so much. That's what I see.

ED BRADLEY: Do you know any other man your age, a 45-year-old man, who shares his bedroom with children?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Of course. Not for sex. No. That's wrong.

ED BRADLEY: Well, let me — let me say, from my perspective, my experience, I don't know any 45-year-old men, who are not relatives of the children, who share their bedroom with other children.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Well, what's wrong with sharing your bed? I didn't say I slept in the bed. Even if I did sleep in the bed, it's okay. I am not going to do anything sexual to a child. It's not where my heart is. I would never do anything like that. That's not Michael Jackson. I'm sorry. That's someone else.

And the Michael Jackson of today is not the Michael Jackson who at one time was the No. 1 pop star in the world. His "Thriller" CD topped the charts, while his latest didn’t crack the top 10.

ED BRADLEY: What — what has this done to your career?

MICHAEL JACKSON: What — what has it done to my career?

ED BRADLEY: What has it done to your career?

MICHAEL JACKSON: In what way?

ED BRADLEY: How has it impacted — you know —

MICHAEL JACKSON: I'm — my album —

ED BRADLEY: — touring, record sales —

MICHAEL JACKSON: — album is number one all over the world. All over the world. America is the only one, because I — I don't wanna say too much.

ED BRADLEY: But it's not number one in the United States?

MICHAEL JACKSON: It's a conspiracy. Yeah. I’m getting tired.

Before Michael Jackson’s attorneys stopped the interview, we were able to ask him one last question.

ED BRADLEY: Michael, what would you say to you — your fans, who have supported you through all of this, and — and who today, some of them might have questions? What would you say to them?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Well, I would tell them I love them very much. And I— I— they've learned about me, and know about me from a distance. But if you really want to know about me, there's a song I wrote, which is the most honest song I've ever written. It's the most autobiographical song I've ever written. It's called, "Childhood." They should listen to it. That's the one they really should listen to. And thank you for your support, the fans around the world. I love you with all my heart. I don't take any of it for granted. Any of it. And I love them dearly, all over the world.

Living With MJ Take Two 2003

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:15:29 +0000

Living with Michael Jackson, Take Two: The Interview They Wouldn't Show

Part 1 Above – Part 2 & 3 Below

Part 3

In 2003 Martin Bashir filmed a documentary with Michael Jackson entitled Living with Michael Jackson. Following the broadcast of the documentary Michael was unhappy with the way Bashir had portrayed and so had a rebuttal film made out of footage not shown

This really puts a new light upon the original documentary aired.

Barbara Walters Interview 1999

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:00:20 +0000

Michael Jackson 1999 interview with Barbara Walters. Michael talks about Princess Diana, tabloids and his newborn son Prince.

Transcript:

Barbara: Up until last week the most photographed people in the world were Princess Diana and Michael Jackson. Now only one remains to talk about what it means to live under that kind of scrutiny. Since the allegations of child abuse made against Michael Jackson four years ago, he has been, if possible, even more pursued. By the way, we checked with the district attourney's office in Los Angeles and Sanat Barbara and learned that there is no active case against Mr. Jackson today.

Michael Jackson himself is notoriously shy about giving interviews, but on my way home from covering Princess Diana's funeral, I met with him in Paris to discuss the paparazzi and his personal recollections of the Princess.

When it comes to the paparazzi, Michael Jackson says he feels a bond with Princess Diana. The paparazzi have been a part of his life since he was a small child, the youngest of the Jackson 5. He has been a superstar for 3 decades. At 39, he continues to sing and dance all over the world and the paparazzi follow him all over the world. He has been on a European Tour for the last five months playing for over 2 million people. The night Princess Diana died, Michael Jackson cancelled his concert, but his last two concerts were dedicated to her. He does not pretend that she was a close friend. She was a fan.

Michael: I met her first at a…um (clearing his throat) …concert…in London. She was very kind, very loving, very sweet.
Barbara: What did you two talk about?
Michael: I wrote a song called "Dirty Diana". It was not about Lady Diana. It was about a certain kind of girls that hang around concerts or clubs, you know, they call them groupies.
Barbara: Groupies.
Michael: I've lived with that all my life. These girls…they do everything with the band, you know, everything you could imagine. So I wrote a song called "Dirty Diana". But I took it out of the show in honour of her royal highness. She took me away and she said, "Are you going to do 'Dirty Diana'?" So, I said, "No I took it out of the show because of you." She said, "No! I want you to do it…do it…do the song."
Barbara: So she had a sense of humor with you?
Michael: Yeah, of course. And she told me it was an honour to meet me. And I said, "It's an honour to meet you."
Barbara: How did you hear of her death?
Michael: Um…I woke up (in a quiet and reflective voice) and my doctor gave me the news. And I fell back down in grief, and I started to cry. The pain…I felt inner pain, in my stomach, and in my chest. (his voice starts to break slightly) So, I said, "I can't handle this…it's too much." Just the message and the fact that I knew her personally. Then on top of that one I said, "There's another one…real soon…I feel it coming…there's another one….it's another one coming and I pray it's not me…please don't let it be me." And then Mother Theresa came…
Barbara: Are you psychic…is that what you're saying?
Michael: I don't want to say that, but I've done it before.
Barbara: And you thought it might be you?
Michael: Yes. (looks down at his folded hands) I've been living that kind of life all my life. The tabloid press…that kind of press…not the press…the tabloids, the paparazzi, that type. I've been running for my life like that, hiding, getting away. You can't go that way 'cause they're over there…well lets go this way and pretend we're going that way…and we'll go that way. Someone should say, "Hold on! Stop! This person deserves their privacy. You're not allowed to go in there!" I go around the world dealing with running and hiding. You can't…I can't take a walk in the park…I can't go in the store…you can't…I have to hide in the room. You feel like you're in prison.
Barbara: What's been the most intrusive thing? What's the worst?
Michael: They have always been…they go as far as to hide things in places. They'll slide a machine up under the toilet…Tch, tch, tch, tch…(Michael makes the sound of a camera) and you go, "Oh my God!" They've done that.
Barbara: When you came into this hotel you had to come in, or you felt you had to come in, through the kitchen.
Michael: I've been doing it for years. In many lobbies, I've never seen the front door. Never.
Barbara: Did you ever try to outrace the paparazzi?
Michael: To outrace them?
Barbara: Yes.
Michael: They follow you. They chase us on thier scooters, "Vruuum, vrumm."
Barbara: Cutting infront of you?
Michael: Yes. And I have to say to the driver…I say, "Slow down." I jump in and I say, "You're going to kill us." I say, "Slow down." I've done that many times, "You're gonna kill us." So he jumps out of the car and yells at these people.
Barbara: You know, there is an argument that you rely on publicity to sell your albums…for your concerts, that you want it. Michael: When I approve of something, yes.
Barbara: But you can't always control the press. You can't approve everything. You can't invite them in again and again, and then at a certain point, close them out.
Michael: Yes, you can.
Barbara: Well how do you do that? What's that line?
Michael: By doing that. This is their time for this…and this you should not do. You should not say, "He's an animal…he's a…" You should not say, "He's Jacko." I'm not a 'Jacko'. I'm Jackson.
Barbara: How do you feel when they call you…
Michael: Yeah, Wacko Jacko, where did that come from? Some English tabloid. I have a heart and I have feelings. I feel that when you do that to me. It's not nice. Don't do it. I'm not a "wacko".
Barbara: There are those that would say that you add to the attention.
Michael: No, I don't.
Barbara: Well, the masks…the mysterious behavior.
Michael: There's…no, there's no mysterious behavior. There's a time, when I give a concert…I like to have as many people who would like to come can come and enjoy the show. And there's a time, when you like to be in private…when you put on your pyjammas and go to sleep, cut the light (makes a sound of a light going out) and you lay down, that's your private space. You go to the park. I can't go in the park, so I create my own park at Neverland…my own water space…my movie theatre…my theme park…that's all for me to enjoy.
Barbara: I don't wnat this to sound insulting. I'm just gonna be straight with you. But you are somewhat eccentric to say the least. The way you dress, the way you look, it invites attention. The whole appearance as you grew up was…larger than life…more extreme. Don't you think that draws the paparazzi to you?
Michael: No. (shaking his head) No, maybe I like to live that way…I like to dress that way. I don't want the paparazzi, really. But if they come, be kind, write the right…kind of thing to write.
Barbara: Michael, is it the journalist's role…or the press' role to be kind?
Michael: To be kind?
Barbara: Because the press also has to look into things, be tough. It can't always be kind.
Michael: (laughs) What you saw…what happened to Lady Diana…you tell me. There should be some boundaries, some kind of way. The star needs some space. Some time to relax. He has a heart…he's human.
Barbara: You cancelled the concert you were about to do when you heard of Diana's death.
Michael: Yes.
Barbara: And when you finally did a concert, you dedicated it to her. What did you say?
Michael: In my heart I was saying, "I love you Diana. Shine. And shine on forever, because you are the true Princess of the people." And in words I did not say it, but I said it for three minutes in showing a big picture on the jumbotron screens…Sony, big huge screens…and her picture was there shining…and the crowd went bananas (makes sound effects of the crowd's noises) And I played the song "Smile" and "Gone Too Soon".
Barbara: Give us some of the lyrics, if you can.
Michael: "Shiny and sparkly, and splendedly bright, here one day, gone one night…Gone too soon."
Commercial Break
Barbara: You have said, "I grew up in a fishbowl. I will not allow that to happen to my son." Yet, when your son was born, you sold pictures to the National Enquirer and to other European papers, tabloids. Why did you do that?
Michael: Why?
Barbara: Why?
Michael: Because there was a race. There were some illegal pictures out. Illegally, somebody had taken pictures of a baby…millions of dollars…said, "Here's Michael's son."
Barbara: And it wasn't, as I recall.
Michael: And it wasn't. So, I took pictures of the baby. I said, "They're forcing me to get his pictures." There's helocopters flying above us…flying over my house…flying over the hospital, um, machines and satellites all over. Even the hospital said, "Michael, we've had every kind of celebrity here…but we've never had it like this. This is unbelievable." And so I said, "Here, take it." And I gave the money to charity
Barbara: So, rather than…what you're saying is…what you did was to get them off your back.
Michael: Yeah…and now they want to do it again…and I don't want..maybe I don't want to show him to the world like that. I want him to have some space…where he can go to school. I don't want him to be called "Wacko Jacko" that's not nice. They call the father that. That isn't nice…right?
Barbara: You said you don't want your child to be called "wacko jacko's son". How are you going to prevent it, so they don't do it to him?
Michael: That's the thing…that's the idea. Maybe you should come up with a plan to help me.
Barbara: You're his daddy.
Michael: There you go. They created that. Did they ever think I would have a child one day…that I have a heart? It's hurting my heart. Why pass it on to him?
Barbara: Do you like being a father?
Michael: I love it!!
Barbara: Are you very involved with him?
Michael: (laughs) Yes!
Barbara: Do you want more children?
Michael: Yes. (an embarrassed laugh)
Barbara: You have been in the spotlight since you were a baby yourself.
Michael: Yes.
Barbara: If your son shows any talent – by the way does he show any talent at nine months?
Michael: Well, I'll tell you this much…when he's crying, to keep him from crying, I have to do one thing.
Barbara: What?
Michael: I have to stand in front of him…and dance.
Barbara: Really?
Michael: Yes. And he stops crying. His tears turn to laughter, and he's happy. (claps his hands) He smiles.
Barbara: And do you do your moonwalk with him?
Michael: Yeah. I do all kind of movements (imitates his dancing) (laughs)
Barbara: And then he stops crying?
Michael: And then he stops crying!
Barbara: You must do a lot of dancing.
Michael: (laughs) I do a lot of dancing, yes.
Barbara: Michael, if this little boy says, "Daddy, I want to go on stage."
Michael: (laughs and slaps his leg)
Barbara: After what you've been through?
Michael: I'd say, "Hold on, now. Hold on. If you do go that way, expect this…expect this…expext that." (counts on his fingers)
Barbara: You'd lay it all out?
Michael: I'd lay it all out. I'd say, "See you're gonna get all this, (points to one of the cameras) and all this (points to another camera) and all this (points to a third camera) You ready to do that?" "Yeah, I can't wait." Then I would say, "Go…and do it better than I did."
Barbara: But know what you're in for…
Michael: Know what you're in for.
Barbara: Our interview was over. We had told no one it was happening, nor had the Paris hotel. But when Jackson tried to sneak out through a back door, there was a huge crowd…already waiting.
Hugh Downs: Babara, we know now that Diana did not have adequate protection on that last day. What kind of protection did Michael Jackson have?
Barbara: Well, we saw at least four bodyguards…and he needed them. And by the way, I talked with a female superstar and she told me that when she goes out she has four bodygaurds, at least…and a car infront of her, and a car behind.
Hugh: That's what they really need isn't it?
Barbara: Unfortunately, it is.
Hugh: Now you told me that he told you why he wears only one glove.
Barbara: Yes.
Hugh: What's behind that?
Barbara: Well, he has a sense of humor, as I think you could see. He said, "Why one glove? Cooler than two!"

Lisa Marie Michael Jackson 1995

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:45:05 +0000

Michael Jackson and wife Lisa Marie Presley reveal intimate side as lovers, parents and best friends in this 1995 interview.

The questions were insensitive or perhaps, indelicate. But they were enough to transform the voices of a delightful duo into a defiant duet.

The King of Pop Michael Jackson and his wife Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson were not trying to mimic Michael's single, Scream, a duet with his sister, Janet, when questions laced with "perverse curiosity" were asked them in a live interview by Diane Sawyer recently on ABC-TV's "Prime Time Live" one-hour broadcast.

"Do we have sex?" Jackson's wife Lisa Marie asked with defiance and disgust as a hesitant Diane Sawyer edged up to the question, saying, "I didn't spend my life as a serious journalist to ask these kinds of questions, but I'm not oblivious to the fact that your fans have one question they most wanted to ask…

"Do we have sex?… Okay. Go ahead," the furious young wife iterrupted. "Is that what you were going to ask?"

"Yes! YES! Yes!" exclaimed Mrs. Presley-Jackson, the sultry 27-year-old daughter of the late rock `n roll idol Elvis Presley, who introduced her to Michael when she was 7 and he was 17. "This was in Las Vegas," Jackson told Sawyer. "She used to come and see my show all the time. We had the only family show on the strip. It was The Jackson Five and she used to come as a little girl and sit right up front," he explained. "She came quite often. And then she'd come back stage and I'd come out and say, `Hi' and then she'd come again."

Both Michael and Lisa Marie pounced upon the opportunity to shift the interview away from Sawyer's probing questions which had been similar to what the interviewer described as stories that provoked a "tabloid feeding frenzy, as people who worked for Jackson shopped stories, all claiming titillating knowledge from what they call his special friends even when some of Jackson's young friends tried to defend him."

Despite other troubling questions that could tarnish the reputation of the world's greatest recording artist, he and his wife met the interviewer head on and didn't blink. It was Mrs. Presley-Jackson, who was quick to defend her husband against every negative, image-damaging question Sawyer implied that inquiring minds wanted answered.

What Michael and Lisa wanted the "Prime Time Live" viewers to know was something about their intimate side as lovers, parents and best friends. They had a good reason for wanting to tell their story to ABC-TV's estimated 60 million viewers-the largest audience in the ABC newsmagazine's history. (The exclusive live broadcast almost doubled the audience of the NBA finals between the Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic).

As lovers, Jackson revealed that Lisa was always on his mind since her backstage visit with her father Elvis, who was the top attraction in Las Vegas at that time. "When she was 18, I used to tell my lawyer, John Branca, to find her … cause I think that she is really cute." When the megastar finally got in touch with her, he learned that she was married and mother of two children. But the meeting turned out to be a countdown until they got married.

"We were dating for four months," Lisa Marie told the TV interviewer. "…We were spending lots of time together … I don't know how it didn't manage to get in the press because we weren't hiding it … I was separated for four months," Lisa Marie added. It was during this time that Michael proposed marriage to her.

When asked by Sawyer whether they were involved in a prenuptial agreement, Lisa Marie, whose fortune is estimated at over $150 million, said she has an agreement with Michael, whose worth is estimated to be over $200 million. "We've worked out things and signed certain things but of course that is very confidential", Michael told Sawyer in the no-questions-barred interview.

Sawyer sought to steer the interview back to Michael's alleged sexual involvement with children, the impact of his marriage to Lisa Marie, the parenting of her children with Michael as step-father and plans for Michael to father their first child. Michael turned testy when Sawyer tried to grill him with specific questions about the sex charges which were robed and dismissed by the police departments of Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

Children will continue to play a role in his life because both of them love children. Lisa Marie made it clear to Sawyer that she is comfortable with Michael helping her in parenting her children by a previous marriage.

"I happen to know who he (Michael) is and what he is," she emphasized.

If children want to sleep over with their family, Lisa Marie's answer is "yes." And Michael's response to Sawyer was: "Of course, if they want. It's on a level of purity and love and just innocence, complete innocence. If you are talking about sex, then that's a nut. It's not me. Go to the guy down the street, cause it's not Michael Jackson. It's not what I'm interested in."

Both are interested in having their first child. "We will be expecting a child. Now, when I'm not going to say … It's personal," Mrs. Presley-Jackson told Sawyer. "It's in the hands of the heavens," Michael added.

Responding to the interviewer's questions about the impact of their marriage, both Jackson and his wife were livid with rage. "Did you marry out of convenience?" Lisa Marie repeated the question and then replied: "That's really interesting."

"That's ridiculous," Michael said. "That's like we're faking this. That's the most ridiculous thing in the world"'

Mrs. Presley-Jackson allowed: "But you can't live with somebody day to day. We're together all the time, first of all. Second thing, how can you fake the 24 hours a day with somebody, sleeping with somebody, waking up with somebody…

"He's running around the house. You were in our house," she reminded Sawyer. "We have a normal house. We have a nanny, we have a maid and we walk around and he's either in the studio, I'm in the kitchen. We're running around like normal. I know it's hard to believe."

As the interview was winding down at Sony's Culver City studios, where it was broadcast, the couple emphasized that they were not only married lovers, but they were best friends.

"I just want people to know what they're dealing with … and understand that we are not jokes. The degrading comments and all that kind of stuff, it's really irritating," Mrs. Presley-Jackson told Sawyer as she concluded the interview. Michael's parting salvo was delivered to Sawyer's TV audience with subdued anger.

"Don't believe the garbage, all the tabloid junk. Don't read it, don't listen to it. It's garbage, it's junk. It's stupid. Enough of it."

Bibliography for: "Michael Jackson and wife Lisa Marie Presley reveal intimate side as lovers, parents and best friends"

"Michael Jackson and wife Lisa Marie Presley reveal intimate side as lovers, parents and best friends". Jet. FindArticles.com. 21 Jul, 2009. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n8_v88/ai_17160262/

Private Home Movies 2003

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:21:37 +0000

1993 documentary narrated by Michael Jackson from his personal archive, including footage of friends and family. The "King," clearly, never grew up socially. The video is the complete uninterrupted version and is over an hour long.

Legend Award 1993 Grammy’s

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:20:21 +0000

February 24, 1993 Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California Janet presents Michael with the very special Grammy Legend Award.

Michael's acceptance speech: ….In the past month, I've gone from "where is he?" to "Here he is again," but I must confess, it feels good to be thought of as a person, not as a personality. Because I don't read all the things written about me, I wasn't aware that the world thought I was so weird and bizarre. But when you grow up as I did, in front of one hundred million people since the age of five, you're automatically different. The last few weeks, I have been cleansing myself and it's been a rebirth for myself. It's like a cleansing spirit. [To the screeming crowd]: I love you too. My childhood was completely taken away from me. There was no Christmas, there were no birthdays, it was not a normal childhood, nor the normal pleasures of childhood – those were exchanged for hard work, struggle, and pain , and eventually material and professional success. But as an awful price, I cannot re-create that part of my life. However, today, when I create my music, I feel like an instrument of nature. I wonder what delight nature must feel when we open our hearts and express our God-given talents. The sound . . . of approval rolls across the universe, and the whole world abounds in magic. Wonder fills our hearts, for what we have glimpsed, for an instant, the playfulness of life. And that’s why I love children and learn so much from being around them. I realise that many of our world’s problems today – from the inner city crime, to large scale wars and terrorism, and our overcrowded prisons – are a result of the fact that children have had their childhood stolen from them. The magic, the wonder, the mystery, and the innocence of a child’s heart, are the seeds of creativity that will heal the world. I really believe that. What, what we need to learn, what we need to learn from children isn’t childish. Being with them connects us to the deeper wisdom of life which is everpresent, and only asks to be lived. They know the solutions that lie waiting to be recognised within our own hearts. Today, I would like to thank all the children of the world, including the sick and deprived . . . I am so sensitive to your pain. I also want to thank all those who have helped me to channel my talent here on earth. From the beginning, my parents, all my brothers and sisters, especially Janet. I am so proud of her, it’s incredible. I mean, I remember when we were little, I used to ask her to be Ginger Rogers, while I was Fred Astaire….. The Motown family, my teacher Berry Gordy. Diana Ross, I love you. Suzanne De Pazze. The wonderful, great Quincy Jones. Teddy Riley. My new godson Michael Gibb. My new Sony family, Akio Morita, Mickey Schulhoff, Tommy Motola, Dave Glew, Polly Anthony . . . Thanks for making one of my most creative efforts, the album Dangerous, such an incredible success. I love you all so much. Sandy Gallin, Jim Morey. All the fantastic fans around the world – love you very much. [Michael receives more cheers from the audiece, as he and Janet leave the stage.]

Famous 1993 Interview

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:15:19 +0000

90 Primetime Minutes with the King of Pop

Complete 1 hour show

Michael Jackson's interview was watched by over a 100 million viewers around the world, in which he addresses for the first time his plastic surgery, his changes in skin tone, his artistry and the many tabloid stories written about him.

O: Michael Jackson's house is nothing like anyone would expect. I thought there were going to be a few llamams walking around the living room and maybe some – uh – chimps jumping around. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't dead wrong. There are plenty of mind-boggling areas on this 2700 acre ranch, which you'll see in the next 90 minutes. But, where Michael Jackson eats, and where he sleeps and where he lives is quite simply a beautiful home. There is a library here filled with leather bound classics and art work on the walls, not at all what we thought we'd find. Before we meet the man who lives here, it's important to know where he came from, for his history is nothing short of incredible.

(video clip of Michael and his family as he grew up)

O: Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jackson!
(Michael enters the living room)
O: How nervous are you?
Michael: How what?
O: How nervous are you right now?
Michael: I'm not nervous at all, actually.
O: You really aren't?
Michael: No, I never get nervous.
O: Not even for your first interview and it's live around the world? I thought you'd be a little nervous, but if you're not and that's great because if you're not nervous I won't be nervous. I just wanted to let the world know that when we agreed to do this interview you said you would be willing to talk to me about everything.
Michael: That's true.
O: Very true. I was watching you in the background there watching you in the video of the early years. Did that bring back memories for you?
Michael: It made me giggle because I haven't seen that footage for a long time. Did it bring back memories? Yes, me and my brothers who I love dearly and it's just a wonderful moment for me.
O: I saw you laugh when you saw yourself singing "Baby, Baby, Baby".
Michael: Yeah, I think James Brown is a genious, you know, when he's with the Famous Flames, unbelievable. I used to watch him on the television and I used to get angry at the camera-man because whenever he would really start to dance they would be on a close-up so I couldn't see his feet. I'd shout "show him, show him", so I could watch and learn.
O: So he was a big mentor for you?
Michael: Phenomenal, phenomenal.
O: Who else was?
Michael: Jackie Wilson, who I adore as an entertainer, and of course music, Motown. The Bee Gees who are brilliant, I just love great music.
O: When I look at those tapes of you, and heaven knows, putting this together I think I've seen every piece of video done of you, and watching those tapes when, especially in the younger years, you seem to really come alive on stage. Were you as happy off stage as you appear to be on stage?
Michael: Well, on stage for me was home. I was most comfortable on stage but once I got off stage, I was like, very sad.
O: Really?
Michael: Yes.
O: And sad from the beginning, sad since it first started, why so sad?
Michael: Lonely, sad, having to face popularity and all that. There were times when I had great times with my brothers, pillow fights and things, but I was, used to always cry from loneliness.
O: Beginning at what age?
Michael: Oh, very little, eight, nine.
O: When you all became famous?
Michael: Yes.
O: So it wasn't what it all appeared to be to the rest of the world, all of us…I remember I was a little black child, I wanted to marry Jackie Jackson, your brother, so I mean to all of us we thought this was the most wonderful thing in the world, who wouldn't have wanted that life?
Michael: It was wonderful, there's a lot of wonderment in being famous. I mean you travel the world, you meet people, you go places, it's great. But then there's the other side, which I'm not complaining about. There is lots of rehearsal and you have to put in a lot of your time, give a lot of yourself.
O: Do you feel….I talked to Suzanne de Passe the other day, and Suzanne de Passe worked with you at Motown and really groomed you all and found the outfits for the Ed Sullivan show. We talked about whether or not it was really lost, was it?
Michael: Well, especially now I come to realize – and then – I would do my schooling which was three hours with a tutor and right after that I would go to the recording studio and record, and I'd record for hours and hours until it's time to go to sleep. And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead.
O: I want to go to this and show some pictures of you as a young boy.
Michael: OK.
(video footage of young Michael)
O: Suzanne said it was a heavy price, I want to know how big of a price it was, losing your childhood or having this kind of life?
Michael: Well, you don't get to do things that other children get to do, having friends and slumber parties and buddies. There were none of that for me. I didn't have friends when I was little. My brothers were my friends.
O: Was there ever a place where – because you know children – because I remember talking to myself and playing with my dolls – was there…and I think every child needs a place to escape into, a child's world, a child's imagination, was there ever a time you could do that?
Michael: No. And that is why I think because I didn't have it then, I compensate for that. People wonder why I always have children around, becasue I find the thing that I never had through them, you know Disneyland, amusement parks, arcade games. I adore all that stuff because when I was little it was always work, work, work from one concert to the next. If it wasn't a concert it was the recording studio, if it wasn't that it was TV shows or picture sessions. There was always something to do.
O: Did you feel – Smokey Robinson said this about you, and you have so many other people, that you were like an old soul in a little body.
Michael: I remember hearing that all the time when I was little. They used to call me a 45 year-old midget wherever I went. I just used to hear that and wherever I went…just like when some people said when you were little and you started to sing did you know you were that good? And I say I never thought about it, I just did it and it came out. I never thought about it really.
O: So here you were, Michael Jackson, you all had hits, you all had so many hits – four hits in a row – and you were crying because you couldn't be like other kids.
Michael: Well, I loved show business and I still love show business, but then there are times you just want to play and have some fun and that part did make me sad. I rememeber one time we were getting ready to go to South America and everything was packed up and in the car ready to go and I hid and I was crying because I really did not want to go, I wanted to play. I did not want to go.
O: Were your brothers jealous of you when you started getting all the attention?
Michael: Not that I know of, no.
O: You never felt a sense of jealousy?
Michael: Oh, let me think, no. No, I think they were always happy for me that I could do certain things, but I've never felt jealousy among them.
O: Do you think they are jealous of you now?
Michael: I wouldn't think so. I don't think so, no.
O: No. What's your relationship with your family? Are you close still?
Michael: I love my family very much. I wish I could see them a little more often than I do. But we understand because we're a show business family and we all work. We do have family day when we all get together, we pick a person's house, it might be Jermaine's house or Marlon's house or Tito's house and everyone will come together in fellowship and love eachother and talk and catch up on who's doing what and…
O: You weren't all upset about LaToya and LaToya's book and the things that LaToya has said about the family?
Michael: Well, I haven't read LaToya's book. I just know that I love my sister dearly, I love LaToya and I always will and I always see her as the happy, loving LaToya that I remember growing up with. So I couldn't completely answer on that.
O: Do you feel that some of the things that she's been saying are true?
Michael: I couldn't answer Oprah, honestly I haven't read the book. That's the honest truth.
O: Well, let's go back to when you were growing up and feeling all of this, well, I guess it's a sence of anguish, I guess, so there was no one for you to play with othere than your brothers. You never had slumber parties?
Michael: Never.
O: So I'm wondering for you, being this cute little boy who everybody adopted and everybody who comes up to you they're pulling your cheeks and how cute, how adolescence going through that duck stage where everything's akward, and I'm wondering when you started to go through adolescence having been this child superstar, was that a particularly difficult time for you?
Michael: Very, very, very difficult, yes. Because I think every child star suffers through this period because you're not the cute and charming child that you were. You start to grow, and they want to keep you little forever.
O: Who's they?
Michael: The public. And um, nature takes it's course.
O: It does.
Michael: Yes, and I had pimples so badly it used to make me so shy. I used not to look at myself. I'd hide my face in the dark, I wouldn't want to look in the mirror and my father teased me and I just hated it and I cried everyday.
O: Your father teased you about your pimples?
Michael: Yes and tell me I'm ugly.
O: Your father would say that?
Michael: Yes he would. Sorry Joseph.
O: What's your relationship like with him?
Michael: I love my father but I don't know him.
O: Are you angry with him for doing that? I think that's pretty cruel actually.
Michael: Am I angry with him?
O: Because adolescence is hard enough without a parent telling you that you're ugly.
Michael: Am I angry with him? Sometimes I do get angry. I don't know him the way I'd like to know him. My mother's wonderful. To me she's perfection. I just wish I could understand my father.
O: And so let's talk about those teen years. Is that when you started to go inside yourself? Because obviously you haven't spoken to the world for 14 years. So you went inside, you became a recluse. Was it to protect yourself?
Michael: I felt there wasn't anything important for me to say, and those were sad, sad years for me.
O: Why so sad? Because on stage you were performing, you were getting your Grammys. Why so sad?
Michael: Oh, there's a lot of sadness about my past and adolescence, about my father and all of those things.
O: So he would tease you, make fun of you.
Michael: Yes.
O: Would he…did he ever beat you?
Michael: Yes.
O: And why would he beat you?
Michael: He saw me, he wanted me, I guess…I don't know if I was his golden child or whatever, but he was very strict, very hard, very stern. Just a look would scare you.
O: And were you scared of him?
Michael: Very. Like, there's been times when he'd come to see me, I'd get sick, I'd start to regurgitate.
O: As a child or as an adult?
Michael: Both. He's never heard me say this. I'm sorry, please don't be mad at me.
O: Well I mean, I suppose everybody has to take responsibility for what they've done in life. And your father is one of those people who also have to take responsibility.
Michael: But I do love him.
O: Yes. I understand this.
Michael: And I am forgiving.
O: But can you really forgive?
Michael: I do forgive. There's so much garbage and so much trash that's written about me it is so untrue, they're complete lies, and those are some of the things I wanted to talk about. The press has made up so much…God…awful, horrifying stories…it has made me realize the more often you hear a lie, I mean, you begin to believe it.
(commercial break)
O: Um, we talked about all of the rumors just before we went to the break and there are so many. First of all, I have been in this house getting prepared for this and I've been all over the house, upstairs when you weren't looking, looking for that oxygen chamber, and I cannot find an oxygen chamber anywhere in the house.
Michael: That, that story is so crazy, I mean it's one of those tabloid things, it's completely made up.
O: (picture of Michael in an oxygen chamber shown on camera) OK, but you are in something there, there's a picture of you, where did that come from? How did it get started?
Michael: That's…I did a commercial for Pepsi and I was burned very badly and we settled for 1 million dollars and I gave all the money…like, we bulit this place called the Michael Jackson Burn Centre and that's a piece of technology used for burn victims, right. So I'm looking at the piece of technology and decide to go inside it and just to hammer around, somebody takes the picture, when they process the picture the person who processes the picture says, "Oh Michael Jackson". He made a copy and these pictures went all over the world with this lie attached to it. It's a complete lie, why do people buy these papers? It's not the truth I'm here to say. You know, don't judge a person, do not pass judgement, unless you have talked to them one on one. I don't care what the story is, do not judge them because it is a lie.
O: You're right and that story, it was just like it had legs.
Michael: It's crazy. Why would I want to sleep in a chamber? (laughs)
O: The rumor was that you were sleeping in the chamber because you didn't want to grow old.
Michael: That's stupid. It's completely made up. I'm embarrassed. I'm willing to forgive the press, or forgive anybody, I was taught to love and forgive, which I do have in my heart, but please don't believe these crazy, horrifying things.
O: Did you buy the Elephant man's bones? Were you trying to get them for…
Michael: No. That's another stupid story. I love the story of the Elephant man, he reminds me of me a lot, and I could relate to it, it made me cry because I saw myself in the story, but no I never asked for the…where am I going to put some bones?…
Michael: ….and why would I want some bones?
O: I don't know. So where did that story come from?
Michael: Someone makes it up, and everybody believes it. If you hear a lie often enough, you start to believe it.
O: Yes and people make money selling tabloids.
Michael: Yes
O: All right. Just recently there was a story, and I know one of your attorneys held a news conference, there was a story about you wanting to have a little white boy play you in a Pepsi commercial.
Michael: That is so stupid. That is the most ridiculous, horrifying story I've ever heard. It's crazy. Why, number one, it's my face as a child in the commercial, me when I was little, why would I want a white child to play me? I'm a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity. That's like you wanting an oriental person to play you as a child. Does that make sense?
O: OK, then let's go to the thing that is most discussed about you, that is, the color of your skin…is most obviously different than when you were younger, and so I think it has caused a great deal of speculation and controversy as to what you have done or are doing, are you bleaching your skin, and is your skin getting lighter because you don't like being black?
Michael: Number one, as far as I know of there is no such thing as skin bleaching. I have never seen it, I don't know what it is.
O: Well they used to have those products, I remember growing up always hearing "always use bleach and glow", but you have to have about 300,000 gallons.
Michael: OK, but number one, this is the situation. I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of my skin, it's something that I cannot help, OK? But when people make up stories that I don't want to be what I am it hurts me.
O: So it is…
Michael: It's a problem for me that I can't control…but what about all the millions of people who sit out in the sun, to become darker, to become other than what they are. No one says nothing about that.
O: So when did this start? When did your…when did the color of your skin start to change?
Michael: Oh boy, I don't….sometime after Thriller, around Off The Wall, Thriller, sometime around then.
O: But what did you think?
Michael: It's in my family, my father said it's on his side. I can't control it, I don't understand. I mean it makes me very sad. I don't want to go into my medical history because that is private, but that's the situation here.
O: So OK, I just want to get this straight, you are not taking anything to change the color of your skin?
Michael: Oh God no, we tried to control it and using make-up evens it out because it makes blotches on my skin. I have to even out my skin. But you know what's funny, why is that so important? That's not important to me. I'm a great fan of art. I love Michaelangelo, if I had a chance to talk to him or read about him I would want to know what inspired him to become who he is, the anatomy of his craftsmanship, not about who he went out with last night….what's wrong with….I mean that's what is important to me.
O: How much plastic surgery have you had?
Michael: Very, very little. I mean you can count on my two fingers. I mean let's say this, if you want to know about those things, all the nosey people in the world, read my book Moonwalk, it's in my book. You know, let's put it this way, if all the people in Hollywood who have had plastic surgery, if they went on vacation, there wouldn't be a person left in town.
O: Mmmm, I think you might be right.
Michael: I think I am right. It would be empty.
O: Did you start having plastic surgery because of those teen years because of not liking the way you looked?
Michael: No, not really. It was only two things. Really, get my book, it's no big deal.
O: You don't want to tell me what it is? You had your nose done, obviously…
Michael: Yeah, but so did a lot of people that I know.
O: And so, when you hear all these things about you, and there have been more…
Michael: I've never had my cheekbones done, never had my eyes done, never had my lips done and all this stuff, they just go too far…
O: Are you pleased with the way you…
Michael: I'm never pleased with anything, I'm a perfectionist, it's part of who I am.
O: And so when you look in the mirror now and see the image that looks back at you are there days when you say I kinda like this, or I like the way my hair…
Michael: No, I'm nev…
O: ….or I'm kinda cute today…
Michael: …(giggles)…cute today….no, I'm never pleased with myself. No, I try not to look in the mirror.
O: I have to ask you this, so many mothers in my audience have said to please ask you this question. Why do you grab your crotch?
Michael: (giggels) Why do I grab my crotch?
O: You've got a thing with your crotch going on there.
Michael: I think it happens subliminally. When you're dancing, you know, you are just interpreting the music and the sounds and the accompaniment. If there's a driving base, if there's a chello, if there's a string, you become the emotion of what the sound is. So if I'm doing a movement and I go "Bam" and I grab myself it's…it's the music that compels me to do it. It's not that I'm saying that I'm dying to grab down there and it's not in a great place, you don't think about it, it just happens. Sometimes I'll look back at the footage and I go…and I go, "Did I do that?", so I'm a slave to the rhythm,…(smoke detectors go off in the house)…yeah, OK.
(commercial break – some of Michael's major achievements shown on tape)
O: When you have broken all those records, when you have the number on album ever sold, when you've broken every record there is to break, when you become an icon of an industry, is there always the pressure to do something bigger and something better?
Michael: Oh gee, that is something, um, it makes it harder each time to follow up. You try be as original as you can be without thinking about statistics, just you go form the soul and from the heart.
O: And so when you think of that what do you do, you go, you meditate, you think well now I will do the Superbowl.
Michael: Nooo….I just create out of my heart, really.
O: Liz Taylor said you were king of pop, rock and soul. Where did this notion that you proclaimed yourself king of pop come from?
Michael: Well I didn't proclaim myself to be anything, I'm happy to be alive, I'm happy to be who I am. King of pop was first said by Elizabeth Taylor on one of the award shows. (the clip of Elizabeth saying this is shown)
O: And that's where this all started?
Michael: Yes…and the fans…all the stadiums that we played at they'd bring banners saying king of pop and they chanted outside my hotel king of…so it became something that just happened all over the world.
O: Do you go out, do you date?
Michael: Yes.
O: Who do you date?
Michael: Well right now it's Brooke Shields. Well, we try not to be everywhere, go everywhere, it's mostly at home. She'll come over, I'll go to her houese, because I don't like going out in public.
O: Have you ever been in love?
Michael: Yeah
O: With Brooke Shields?
Michael: Yes, and another girl.
O: And another girl? Let me ask you this, and it's embarrassing for me to ask you this, but I'm gonna ask you anyway, are you a virgin?
Michael: Uhhh….how could you ask me that question?
O: I just want to know.
Michael: I'm a gentleman.
O: You're a gentleman?
Michael: I'm a gentleman.
O: I would interpret that to mean that you believe that a lady is a lady and therefore…
Michael: That's something that is private. I mean, it shouldn't be talked about openly. You can call me old fashioned if you want, but, you know, I mean that's very personal.
O: So, you're not going to answer it?
Michael: I'm embarrassed.
O: Well we would like to know whether or not there is a possibility that you are going to marry one day and have children?
Michael: I would feel like my life is incomplete if I do not because I adore the family life. I adore children and I adore that whole thing. And I would love to, that's one of my dreams, but I couldn't right now because I'm married, I'm married to my music and there has to be that closeness in order to do the kind of work that I want to do and…
O: What kind of woman makes you…in the video we're going to see later, we premiere the world video….there's a line where you talk about being quenched, so what kind of a woman does that for you?
Michael: (singing) "Quench my desire"…Well Brooke, I've always liked her, and when I was little I used to stay with Diana Ross, me and my brothers stayed with her for years and I never said, but I always had a crush on her.
O: You did?
Michael: Yes.
O: I heard too, this was another one of those rumors, that you had proposed to Elizabeth Taylor at some point.
Michael: Elizabeth Taylor is gorgeous, beautiful, and she still is today, I'm crazy about her.
O: Yeah, but did you propose to her?
Michael: I would like to have.
O: Well, Elizabeth Taylor is here. Liz? Can we bring Liz out now? Liz had said she wanted to be here and hold your hand through this. You don't look like you need your hand held. Elizabeth Taylor!
Michael: Hi Elizabeth.
O: Hi.
Elizabeth: Hi.
O: Have a seat.
Elizabeth: Thank you.
O: Did Michael ever propose to you?
Elizabeth: No! And I never proposed to him.
O: Never did! What do you think is most misunderstood about Michael Jackson?
Elizabeth: All the things you mentioned. He is the least weird man I have ever known. He is highly intelligent, shrewd, intuitive, understanding, sympathetic, generous – to almost a fault, of himself.
O: Uh huh.
Elizabeth: Uh, and he just, if, if he has any eccentricities it's that he is like larger than life and some people just cannot accept that or face it or understand it. His talent on stage, why I call him the king of pop, rock, soul, music, enetertainment, whatever…
O: Yes
Elizabeth: …there's nobody that can come near him. Nobody can dance like that, write the lyrics like that, the music, uh, cause the kind of excitement he does.
O: And why do you think you all are such good friends? What has brought about this kind of bond? Because people try to make this weird.
Elizabeth: Well it's not. I mean our childhoods are very similiar, and we had that from the very beginning in common. Um, I was a child star at nine, had an abusive father, um, and that kind of brought us together in the very beginning.
O: And what is it, I am going to ask Michael this question later on, but what is it you most want the world to know about him?
Elizabeth: What a wonderful, giving, caring, generous man he is, and how good he is.
O: And he's funny too.
Elizabeth: Oh, he's wildly funny.
O: He can crack some jokes, I tell you.
Elizabeth: Yes, but he is a good man.
O: When we come back – Thank you for joining us too -
Elizabeth: That's fine.
O: Cause I know you did not want to be on camera at first, but thank you. Coming up next, Michael is going to give us, not only a tour of his incredible amusement park and theatre, but also a very special dance performance. For all of you who say he is faking the Moonwalk with mirrors, we've got some proof coming up in a minute.
(commercial break – when the cameras come back Michael is driving Oprah to the movie theatre in a golf cart)
O: Now this is what's shocking to me, that you even drive. What we're doing everybody, is that we are coming from Michael's house down to this amazing amusement park, which is oh, about several hundred yards from the house. And this is incredible.
Michael: Thank you.
O: And I wnat to know whether or not you did this for yourself or did you do it for all the children that you entertain here?
Michael: For myself and the children.(he helps Oprah out of the cart) Every 3 weeks we – terminally ill children that come to uh -
O: To the house?
Michael: Yes, yes.
O: Make A Wish Foundation, Dream Street, Starlight, yes?
Michael: Every three weeks. And these are sick children, children with cancer. And I entertain them.
O: Uh-huh.
Michael: And they come here to enjoy themselves.
O: This is unbelievable. What I have to say is, these are, as I was talking to some kids that were here, these are not just grandma rides here. These are some major rides.
Michael: (laughs)
O: I mean the Sea Dragon, the Ferris Wheel, and there's that Zipper over there.
Michael: The Wipeout.
O: Yeah, the Wipeout and there are Bumper cars here, it's really -
Michael: Thank you. Well it brings out the child that lives in everybody. I love rides and things like that and I share it with the children.
O: Were you able to that when you were a kid?
Michael: Not really. Sometimes, sometimes, but not often enough.
O: But now you can anytime.
Michael: Everyday. It's right in my backyard.
O: How often do you actually come out here and do this?
Michael: Whenever I'm here I come out and go on the rides.
O: Well, is this a part of you, we were talking about earlier, the pain of growing up and not being able to experience all the things that kids normally experience and so now you are fullfilling all those fantasies.
Michael: To compensate, yes.
O: Really?
Michael: Yes, it's very true.
O: Do you think you can ever really recapture it though? Does it feel the same? I mean, I don't know.
Michael: (laughs) It's more fun.
O: Really?
Michael: I wouldn't change the past if I could. I'm enjoying myself.
O: And here we are inside the theatre. I had one too many sugar babies at that candy counter.
Michael: (laughs)
O: But the candy is here for all the kids. Pinocchio is here, ET is here. Did you – what's fascinating to me about you is that obviously you have this child-like aura about you, and I see children with you and they play with you like you are one of them. But, a child did not do ths.
Michael: (laughs)
O: A child did not put this together – this is really magnificent.
Michael: Well, thank you. I, I love to do things for children and I try to imitate Jesus – I am not saying I am Jesus, I'm not saying that.
O: Yes, we're clear on that.
Michael: Right, I'm trying to imitate Jesus in the fact that he said to be like children, to love children, to be as pure as children and to make yourself as innocent and to see the world through eyes of wonderment and the whole magical quality of it all – and I love that. And we'll have like a hundred bald headed children, they all have cancer and they're all running around…
O: Uh-huh.
Michael: …and they are enjoying themselves and it makes me cry happy tears that I was able to do this for them, you know?
O: Uh-huh.
Michael: Makes me so pleased inside.
O: Well, when I came here to, um, about a month ago to shoot a commercial with you promoting tonight's event, one of the things that really impressed me the most – I hope you guys are getting shots of this. I don't know if you are, if all the cameras are on us, but – oh there are other cameras – is that there are, built inside the walls here – beds – beds for some of these sick children who come. And what I realized when I saw this is you have to be a person who really cares about children to build it into your architecture.
Michael: Yes, yes. We have children that come who are – intraveneously – they are very sick, bedridden…
O: They can't sit up.
Michael: Right. They can't sit up, and these beds, they are hospital beds. You push a button you go up or you go down and they are able to watch. We have a magic show, we show the current films, there's cartoons, anything you know, anything so they can escape to that world of magic that they don't have a chance to experience, the world I was deprived of when I was little.
O: Now let me ask you this. You know I believe everything happens in people's lives for a reason. Do you think that had you not missed a lot of, uh, the life and fun and fantasy of childhood that you would be so in touch with children today. Would you relate to them as you do?
Michael: I probably would, but not as much. That's why I wouldn't change a thing.
O: Really?
Michael: Because I am happy with the way things are and my caring for young people and everything.
O: Are you really happy now, because you seemed so sad for a long time.
Michael: (laughs) I was sad for years and years. But I'm happy, I'm getting there. Yes, I'm very happy.
O: What makes you happier?
Michael: Being able to give back, you know, and to help other people.
O: Uh-huh.
Michael: Heal The World Foundation which I've formed, which helps children in healing the world. We're doing Heal L.A which is, uh, we have 3 primary goals: Immunizing of children, mentoring a big brothers, big sisters program, and educating in drug abuse. Jimmy Carter has teamed up with us to do Heal Atlanta and we're going to go from state to state healing – you know we've gone to Sarajevo, we've done lots of places.
O: I know, I know, we have photos from you all over the world where you are with all these children. One of the things I was saying before we went to the last break, before the alarm went off in the house and all that…
Michael: Yeah.
O: …is that, uh, we were talking about rumors. One of the strangest ones I heard was that when you're moonwalking you're faking it. That you have some mirrors in your socks someplace.
Michael: Oh, boy!
O: And it's not really real.
Michael: No, that's not true.
O: How did you, first of all, you know we've spent do much time trying to dispel the rumors, trying to get the truth out that I haven't really had an opportunity to talk to you about how you concieve your music, how you conceive the dance. Where did the moonwalk come from?
Michael: Well, the moonwalk came from these beautiful children, the black kids who live in the ghettos, the inner cities, who are brilliant, they just have that natural talent for dancing. Any of these new – the running man – any of these dances, they come up with these dances, all I did was enhance the dance.
O: OK, I want to see you dance.
Michael: Oh, God, no, no.
O: I want to see you dance. I want to see you dance, live.
Michael: No, no. I can show you a step or two. But, I'm a little rusty right now.
O: A little rusty?
Michael goes onto the stage and does a few steps to Dangerous)
Michael: That's the moonwalk. Wait, you need to catch it from the sideways.
O: You gotta turn sideways?
Michael: Are you from the front?
O: Yeah, we got ya!
Michael: Catch it from the sideways!
O: OK. Just show me slow motion. Could you show me slow motion?
Michael: OK, wait, it's like pushing and then there's like a popping type of thing.(stops dancing and comes down from the stage)
Michael: I'm sorry.
O: (applauding) Well, I saw it live, I saw it live. And so you took it from the kids who were doing it?
Michael: Yeah, because um, I think they are the real dancers.
O: Yeah. And when you are, for instance, when we were here before, when we were here before to shoot that commercial you were…
Michael: You were supposed to do this with me! (laughing)
O: I don't know how to do this!
Michael: (laughing)
O: You know I don't know how to do this!
Michael: (laughing)
O: You know what? I mean all the things that were printed in the tabloids, the only one thing that's ever been true was when they said that I couldn't dance. Now that's the truth!
Michael: (laughs)
O: When we were here the last time shooting the commercial, you were like in between shots running off and conceiving the dance, choreographing the dance, you were up all night dancing.
Michael: For the Superbowl?
O: Yes, yes.
Michael: Yes, well…I'm never satisfied. Even when I see something I've done and people say oh it was phenomenal – when I did Motown 25 and I did the moonwalk for the first time, I was backstage crying afterwards.
O: Why?
Michael: Because I was unhappy.
O: You cried after Motown 25?
Michael: After Motown 25, yes. But then as I was walking to the car there was this little boy, he was like 12, a little Jewish kid, and he said "oooo, you were amazing,who taught you to ever dance like that?" And for the first time I felt like I did a good job. Because I know children don't lie and I just felt so good about it then.
O: You wanted to, you felt so good, you probably wanted to say (imitating Michael) Hee-hee!
Michael: (laughs) Hee-hee!
O: I want you to sing something a cappella for me, if you can.
Michael: Oh, no! What could I sing?
O: Who Is It, you know do that whole little beat thing, since we're here in the theatre.
Michael: Oh, boy, what could I sing? Who Is It?
O: Where did that hee-hee thing come from? Hee-hee.
Michael: I dunno it just came…hee-hee (starts to sing Who Is It)
O: Owww! Fabulous!
Michael: I mean, you wanted me to do it. I get embarrassed. I'm sorry, I get embarrassed.
O: I like it very much. Thank you very much for that. We're going to come back with more of Michael Jackson live. – That was great (hugs Michael – commercial break)
O: One of the reasons we wanted to look at that piece when we went to break there was because music videos used to just be you, used to be just people singing their songs until you came along and changed music videos. Did you know when you first conceived your first one that was what you were doing?
Michael: Yeah. The idea was to make something that was a story so it had a beginning, a middle and an ending.
O: Uh-huh.
Michael: So it felt like a mini movie, that's what I wnated to do. And that is what we did with Beat It and Thriller and Smooth Criminal and all those type of things.
O: So when you start to look at a piece of work or look at a piece of music, are you thinking about how you are going to -
Michael: Sometimes. Yes, that's very true.
O: Uh-huh. I wonder what it feels like, I will never know since I cannot sing one thing, but, what it feels like to be on stage with a sea of people, a sea of people. One of the things that impressed me in putting the peices together for you, is all around the world the responce to you is so incredible. I just wanted to, for the rest of you in the world who haven't seen how people respond to Michael Jackson to take a look.
(cuts to concert clips and crowd scenes from around the world)
O: So when you're standing there and there's a sea of people around you, screaming your name as they were, what does it feel like?
Michael: Love. You just feel lots of love, and I feel blessed and honoured to be able to be an instrument of nature that was chosen to give them that, what I give them. I'm very honoured and happy about that.
O: An instrument of nature – that's an interesting way to describe yourself.
Michael: Thank you, yes.
O: Are you very spiritual?
Michael: In what sense?
O: I mean, do you, do you meditate? Do you understand that there's someting bigger than yourself at work here?
Michael: I believe in God, absolutely, absolutely, very much.
O: Uh-huh. And I believe everybody comes to the world for a reason. I think, um, most of us spend our lives trying to figure out what the purpose of our being here is. What do you think yours is?
Michael: My purpose?
O: Uh-huh.
Michael: Oh boy. I think um, to give in the best way I can through song and through dance and through music. I mean, I am committed to my art. I believe that all art has as it's ultimate goal the union between the material and the spiritual, the human and the divine. I believe that to be the reason for the very existence of art.
O: Uh-huh.
Michael: And um, I feel I was chosen as an instrument to just give music and love and harmony to the world. To children of all ages, and um, adults and teenagers.
O: Do you think that by talking now, setting the record straight for yourself, that maybe people will be able to focus more attention to your music and not judge you for anything other than the kind of music that you play?
Michael: I would hope so. I would love that.
O: Well, I hope that comes out of this too. I'm also excited that the world is watching, and because the world is watching, we thought this was a good time to let the world see the world premiere of Give In To Me.
(video of Give In To Me shown)
O: So, we want to know how it starts on a piece of paper – "quench my desire" – and turns into that?
Michael: Well, Give In To Me, I wanted to write another song, you know that was kinda exciting and fun and had a rock edge to it. You know, like when I did Beat It and Black Or White. And Slash, who's a dear friend of mine – we love animals and things like that – he wanted to play guitar and I wanted him to play guitar. We got together and we went to Germany and we shot this thing in just like 2 hours. We had no time at all to shoot it. We wanted it to be like a rock concert and that's how it ends up – that's the result.
O: You mentioned animals. I know everyone's going to ask me when I leave here where are all the animals? I said it in the opening, I expected chimps to be jumping all over the living room and I didn't see any. Where's Bubbles?
Michael: (laughs) Well, the animals are everywhere. They're in their habitats. They're all over the ranch. And they come out in the day time and they play and jump around, they have their own playground and area.
O: Why, why were you so fascinated by animals, do you think – ?
Michael: Because I find in animals the same thing I find so wonderful in children. That purity, that honesty, where they don't judge you, they just want to be your friend. I think that is so sweet.
O: I do too. We'll be right back with Michael Jackson Live.
(commercial break)
O: We're live at Michael Jackson's house, in his theatre and we asked NBC for 90 minutes. I don't think it was enough time.
Michael: (laughs)
O: I think we've cleared up all the rumors though. There are no chimps running around the house -
Michael: (laughs)
O: No oxygen tank in the house. I don't know, are you going to lay off the crotch a little?
Michael: (laughs) Ask the music!
O: Ask the music will you lay off the crotch. Oh, we didn't get to the inauguration. Did you tell President Clinton that you had to be the only person there singing?
Michael: That is horrible. That is the stupidest, craziest story that I have ever heard. I mean, why would I just want me and nobody else to be on the show, just me? That's so stupid, to me. I mean it's crazy. That's not even in my heart. I would never say anything like that. Again, somebody made it up and the whole world believed it. It's so false, it's incredible.
O: What do you want, want most – what do you want the world to know about you most? I asked Liz that of you, what do you want them to know?
Michael: Like to be remembered for?
O: Not to be remembered for – what about now? Forget remembered!
Michael: Oh known for now! As to be an artist, a great artist. I, I love what I do and I would love people to love what I do and to be loved. I just simply want to be loved wherever I go. All over the world, because I love people of all races from my heart with true affection.
O: Hmmm. You know, Gene Siskel who's a movie critic asked me this question once. And I loved the question, so I am going to ask you.
Michael: Yeah?
O: You're 34 years old. What do you know for sure?
Michael: Hmmm…what do I know for sure?
O: What do you know for sure?
Michael: Oh boy, I'm still learning. I mean, life is an education for me. I can't say that I know anything for sure. I really believe that.
O: I can't thank you enough for letting us in and I wish you all the happiness in the world. I loved being here because it makes me feel like a child again and one of the things I promised myself was that when this interview was over – live around the world – I was going to get on that Ferris Wheel.
Michael: (laughs)
O: And that is exactly what I intend to do. I'm gonna take off my blue shoes and I'm gonna ride that Ferris Wheel.
Michael: (laughing)
O: I'm gonna have a good time and have myself a little popcorn maybe, and maybe when it's all over you'll teach me how to do the moonwalk, when everybody's not looking!
Michael: OK, OK, that sounds good!
O: Yeah! This was fun!
Michael: Yeah! Lots of fun!

MJ’s Greatest TV Moments

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:30:06 +0000

A look back at the King of Pop's greatest TV moments, from the Dating Game at age 14 to the World Music Awards in 2000 and everything in between.

1995 MTV Video Awards

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:15:19 +0000

The 1995 MTV Video Music Awards aired live in September 7, 1995, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1994 to June 15, 1995. The show was hosted by Dennis Miller at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Michael Jackson (featuring Slash) performed a crowd rollicking "Medley" which featured "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough"/"The Way You Make Me Feel"/"Scream"/"Beat It"/"Black or White"/"Billie Jean"/"Dangerous"/"Smooth Criminal"/"You Are Not Alone."

Earth Song – BRIT Awards 1996

Webmaster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:05:30 +0000

"Earth Song" is the third single from Michael Jackson's album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. It is a ballad that incorporates elements of blues, gospel and opera. Jackson had a long-standing history of releasing socially conscious material such as "We Are the World", "Man in the Mirror" and "Heal the World". However, "Earth Song" was the first that overtly dealt with the environment and animal welfare.

In 1996, Jackson performed "Earth Song" at the BRIT Awards, he was also there to collect a special "Artist of a Generation" award. Jackson sang while dangling off the edge of a high rise crane lift. Below, a chorus of people joined the performance and many of them began to physically embrace Jackson upon his descent. In response to the performance, an intoxicated Jarvis Cocker jumped onto the stage, without permission, and began to swear at Jackson with the use of fingers. Jarvis had to be physically removed from the stage by security guards and in the process three children were injured. Jarvis explained that he found the performance offensive, that Jackson portrayed himself as Christ-like and could do as he pleased because of his immense wealth and power.

Commentator John Street, in his published piece Politics and Popular Culture, stated "But to read popular culture as a straight forward text is to take a very narrow view of its meaning, and hence of its political message. As we have noted, the text's meaning will depend on how it is heard and read. Michael Jackson may have intended his 'Earth Song' to be an exercise in compassion; others–like Jarvis Cocker–saw it quite differently. One reason these alternative readings emerge is because of the way the performance of popular culture engages more than a literal text, it employs gestures and symbols, tones of voice, looks and glances, all of which might tell a different story".

1993 Clinton Inauguration

Webmaster — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:59:42 +0000

We Are the World Performance

The first inauguration of Bill Clinton as the 42nd President of the United States took place on January 20, 1993. One of the most memoriable performances that took place that evening was the performance of Michael Jackson’s “Gone Too Soon” and “Heal the World”

Rabbi Shmuley on Larry King

Webmaster — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:44:36 +0000

In even more revealing Michael Jackson news, some audio tapes have been released by Jackson’s “friend” Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and some people may be a bit shocked in what the Kin of Pop said. Granted these tapes were recorded back in 1999 and 2001, but just now we get a listen to what Jackson thought of certain people in his life.

According to a source, for about 30 hours Boteach taped conversations between himself and Michael Jackson and they are now being released for a book titled “The Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation”.

So what exactly does Jackson say?

Well, in one part of the interview he says that he always wants to be surrounded by kids and that he surrounded himself with mannequins because he was so lonely. Yeah that is pretty strange, but perhaps that stems from the fact that how his father would strip him nude and oil him down to beat him while his mother yelled “please don’t kill him”?

About aging, Jackson adds, “I think growing old is the ugliest thing. When the body breaks down and you start to wrinkle, I think it’s so bad. I never want to look in the mirror and see that. I really don’t. People say that growing old is beautiful. I disagree. I don’t want to look old and start forgetting. I want to always be youthful and have the energy to run around and play hide and seek, which is one of my favorite games.”

Perhaps the juiciest was the fact that he dishes out some things on celebrities, particularly Madonna saying, “They admire you and they know you’re wonderful and great but they’re jealous because they wish they were in your shoes…and M is one of them, Madonna. She’s not that nice….”

These tapes sound pretty interesting. What are your thoughts? Was it appropriate for the Rabbi to release these?

Rabbi Shmuley’s Boteach’s new book The Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation will be published this Friday, September 25th and will be available in book stores.

WHAT MORE CAN I GIVE?

Webmaster — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:46:59 +0000

“What More Can I Give” (also “Todo Para Ti” in Spanish) is a song recorded as a charity single by Michael Jackson and more than 35 other artists, with the goal of raising $50 million for numerous charities in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. A Spanish version was also recorded. Jackson was originally inspired to write the song after meeting with former South African president Nelson Mandela in 1999, and commented that the song was intended to “find solace in the wake of the attack on America and to create a sense of global unity in the face of mindless violence and mass murder.”

The single was never released due to a conflict between Jackson and Sony Music. Sony believed the release would create a marketing conflict with Invincible, his then-new album. However, even months after Invincible’s release, Sony still refused to release the single. This was one of several factors in Jackson’s labeling Sony chief Tommy Mottola a “racist” who he believed had sabotaged the marketing of his new material, and thus announcing his withdrawal from Epic Records. While the song never saw proper retail release, a pay download was eventually made available via whatmorecanigive.com, the (now defunct) official site.

Sony, however, claimed that it was Jackson’s own people that pulled the single from release because it was learned that the song’s executive producer, Marc Schaffel, was a former director of gay pornography, and, thus, they did not want him to be associated with Michael Jackson or a charity-benefit single.

On October 21, 2001, the song was performed at a 9/11 benefit concert called United We Stand: What More Can I Give?. This was Jackson’s last brand new song performed.

In October 2003, The making of the song was shown at the 2003 Radio City Music Awards, where Jackson was presented with a humanitarian award.

Artists involved

The following is a list of all the artists involved. The list includes which version of the song they appear on.^[1]

Artist	Appears on English version?	Appears on Spanish version?
3LW	Yes	No
Aaron Carter	Yes	No
Alejandro Sanz	No	Yes
Anastacia	Yes	Yes
Beyoncé	Yes	No
Billy Gilman	Yes	No
Brian McKnight	Yes	Yes
Bryton	Yes	No
Carlos Santana	Yes	Yes
Celine Dion	Yes	Yes
Cristian Castro	No	Yes
Gloria Estefan	Yes	Yes
Hanson	Yes	No
Jon Secada	Yes	Yes
Joy Enriquez	No	Yes
Juan Gabriel	No	Yes
Julio Iglesias	No	Yes
Laura Pausini	No	Yes
Luis Miguel	No	Yes
Luther Vandross	Yes	Yes
Mariah Carey	Yes	Yes
Michael McCary from Boyz II Men	Yes	No
Michael Jackson	Yes	Yes
Mýa	Yes	Yes
‘N Sync	Yes	Yes
Nick Carter from Backstreet Boys	Yes	No
Olga Tañón	No	Yes
Reba McEntire	Yes	No
Ricky Martin	Yes	Yes
Rubén Blades	No	Yes
Shakira	Yes	Yes
Shawn Stockman from Boyz II Men	Yes	No
Thalía	Yes	Yes
Usher	Yes	No
Tom Petty	Yes	No
Ziggy Marley	Yes	No
Jesse McCartney	Yes	No

Dr. Arnie Klein Interview

Webmaster — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:35:27 +0000

NOTE: During this interview, Dr. Klein stated that Uri Geller profited from the Martin Bashir Interview with Michael Jackson. On July 10, 2009, Larry King retracted Dr. Klein statement by saying on air, “In connection with a comment made by our guest Dr. Arnold Kline on Wednesday’s program, we were contacted by Uri Geller, who said he did not personally receive any money whatsoever in connection with the Martin Bashir interview with Michael Jackson.” The confidential dispute with CNN and Mr. Geller was settled amicably.

(CNN) — Dr. Arnie Klein, dermatologist to the stars, had a long-term association with Michael Jackson. The professor of medicine and dermatology at UCLA was also Jackson’s friend.

Some are speculating that Klein is also the biological father of Jackson’s children.

In a wide-ranging interview with CNN’s Larry King on July 8, 2009, Klein addresses those allegations, along with issues such as Jackson’s skin diseases, what he knew about Jackson’s drug use, medications he prescribed, his thoughts on Debbie Rowe and much more.

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity:

Larry King: Doctor, how did you first meet Michael?

Dr. Arnie Klein, Michael Jackson’s dermatologist: I met Michael because someone had brought him into my office. I took one look at him, and I said you have lupus erythematosus.

King: Lupus?

Klein: Lupus, yes. He had a red butterfly rash, and he also had severe crusting you could see on the scalp. … So I then did a biopsy. I diagnosed lupus. And then our relationship went from there.

King: Let’s fast forward. You saw him the Monday before he died. What was the purpose of the visit?

Klein: He came to me because, basically, I was sort of rebuilding his face, because he had severe acne and scarring. He had scarring from having a lot of cosmetic surgery. … I was rebuilding his face so he looked much more normal. And contrary to what people said, he could not take off his nose. His nose was attached. But it looked too small.

King: Did he consult you when he was doing his plastic surgery?

Klein: No. I mean I came onto the scene long after he’d begun plastic surgery. In fact, what I wanted to do is stop it because I felt that we were losing body parts in the situation. …

King: How would you describe Michael’s mental, physical condition on that Monday?

Klein: He was dancing in the office. So he was in very good physical condition.

King: Do you know why he even started the plastic surgery?

Klein: I can’t definitively say. But I know that people made fun — or family members — of the size of his nose. He was very sensitive to that.

King: Was Michael in any kind of pain when you saw him?

Klein: Not whatsoever.

King: Did you see any evidence of needle marks on this visit?

Klein: Well, I didn’t examine his entire body.

King: Had you seen any in prior exams?

Klein: No, I never saw needle marks on his body.

King: Reports [were] he was emaciated.

Klein: He wasn’t emaciated. I’ve worked with dancers many times, and dancers are very concerned about their weight. And so I knew that he always wanted to be thin. And I talked to him about eating enough and making sure he didn’t over-exercise.

King: What was the strongest medication you gave him?

Klein: On occasion, [I] gave him Demerol to sedate him. And that was about the strongest medicine I ever used.

King: Did Michael have an addiction you were aware of?

Klein: Michael, at one time, had an addiction. And he went to England and he withdrew that addiction at a secure setting, where he went off of drugs altogether. And what I told Michael when I met him in this present situation when I was seeing him, that I had to keep reducing the dosage of what he was on, because he came to me with a huge tolerance level.

King: [Let's discuss] Diprivan.

Klein: It’s a wonderful drug when used correctly.

King: It is. And it’s used by anesthesiologists. What would it be doing in someone’s house?

Klein: I have no idea. And that’s what doesn’t make sense to me.

King: How would you buy Diprivan?

Klein: Well, you can get it from an anesthesiologist.

King: Did Michael tell you he used Diprivan?

Klein: I knew at one point that he was using Diprivan when he was on tour in Germany. And so he was using it, with an anesthesiologist, to go to sleep at night. And I told him he was absolutely insane. I said you have to understand that this drug, you can’t repeatedly take.

King: How could a reasonable anesthesiologist give that to someone other than prior to surgery?

Klein: Because I have to tell you, there are certain people in this world who are not reasonable.

King: Are you surprised Diprivan was found in his home, supposedly?

Klein: I am very shocked by it.

King: Did you ever see any IV type equipment in his house?

Klein: Never.

King: What is vitiligo?

Klein: It’s a loss of pigment cells. It’s an autoimmune disease and lupus is an autoimmune disease. And they tend to go together, because you make antibodies against your pigment cells.

King: Did Michael have it?

Klein: Absolutely.

King: Do black people have it more than white people?

Klein: No. But it’s just more visible on black people, because they have dark skin.

King: How bad was his?

Klein: Oh, his was bad because he began to get a totally speckled look over his body.

King: So let’s clear up something. He was not someone desirous of being white?

Klein: No. Michael was black. He was very proud of his black heritage. He changed the world for black people.

King: What you can tell us about his changing face?

Klein: When I met him, he had done a decent bit of surgery by then.

King: Did you ever say to Michael, we’re going too far?

Klein: I stopped him from going to the surgeon because I said this isn’t working anymore, you have to stop it. And what I spent the last part of the year doing is rebuilding a lot of things that I thought were done poorly.

King: Is it true that he wanted to look like Peter Pan?

Klein: I don’t think he wanted to look like Peter Pan. I didn’t see him implanting wings on the back of his back or doing anything like that, right?

King: All right, what about the nose?

Klein: The nose was a very special thing, because his father and his brothers supposedly, from what I’ve read, made fun of his nose all the time. So he was very sensitive to the nose. And…

King: What was wrong with his nose?

Klein: I originally didn’t think there was much wrong with his nose. I thought he had a nice-looking nose. But it got to the point where it was far too thin. It didn’t look natural to me.

King: Now, you helped him rebuild it?

Klein: I rebuilt it, yes.

King: Now, the Debbie Rowe part of the story. She was your nurse, right?

Klein: Yes.

King: They met in your office?

Klein: Yes.

King: Was that a real love affair?

Klein: I don’t know what love is in that sense of the imagination. I think that she loves him very much. She admired him very much.

King: It was not a sexual relationship?

Klein: I think they did have sex.

King: You do?

Klein: Yes, I really do, [but] I can’t guarantee that. I think they did have sex in their relationship.

King: You think Michael ever had sex to father the children?

Klein: I don’t know that answer, because I would think that it’s possible that he did. You can’t guarantee that. You can only guarantee things you see.

King: Now, what about all the rumors about you and the fathering of those children?

Klein: Here’s the most important thing. Michael loved those children as a father. Those children loved him as a father. As far as I am concerned, that’s the most important grouping that is.

King: That’s not answering the question.

Klein: No, because I’m not going to answer it the way you want me to answer it, because …

King: Well, you can say no.

Klein: I can say no, then. I will say no if that’s what you want to hear.

King: No, I want to hear what you know.

Klein: What I will tell you is I think what’s most important thing about this whole thing, to end this thing, is that the most important thing in who the father is … who the children want their father to be. And I will tell you this, I will say no, because the most important person to these children is how Michael loved them and how he loved his children and how they loved him. … I still can’t answer it absolutely one way or another.

King: So that means you donated sperm? Watch Klein address fatherhood issue »

Klein: I once donated sperm. I don’t know that you have to know…

King: You donated to him.

Klein: No, absolutely not.

King: Oh, you donated sperm to a sperm bank.

Klein: Once, to a sperm bank. But I don’t think I should go over my legal affairs, because I think to the best of my knowledge, I’m not the father. I want to tell you that this discussion, however, is between Michael, his children and this person. It’s not to be discussed who the father is over national television.

King: You don’t feel you have to take a DNA test to prove anything?

Klein: If they want me to take a DNA test, they can have my DNA. I don’t care at this point. My concern is his kids because I’ve never met children like this. These are the brightest children I’ve ever met, the best behaved children I’ve ever met. I don’t want to destroy this relationship in any way, shape or form. I’ll tell you this, no matter what, I will protect these children.

King: Did you go to the memorial service?

Klein: I couldn’t, I watched it on television and it was still too emotional for me.

King: How did the story, you think, surface about you and fatherhood? Where did that come from?

Klein: I don’t have any idea whether it came from … Debbie Rowe, I have no idea.

King: Could it have come from Debbie Rowe?

Klein: Absolutely, because I phoned her as soon as Michael passed away. My greatest concern was what was going to happen to the children.

King: Do you think she should get custody?

Klein: I don’t know if she should get custody. I’m very worried that the custody may go into a situation that is incorrect. I think the most important thing is there’s this woman Grace who was their nanny, who is incredible. She should remain their nanny and help raise the children.

King: Have you gone to see the family?

Klein: I have not gone to see the family because I didn’t want to go see the family because I had difficulty with Jesse Jackson because I don’t know him very well nor Al Sharpton who I didn’t know very well. And once the family invites me to visit them, I’ll most certainly visit them so I get to see the children.

Uri Geller British TV

Webmaster — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:51:48 +0000

Part 1 Above – Part 2 & 3 Below

Part 3

Uri Geller pays tribute to the star, remembering their long friendship, recollecting past conversations and presenting previously unseen footage from his private archive, including Michael Jackson’s midnight shopping spree in Harrods and a trip to Exeter City FC. Also including scenes from Geller’s wedding vow renewal ceremony, where the singer was the best man. Following the death of Michael Jackson, a British television station aired this interview with Geller regarding his relationship with Jackson (though it is strongly believed he had not had contact with Michael Jackson since 2003). This documentary aired July 26, 2009.

Uri, a believer in the paranormal, website is at http://site.uri-geller.com/

Uri Geller Freud^[1], commonly Uri Geller Hebrew: אורי גלר‎, born Gellér György (Hungarian name)^[2] on 20 December 1946 is an Israeli-British performer of magic tricks, which as part of his act he has claimed are a result of psychic abilities^[3], most notably “to be able to bend spoons with the power of his mind.” He used to claim that this was entirely due to “psychic” ability but now prefers the designation of “mystifier.”^[4]

Career

Geller rose to fame after performing a series of televised performances, demonstrating what he claimed to be psychokinesis, dowsing, and telepathy.^[11] His performance included bending spoons, describing hidden drawings, and making watches stop or run faster. Geller said he performs these feats through will power and the strength of his mind.^[12] Critics have said that his performances can be duplicated using stage magic tricks.^[13]

In 1975 Geller published his first autobiography, My Story, and acknowledged his performances were usually sprinkled with magicians’ tricks because if the spoon bending didn’t work, his show would be pretty dull. Since then he has been heavily debunked by skeptics such as James Randi, who have demonstrated how his feats could be duplicated through the magician’s art.

Geller performed regularly both in theaters and on television from the 1970s until the mid-1990s, when an Israeli TV documentary exposed him as an entertainer rather than using psychic forces. One slow motion shot revealed him producing a small magnet from behind his ear to influence a compass needle. The Canadian journalist and illusionist Randall James Hamilton Zwinge (James Randi) also exposed him as a fraud, and as a result of the negative attention Geller abruptly canceled his show on Israeli television and avoided all media attention and performances until his 2007 reality show comeback.

In recent years, Geller has been a part of several television programs. Geller starred in the 2001 horror film Sanitarium, directed by Johannes Roberts and James Eaves. In May 2002, he appeared as a contestant on the first series of the British reality TV show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, where he finished eighth place. In 2005 Geller starred in “Uri’s Haunted Cities: Venice,” a XI Pictures/Lion TV production for Sky One (which led to a behind the scenes release in early 2008 called “Cursed”). Both productions were directed by Jason Figgis. In early 2007 Geller hosted a reality show in Israel called The Successor (היורש), where the contestants performed magic tricks and Geller was accused of “trickery.”^[14] In July 2007 NBC signed Geller and Criss Angel for Phenomenon, which started airing on October 24 to search for the next great mentalist, which contestant Mike Super won.^[15] Geller also hosts the TV show The Next Uri Geller, which started on 8 January 2008, and is broadcast by Pro7 in Germany.^[16] In February 2008, Geller began a show on Dutch Television called De Nieuwe Uri Geller, which shares a similar format to its German counterpart. The goal of the program is to find the best mentalist in The Netherlands. He started the same show in Hungary from 29 March 2008 (A kiválasztott in Hungarian). During the show Geller speaks both in Hungarian and in English. Geller also performs his standard routines of making stopped watches start, spoons jump from televisions, and tables move. Geller co-produced the TV show Book of Knowledge, released in April 2008.^[17]

Paranormal claims

Geller claims his feats are the result of paranormal powers^[11] given to him by extraterrestrials,^[24] but critics such as James Randi argue and have demonstrated that Geller’s tricks can be replicated with stage magic and are simply “parlour tricks.”^[13]

As early as 1970 in his home country, Geller was termed a “fraud” for claiming his feats were telepathic.^[10] In addition, a 1974 article detailed how Geller got away with trickery and exposed his “eleven tricks.”^[25] The article alleged that his manager Shipi Shtrang (whom he called his brother at the time) and Shipi’s sister Hannah Shtrang secretly helped in Geller’s performances.^[25] Eventually, Geller married Hannah and they had children.^[26]

In 1975, two scientists (Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff from the Stanford Research Institute) said they were convinced that Geller’s demonstrations were genuine. ^[27] However, since that time, notable scientists, various magicians, and skeptics have suggested possible ways in which Geller could have tricked the scientists using misdirection techniques.^[13]^[28] These critics, who include Richard Feynman, James Randi and Martin Gardner, have accused him of using his demonstrations fraudulently outside of the entertainment business.^[29]^[30] Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, who was an amateur magician, wrote in Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (1985) that Geller was unable to bend a key for him and his son.^[31] Some of his claims have been described by watchmakers as restarting stopped mechanical clocks by moving them around.^[27]

Geller is well-known for his sports predictions. Skeptic James Randi and British tabloid The Sun (among others) have demonstrated the teams and players he chooses to win most often lose.^[32] John Atkinson explored “predictions” Geller made over 30 years and concluded “Uri more often than not scuppered the chances of sportsmen and teams he was trying to help.”^[32] This was pointed out by one of Randi’s readers, who called it “The Curse of Uri Geller.”^[33]

In another notable instance, in 1992, he was paid to investigate the kidnapping of Hungarian model Helga Farkas, and, although he predicted she would be found alive and in good health, she was murdered by her kidnappers.^[34]^[35]

During the Euro 96 football game between Scotland and England at Wembley, Geller, who was hovering overhead in a helicopter, claimed that he managed to move the ball from the penalty spot when Scotland’s Gary McAllister was about to take a penalty kick. The player ended up missing the chance to equalise for Scotland. On television replays, it was shown that the ball did move before the kick; however, if Geller’s claim was true, the game would have been officially ruled null and void.

In 2007, skeptics observed that Geller appeared to have dropped his 35-year-old claims that he does not perform magic tricks. Randi highlighted a quotation from the November 2007 issue of the magazine Magische Welt (Magic World) in which Geller said: “I’ll no longer say that I have supernatural powers. I am an entertainer. I want to do a good show. My entire character has changed.”^[36]

In a later interview, Geller told Telepolis, “I said to this German magazine, so what I did say, that I changed my character, to the best of my recollection, and I no longer say that I do supernatural things. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have powers. It means that I don’t say ‘it’s supernatural’, I say ‘I’m a mystifier!’ That’s what I said. And the sceptics turned it around and said, ‘Uri Geller said he’s a magician!’ I never said that.”^[37] In that interview, Geller further explained that when he is asked how he does his stunts, he tells children to “Forget the paranormal. Forget spoon bending! Instead of that, focus on school! Become a positive thinker! Believe in yourself and create a target! Go to university! Never smoke! And never touch drugs! And think of success!”^[37]

In February 2008, he said in the TV show The Next Uri Geller (a German version of The Successor) that he did not have any supernatural powers, but he winked when he said it.^[38]

Parallels to stage magic

Geller admits “Sure, there are magicians who can duplicate [my performances] through trickery.”^[39] He claims that even though his demonstrations could have been done using trickery, he uses psychic powers to achieve his results.^[39] Skeptic James Randi has stated that if Geller is truly using his mind to perform these feats, “he is doing it the hard way.”^[40] Stage magicians note several methods of creating the illusion of a spoon spontaneously bending. Most common is the practice of misdirection, an underlying principle of many stage magic tricks.^[41]

According to Randi, there are many ways in which a bent spoon can be presented to an audience as to give the appearance it was done with supernatural powers. One way is through one or several brief moments of distraction in which a magician can physically bend a spoon unseen by the audience.^[40] Then the bend is gradually revealed creating the illusion that the spoon is bending before the viewers’ eyes.^[40] Another way, if a performer does not bend the spoon with force during the performance is by pre-bending them (for example by heating them) and thus reducing the amount of force later needed to be applied.^[40] It is also possible to chemically bend the spoon by applying a corrosive to one edge so that the spoon weakens and bends in a set period of time.

Geller claims in telepathic drawing demonstrations that he is able to read subjects’ minds as they draw a picture. Although in these demonstrations he cannot see the picture being drawn, he is sometimes present in the room and on those occasions can see the subjects as they draw. Critics argue this may allow Geller to infer common shapes from pencil movement and sound, with the power of suggestion doing the rest.^[41] James Randi has also suggested that Geller uses tiny mirrors held in his palm in order to see the drawings, noting how in one performance of this trick he both turned around when the participant commenced drawing and, seemingly unnecessarily, covered his eyes with his hands, but no one has seen these ‘mirrors’.

Geller’s “watch fixing” abilities do not impress some watch makers, who note “many supposedly broken watches had merely been stopped by gummy oil, and simply holding them in the hand would warm the oil enough to soften it and allow watches to resume ticking.”^[27]

In November 2008, Geller accepted an award during a convention of magicians, the Services to Promotion of Magic Award from the Berglas Foundation. In his acceptance speech, Geller said that if he hadn’t had psychic powers then he “must be the greatest” to have been able to fool journalists, scientists and Berglas himself.^[42]

Scientific testing

Geller’s performances of drawing duplication and cutlery bending usually take place under informal conditions such as television interviews. During his early career he allowed some scientists to investigate his claims. A study by Stanford Research Institute (now known as SRI International) conducted by researchers Harold E. Puthoff and Russell Targ concluded ^[43] that he had clearly performed successfully enough to warrant further serious study, and the “Geller-effect” was coined to refer to the particular type of abilities they felt had been demonstrated.^[44]

In An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, Randi wrote: “Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ, who studied Mr. Geller at the Stanford Research Institute were aware, in one instance at least, that they were being shown a magician’s trick by Geller.”^[45] Moreover, Randi explained, “Their protocols for this ‘serious’ investigation of the powers claimed by Geller were described by Dr. Ray Hyman, who investigated the project on behalf of a the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, as ‘sloppy and inadequate.’”^[45] However, the only tests of Geller observed by Hyman at SRI were those performed by himself and his two colleagues. Hyman did not observe any testing by Puthoff and Targ. Puthoff and Targ had suggested that Hyman and co. visit SRI and conduct their own experiments on Geller. This they did, and Hyman and his colleagues spent ‘a couple of hours’ performing their own experiments on Geller independent of Puthoff and Targ. Puthoff and Targ observed and video taped these experiments. According to Puthoff and Targ, the experiments performed by Hyman were conducted in an ‘informal manner’ and ‘largely uncontrolled’. ^[46]

Critics of this testing include psychologists Dr. David Marks and Dr. Richard Kammann. They published a description of how Geller could have cheated in an informal test of his so-called psychic powers in 1977.^[47] Their 1978 article in Nature and 1980 book The Psychology of the Psychic (2nd ed. 2000) described how a normal explanation was possible for Geller’s alleged powers of telepathy. Marks and Kammann found evidence that while at SRI Geller was allowed to peek through a hole in the laboratory wall separating Geller from the drawings he was being invited to reproduce. The drawings he was asked to reproduce were placed on a wall opposite the peep hole which the investigators Targ and Puthoff had stuffed with cotton gauze. In addition to this error, the investigators had also allowed Geller access to a two-way intercom enabling Geller to listen to the investigators’ conversation during the time when they were choosing and/or displaying the target drawings. These basic errors indicate the high importance of ensuring that psychologists, magicians or other people with an in-depth knowledge of perception, who are trained in methods for blocking sensory cues, be present during the testing of psychics.

The Tonight Show failure

Geller was unable to bend any tableware during a 1973 appearance on The Tonight Show in which the spoons he was to bend had been pre-selected by Johnny Carson. Earlier in his career, Carson had been an amateur stage magician, and he consulted Randi for advice on how to thwart potential trickery.^[24] In 1993 Randi explained in “Secrets of the Psychics” for the NOVA television series: “I was asked to prevent any trickery. I told them to provide their own props and not to let Geller or his people anywhere near them.” A clip of this incident was televised on the NBC show Phenomenon. This two-minute clip has been widely circulated on the Internet since James Randi acquired permission to use it from NBC, and Carson paid for the videotape transfer.^[48] In his television special Secrets of the Psychics, Geller is shown failing at psychic “hand dowsing,” not metal bending.^{[clarification needed]}

Controversial performances

As part of a mass demonstration, Geller’s photograph appeared on the cover of the magazine ESP with the caption “On Sept. 1, 1976 at 11pm E.D.T. THIS COVER CAN BEND YOUR KEYS.” According to editor Howard Smukler, over 300 positive responses were received, many including bent objects and detailed descriptions of the surrounding circumstances including the bending of the key to the city of Providence, Rhode Island. ^[49]

Noel Edmonds was a television prankster who often used hidden cameras to record celebrities in Candid Camera-like situations for his television programme Noel’s House Party. In 1996, Edmonds planned a stunt in which shelves would fall from the walls of a room while Geller was in it. The cameras recorded footage of Geller from angles he was not expecting, and they showed Geller grasping a spoon firmly with both hands as he stood up to display a bend in it.^[50] Geller later claimed that he knew that Edmonds’s crew had been filming, and that he made the shelves fall off the wall with his psychic powers.^{[citation needed]}

In late 2006 and early 2007 Geller starred in The Successor, an Israeli television show to find a “successor” to him. During one segment, Geller tried to move a compass with paranormal abilities. However, video cameras caught Geller with magnet-on-thumb (magnets cause compasses to move in the direction of the magnet).^[51]^[14] Geller then tried to force YouTube to remove the clips that showed the unflattering thumb.^[52]^[51]

Geller performed this trick in 2000 on ABC TV’s The View, which was then duplicated by Randi on the same show the following week.^[53]

On the television show Phenomenon on 31 October 2007, Criss Angel challenged Geller and contestant Jim Callahan to prove they had supernatural abilities.^[54] Angel pulled two envelopes from his pocket and said, “I will give you a million dollars of my personal money right now if either one of you can tell me specific details of what’s in here right now.”^[54] After some shouting, Angel and Callahan then moved toward each other. Geller and the show’s host, Tim Vincent, moved quickly to keep them apart. Shortly thereafter, the show cut to a commercial break.

On 21 November 2007, Criss Angel again offered Geller $1,000,000 on the finale of NBC’s nationally televised Phenomenon.^[55] Geller said, “although we were born one day apart, I was born on the twentieth December and you were on the nineteenth … there are a lot of years between us … forty years ago you were one year old when I came out with my spoon bending.”^[55] As Geller was speaking Angel said, “I told you that, correct” and then interrupted Geller to reveal the numbers nine-one-one.^[55] Then Angel concluded, “If somebody could predict, tell us on nine-ten that 9/11 was going to happen, maybe that could have prevented it.”

Omer Bhatti

Webmaster — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:56:35 +0000

Is he Michael’s son?

In an interview with TV One, Joe Jackson asserts Omer Bhatti, a 25-year-old dancer and aspiring rapper from Oslo, Norway who once traveled the world with Michael Jackson, lived at the singer’s Neverland ranch and was referred to by the Jackson family as “Michael J,” is the pop icon’s estranged fourth child.

Asked if he knew Bhatti was Jackson’s son, Joe Jackson said, “Yes, I knew he had another son, yes I did.”

He added: “He looks like a Jackson, he can dance like a Jackson. This boy is fantastic dancer — matter of fact, he teaches dance.”

Bhatti came under renewed scrutiny earlier this month, when the British newspaper The Sun reported Bhatti is seeking a DNA test to find out if he’s really Jackson’s child.

Bhatti has features similar to Jackson and shares an uncanny resemblance to his youngest son Prince II, known as Blanket.

Not everyone connected to the family is as certain as Joe Jackson that Bhatti is the pop icon’s flesh and blood. But one thing is for sure: Bhatti, who was seated on the front row at Jackson’s memorial service next to Jackson’s children and siblings, occupies a special place in the Jackson family.

In Vienna earlier this month, Jackson’s brother Jermaine Jackson said Bhatti would be welcomed into the family, if he’s proven a Jackson.

However, Michael Jackson’s rumored love child, Omer Bhatti, has revealed how the star made him his “honorary” son after inviting him to move in with him years ago.

Omer Bhatti, 25, hails from Norway, and lived at Neverland ranch for eight years. Rumors say Jackson fathered him during a one-night stand with his mom, Pia.

But he says there is no biological link between them, despite the rumors that he is Jackson’s secret son. He says the music legend was just his “best friend.”

Omer, who still lives in Norway, reveals that Jackson used to say that he was “like a son” to him and thinks that must be the reason for the love child rumors.

Confiding in a close friend from Oslo, Omer Bhatti said: “Michael Jackson is not my father. He and I were just very, very close. He was my best friend.”

Omer was a guest of honor at Jackson’s memorial service in L.A. two weeks ago – sitting along with the pop legend’s closest relatives in the front row.

“Michael always used to say I was like a son to him,” he said. “But my true parents are in Norway. The reason I was asked to sit with his family at the memorial service is because I was Michael’s closest friend – not because I am his son.”

You can follow him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/theomerbhatti.