Here’s a shock for the many bloggers and tabloid writers (like Ian Halperin of the Daily Mail in London) who claim that Michael Jackson was too ill to sing or dance, would never have performed his London shows, and was depressed about it.
AEG Live, the company producing Jackson’s shows, filmed all the rehearsals. They have 100 hours of film on Jackson and his shows, including last Wednesday’s rehearsal at the Staples Center the night before Michael died.
The film will be used at some point as a staggering rebuttal to Jackson’s naysayers like Halperin who painted a grim picture of the singer as he prepared for his comeback.
Not only that: I’m told that there’s enough audio to fill not one but two live albums worth of material, now sitting in the AEG vaults. Since Jackson never released a live album during his career, these recordings could turn out to be a gold mine.
I’ve also heard that the cast and crew of Jackson’s shows ‘ called “This Is It” ‘ had a big dinner over the weekend to toast Jackson and discuss the show’s future. An argument has been made to stage the show somewhere or take it on tour sometime in the near future as a tribute to Jackson.
“AEG spent $30 million putting this together,” says a source. “The video, the lighting, the staging’ it’s all extraordinary. They’re the first to use a new 3D projection that will blow people’s minds.”
The producer is considering this seriously, they say, and may bring in some big stars to perform Jackson’s music, if not members of his performing family.