Planet Jackson Worldwide

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Tennessee House Passes Michael Measure

The Tennessee House of Representatives narrowly passed a measure to honor Michael Jackson on Wednesday, February 3, 2010. The resolution, sponsored by Democratic Rep. G. A. Hardaway of Memphis, squeaked by Wednesday on a vote of 51-22 with 16 lawmakers present and abstaining. Measures need at least 50 votes to pass the 99-member chamber.

The measure has drawn considerable heat amongst the conservative constituency of the Southern state. This general disdain is echoed by the lawmakers who opposed the measure. Democratic Rep. Henry Fincher of Cookeville said he voted against it because Jackson was "credibly accused of child molestation." House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada said he objected to money being spent to honor entertainer, however he tendered an "aye" vote. Nevertheless, the state Congress regularly considers such measures; two years ago a measure to honor Tennessee native Justin Timberlake failed to pass.

If you would like to read the full text of the bill, click here.

Here is how the vote split:

HJR0773 by Hardaway - FLOOR VOTE: MOTION TO ADOPT 2/3/2010 Passed Ayes...............................................51

Noes...............................................22

Present and not voting......................16

Representatives voting aye were: Armstrong, Bone, Borchert, Brown, Camper, Casada, Coleman, Cooper, DeBerry L, Eldridge, Favors, Ferguson, Fitzhugh, Gilmore, Hackworth, Hardaway, Harmon, Harrison, Johnson P, Jones S, Jones U, Kernell, Litz, Lynn, Maddox, Marsh, Matheny, McCord, McCormick, McDaniel, Miller, Montgomery, Moore, Mumpower, Naifeh, Odom, Pitts, Pruitt, Richardson, Sargent, Shaw, Shepard, Sontany, Swafford, Tidwell, Tindell, Towns, Turner J, Turner M, West, Yokley -- 51.

Representatives voting no were: Bell, Carr, Cobb J, Dunn, Faulkner, Fincher, Floyd, Ford, Haynes, Hensley, Johnson C, Lollar, Lundberg, Matlock, McDonald, McManus, Niceley, Roach, Rowland, Shipley, Stewart, Weaver -- 22.

Representatives present and not voting were: Barker, Bass, Brooks H, Campfield, Coley, Dennis, Evans, Fraley, Harwell, Maggart, Ramsey, Rich, Todd, Watson, White, Mr. Speaker Williams -- 16.

We ask that you take the time to call or e-mail at least five legislators from this list who voted yes and five who voted against the bill. Contact information on all the congresspersons can be found here on the House Member Website. Please make sure you include Rep. Fincher in all your communications. He needs to know his statements are not only incorrect, they are unacceptable.

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This Is It #1 in DVD sales

According to Home Media Magazine, Michael Jackson's This Is It rocketed to the number one position on national home video sales charts in its first week of release selling 1.2 million copies in the U.S. alone. This is a record performance for first week sales of a music film. According to Nielsen VideoScan, the film was also the number 1 seller in the Blu Ray format for the week ending January 31, 2010. Fully 21% of sales of This Is It were on the Blu Ray format, which is also a record for a release of any type.

This Is It chronicles the exhaustive rehearsals leading up to what would have been the largest concert tour ever. The documentary provides a glimpse of the creative genius that was Michael Jackson and offers the viewer the opportunity to meet the dancers, musicians, and crew behind the massive production. This Is It earned over a quarter of a billion dollars in its limited theatrical release worldwide.

Source: Reuters

SONY Corp. posts $871 million (USD) Quarterly Profit

The numbers are in: Sony's electronics and entertainment divisions posted a quarterly profit of $871 million USD (79.2 billion yen). That's QUARTERLY. Third quarter profits a year ago were only 10.4 billion yen. Sony attributes the surge in profits to cost-cutting measures and the performance of its consumer electronics division. We here might beg to differ; certainly the performance of the This Is It film coupled with strong sales of MJ's catalogue had a little something to do with it. Michael had a little something to say about Sony. Watch the video.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Centipede 2010

After decades out of the spotlight, Rebbie Jackson will take the stage in Scranton, Pennsylvania on April 24th to pay homage to her beloved brother, Michael. Rebbie will perform with Damon Harris of the Temptations and a surprise guest, possibly one of her famous siblings. The two will sing a duet of "Never Can Say Goodbye" along with a Jackson 5 medley.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Michael Jackson voted best performance at MSG

Michael Jackson's fans voted his 1988 concert the best concert ever at Madison Square Garden with 36.5% of the online vote. His 2001 performance took second place, garnering 30.3% of the vote. It really says something about the power and breadth of his fan base that he was able to earn over two-thirds of all the votes worldwide.

The Grammys 3-D Earth Song Tribute to Michael Jackson

I listen to this song nearly every day, but I still got chills when I heard Michael's portion of the song. I think this was beautifully done. Each singer brought something heartfelt and special to the tribute.

Michael would have been proud of his children

Both Prince and Paris Jackson were clearly nervous. Heck, I would have been terrified to speak in front of all those people in that room and millions more watching around the world. It was very nice of their cousins 3T to come on stage to support them. All of them looked very polished and grown up. Prince and Paris were very articulate and what they said about Michael was touching.

Interestingly, Randy Jackson tweeted other family members were not even invited to the ceremony and followed that up with something cryptic about "the truth". We are presently trying to get to the bottom of that...

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Michael's appeal was truly universal...

The mariachi band at Acapulco Mexican Restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama--yes, Alabama!--jams it out to "Beat It" on the regular. *shrugs shoulders*

Thursday, January 28, 2010

This Is It has been released, along with my tears

Someone tweeted about sitting next to a man on an airplane flight. The man was watching This Is It and bawling his eyes out. I know how he feels.

I have had an official (meaning non-bootleg, studio quality) copy of the mvie, but I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the discs with the extra footage. I carefully studied the differences between all the exclusive offers at the big box retailers and finally settled on the 2-disc version from WalMart. (I hate to support them, but lately they have been really promoting MJ.) After deliberating in the store for over 30 minutes, I bought the DVDs on Tuesday. I brought the package home...and just looked at it. I busied myself with family duties, laundry, cooking, cleaning, and chatting on line. I kept the boxed set right next to me and occasionally ran my fingers across the packaging, but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to watch it. The furthest I got on Tuesday night was opening the plastic.

Wednesday came and went without me being able to watch the movie, though I did progress to putting the disc in the DVD player. I have a lot of anxiety about watching the extra footage. I already know I will cry while watching the Man In The Mirror segment as I have the last 20 or so times I have seen it. I always start to tear up when the song begins to play. By the time Michael crosses himself and spreads his arms in that freeze frame I have dissolved into rivers of saline. Given my reaction to the movie itself, I truly fear what will happen if I see any more footage of our beloved Michael literally hours before his passing. I just don't know. So you see, I empathize with that anonymous man on the plane. My soul still aches.

Monday, January 25, 2010

It's a no go for Joe

Michael Jackson's estate administrators John McClain and John Branca are attempting to block a bid by Michael's father Joe for a monthly allowance from his estate. Joseph Jackson seeks $15,000 in monthly support from Michael's estate for "montly maintenance and expenses." Michael left Joseph out of his will and trust entirely; Joe Jackson insists this was an oversight and/or mistake. Branca and McClain say Joseph's request will reduce the amount of money available to support Michael's three children who, along with Michael's mother Katherine, were the sole individual beneficiaries of the estate.

Jermaine says Michael was close to converting to Islam

In his first exclusive interview with an Arab channel, AlArabiya, on Wednesday, January 20, 2010, Jermaine Jackson claimed that his younger brother Michael Jackson was exploring Islam and was close to converting at the time of his death. According to Jermaine, Michael studied a great deal about the religion during his time in Bahrain and hired an all Muslim team upon his return to the States:

“After he got back from Bahrain, Michael hired a team that was all Muslim,” he told Al Arabiya. “His behavior at the time also showed that he was very close to converting...I believe that Islam would have helped him a lot. Had he converted, he would have been spared all the problems he had been subjected to throughout his life.”

The Sun reported Michael coverted to Islam in 2008, but this has been disproven by most credible sources. Jermaine said Michael avidly consumed books he gave him on Islam and told him he was happy Jermaine had found something to give him such strength and inner peace.

Since his passing, conversion reports have surfaced from a number of religious groups. There are Jehovah's Witnesses, including Firpo Carr, who insist Michael was an active Jehovah's Witness at the time of his passing when, in fact, he broke with the group in 1988. Conflicting stories circulate about his acceptance of Christ in the tradition of the Church of Christ under Andrae Crouch, while stories of his conversion to Islam persist. Considering the Mt. Everest of problems Michael faced and the confluence of people who constantly worked to exploit him and bring him down, I hardly think this conversion would have erased all the problems in his life. By all accounts, Michael had strong spiritual faith and a thirst for knowlege of many life philosophies.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Target is giving away 3-D glasses

Starting today (Sunday) Target Stores will be giving away free 3-D glasses for the special Michael Jackson tribute during the Grammy Awards this year. Be sure to pick up your pair so you can enjoy the segment as it was intended for the This Is It shows at London's O2 Arena. This Is It will be released on DVD and Blu Ray this Tuesday, January 26th.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Marsha Ambrosius talks about working with Michael Jackson and his passing

Marsha Ambrosius, formerly of Floetry, discusses Floetry's breakup, her dream come true of working with Michael Jackson, and the aftermath of learning of his passing. She penned "Butterflies" and recorded the demo. Michael heard the demo and called her up. The rest is history. Both Floetry and Michael Jackson recorded the song; both versions are stunningly beautiful.

Friday, January 22, 2010

We Are the World 2010 for Haiti

Quincy Jones and Lionel Ritchie have tapped Grammy Award-winning producer Ken Ehrlich to helm a remake of Michael Jackson's worldwide hit song "We Are the World" to raise funds for Haiti earthquake relief. The original song was released 25 years ago on January 25th to raise funds for relief of famine in Africa under the name USA for Africa. The recording will definitely be missing something without Michael there, but Jones and Ritchie are quietly asking big name stars to devote extra time towards the project over Grammy weekend. The producers have not yet confirmed any of the participants, but they will undoubtedly reach out to the best of the best today and include some of the megastars from the original 1980's release.

This Is It Thriller Segment

Kenny Ortega and others discuss the making of the "Thriller" segment from Michael Jackson's This Is It. The movie will be released on DVD and Blu Ray in the United States on Tuesday.