Fan Fare

Connecting with Michael Jackson, one year after his death

There were no seances to raise him from the dead (at least as far as we know), but people around the world were connecting to Michael Jackson again, one year after his death. In Tokyo, fans slept with his memorabilia. In Vietnam, they held a night of performances. In New York, they danced at the Apollo Theater, and in Los Angeles they waited to pay their respects at the Forest Lawn cemetery where his body was laid to rest. Those pictured at right are at a parade in Liepzig, Germany. Read the full story here.

There is no doubt Jackson was the King of Pop, but will he be remembered in the same way as Elvis or Marilyn Monroe? Will his songs be sung and his moonwalk be danced? Time will tell. But we were out on Hollywood Boulevard on Friday to talk to people about what they most remembered about Michael Jackson. Click below to see what they had to say.

(Video by Marc Price)

“This Is It.” Michael Jackson’s final bow. … Or is it?

Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” finally opened in Los Angeles on Tuesday night to a packed house with many stars in attendance, including Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton and his brothers who formed the old Jackson 5.  You can read about the movie here and here.

The film had been described as a sort of mix between documentary of his last rehearsals for his “This Is It” concerts and a concert film. It was made from some 80 hours of videos made during those rehearsals that took place only days before his sudden death on June 25.

The movie shows Jackson working with his singers, dancers and musicians, showing them just exactly how he wanted each dance and each tune to play out onstage. At one point, director Kenny Ortega asks him how he’ll know a certain cue for a movement if he can’t see a movie screen behind him and at first Jackson seems surprised at the question. Then, he calmly answers, “I gotta feel it.”

And in the audience, you understand that, in fact, feeling it is exactly how he performed. Leaving the theater, several audience members were also struck by the notion that even though “This Is It” has been billed as the King of Pop’s final performance, somehow, there’s much more of Michael Jackson to come. He is said to have written numerous songs that were never recorded, and his songs like “Thriller” and “Billie Jean” and “Man in the Mirror” will no doubt be re-recorded and re-mixed and re-staged numerous times in the future.

So, really, is ”This Is It” really it? Or will the King of Pop live on?

Is Jacko really set to thrill again?

Will Jacko really do it this time?  And after almost four years as a virtual recluse, will the self-styled “King of Pop” prove worthy of his crown?

News that Michael Jackson is flying to London this week to make a “special announcement”  on Thursday sparked a flurry of expectations that he is planning a series of comeback concerts in the British capital later this year.

Such a comeback has been much talked about since the pop superstar’s acquittal in 2005 in California on charges of molesting a young boy.

But Jackson’s last attempt, in London in 2006, fizzled out in embarrassment after he managed only a few lines of “We Are The World” at a music awards show.

Hard-core Jackson fans around the world, particularly those in Japan, have remained faithful to their idol.  But at the age of 50, and more than 25 years after reaching the apex of his career with the album “Thriller”, can Jackson still put on a full-scale show?

And, more to the point, would you pay to go and see it?