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Hi Fieldy...I'll be the first to admit i am no authority on the guy and probably why he has such a loyal fan base is simply because his musical talent and showmanship speaks volumes more than the mans actual personae.

He is an odd one for sure but people forgive and respect him probably because he has made a lot of people very rich too and these flaws are weaknesses that make him seem vulnerable, therefore accessible OR it makes you want to care about him as Eddie Murphy so eloquently put in his stand up show..."His hook is his sensitivity"

Add to that he was known to be beaten by his father and no real childhood and youve got quite a mix for why people feel sorry for him and his talents just make him superhuman to his fans.

Even if you dont like the guy or his music surely you have to admit the guy has talent. Even begrudgingly.

I have to admit I wa simpresed at how this guy holds his audience and was in t emiddle of the madness known as Jacko mania ath his Dangerous Tour shows years ago and I have to say i can see what the fuss is all about...Though you wouldnt see me swooning and screaming and carrying on like some school kid.

Thats the bit that gets me OEJ, he has not had a record out for approx 5 years "I think" and yet he is still atracting new young fans

I cannot fault some of the early stuff, but personally to do 45 dates in one place, it stinks of him "not being bothered to tour", but requesting the "adoring audience" to come to him.

At least Prince, when he did this made sure that he had new material out there, and even gave the album away, could you see Jackson doing that?

Morning swampy...think MJ likes his Kingdom Halls too!

one eyed jack wrote:

> Ha ha ha..Can somebody show me the way to the I hate Michael
> Jackson corner please? Oh this must be it. You can really feel
> the love around here.
>
> Where do you guys get your info from?
>
> The tickets start from ?50 - ?75...?300 is for the mugs who buy
> off ticket touts.
>
> ...And what new stuff? If he wasnt doing the old stuff he'd be
> mad because his old stuff like Thriller and Off The Wall was
> his best stuff
>
>



I take your point about ticket prices, OEJ - but the thing is that there'll be plenty of mugs willing to pay ridiculous money to touts to get them.

And as you point out - that's the "starts from" prices in the crappiest seats (although never having been to the O2 Arena, I will concede that I don't know the set-up there).

I've never seen the point in shelling out hundreds of pounds (because by the time you factor in travel and other incidentals, that's what it'll be for anyone travelling any distance) just to peer at some speck on a distant stage for a couple of hours. Or to watch a blow-up on a giant video screen (which if that's as good as it gets, brings me back to my point of 'may as wait for the DVD'!)

And no-one's saying he shouldn't do any old stuff - and of course he'd be mad not to. But back when I used to attend gigs regularly (when you could still get a decent ticket to see decent bands for a sensible price), part of the draw was always to see the artists / bands perform new material as well.

I'm not saying that he doesn't / didn't have any real talent either - look at some of his old Thriller / Bad-era stuff and MJ was indeed a great entertainer at the top of his game (and still looked relatively normal to boot).

But don't forget that the guy is 50 now - no way is he going to have all the moves he had 20 or 30 years ago. He's in danger of becoming even more of a caricature / one-man freak show than he already is.

- Eric

Ive been to the O2 to see Stevie Wonder (and he was awesome!!!!!) Ao anywhere in there is good really..I imagine the ?75 seats are more towards the front but being near the front is a scary thing at a Michael jackson concert for the bums rush you get standing up when the guy appears

I remember shows at Wembley Stadium more for this but the O2 was designed to keep people in their place and I think its a great venue. I know people who have their tickets already and the touts always make money off those who can afford to blow that kind of money away because if they want it they will pay for it.

I wouldnt be surprised if touts get better money than ?300 either.

You are probably right about him not lasting the 40+ shows either as he is fickle, spoiled and molly coddled...Why do you think he is so strange? He has no real sense of reality and I doubt he would know the price of a loaf of bread or a pint of milk either.

Who on earth would pay 10,000 quid on a ticket ?

Los Angeles police have raided Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch this
afternoon . It is being reported that they found Class A drugs in his kitchen, Class B drugs in his bathroom...and Class 4c in his bedroom.

Interestingly the promoters are struggling to obtain risk management insurance in the case he fails to do all 50 gigs. So MJ cancels, you get nowt back and have to sue the promoter.....bit like betting on Shergar next week.

Good one PB