Archive for Michael Jackson on TV
Michael Jackson memorial
Posted by: | CommentsLOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — They poured in to Los Angeles from places far-flung, an army of Michael Jackson fans hoping to collectively mourn their idol in a massive ceremony at the Staples Center downtown Tuesday.
Police put up concrete barriers around the center, allowing only fans with tickets to the star-studded event to enter — beginning at 6 a.m. (9 a.m. ET).
Parking lots in the area raised their prices, some as high as $30. Airports in Southern California saw a spike in bookings. And several movie theaters in the area announced special screenings of the event, which will also be carried live by some television networks and Web sites.
“I guess the crowd estimate is the $64,000 question that everybody is wondering about, and we are as well,” Jim McDonnell, assistant police chief for Los Angeles, said Monday.
“I anticipate the crowd here will be well-behaved. It will be a crowd that gathers for the right reasons and keeps the reason they’re there in mind.”
Police would not say what kind of security measures they have put in place. The cash-strapped city has said it will foot the bill for law enforcement.
Until the last minute, the Jackson family remained tight-lipped about where the singer will be buried, but signs pointed to Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn cemetery.
Several carloads of people, Michael Jackson’s sister La Toya among them, came and went from the heavily secured cemetery after sunset Monday. But it was not immediately clear whether they were there for a private viewing.
Shortly before the cars began arriving, a hearse drove up, with at least five police cars in tow.
The hearse backed partly in through the door of the Hall of Liberty — a 1,200-seat auditorium on the grounds — so that any casket unloaded and loaded would not be visible to the media helicopters overhead.
The Jackson family would not comment on the after-hours gathering. Neither would cemetery officials.
La Toya Jackson seen visiting cemetery
Posted by: | CommentsSeveral carloads of people, Michael Jackson’s sister La Toya among them, came and went from a heavily secured Los Angeles cemetery after sunset Monday, but it was not immediately clear whether they were there for a private viewing.
Shortly before the cars began arriving, a hearse drove up to the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn cemetery with at least five police cars.
The hearse pulled partly in through the door of the Hall of Liberty — a 1,200-seat auditorium on the grounds — so that any casket unloaded and loaded would not be visible to the media helicopters overhead.
The main Michael Jackson memorial service at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday will be a star-studded affair, with singers Mariah Carey, Usher and Stevie Wonder among the participants, according to an announcement released Monday on behalf of the Jackson family.
Also participating in the event will be basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson, and singers Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Smokey Robinson, the family said.
The Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III will be among others taking part.
Meanwhile, the Jackson family would not comment on the after-hours gathering that took place Monday evening. Cemetery officials, likewise, have been tight-lipped about plans to bury the singer.
CNN learned that relatives will hold a private gathering at the cemetery at 8 a.m. Tuesday (11 a.m. ET) — two hours before the massive memorial service at the Staples Center.
The California Highway Patrol will escort members of the family from the Encino, California, home of Jackson’s parents to the cemetery.
Afterward, police will escort the family to the Staples Center, sources close to the planning said.
Jackson lawyer Burt Levitch said Monday that the singer’s funeral will be Tuesday, but did not say what time or place.
On Sunday, Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters that Forest Lawn officials were working with the Jackson family on their plans, which were part of “a package” of events Tuesday.
“It’s a package, basically,” McDonnell said. “Forest Lawn has their staff that are also working on their needs relative to the cemetery with them.”
Though there are five Forest Lawn cemeteries in the Los Angeles area, a long line of media trucks and crews have been parked at the gate of the Hollywood Hills facility for several days in anticipation of Jackson’s possible interment there.
Ken Ehrlich, known for producing the Grammy Awards, is producing the public memorial show, his company said. Kenny Ortega, who was to have co-directed Jackson’s series of concerts in London, England, this summer, will direct it.
Mayer posted on Twitter on Monday afternoon saying “I’m going not to ‘perform’ but to contribute.”
“I’m honored to have been asked to play at MJ’s memorial service. I will be representing all of us who can’t be there,” Mayer tweeted. “Going to say goodbye from all us kids.”
One notable who won’t be attending: longtime Jackson friend Elizabeth Taylor, who put out a message on Twitter that she “cannot be part of the public whoopla.”
“I just don’t believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others,” Taylor tweeted. “How I feel is between us. Not a public event.”
“I love him too much,” she added, “and I cannot guarantee that I would be coherent to say a word.”
Debbie Rowe, Jackson’s former wife and the mother of his two oldest children, will not attend the memorial service, her lawyer Marta Almli said Monday.
“Although Debbie had originally planned to attend [Tuesday's] Staples Center memorial service, we have concluded with Debbie that she will not be attending,” a statement from Almli said. “The onslaught of media attention has made it clear her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction to an event that should focus exclusively on Michael’s legacy. Debbie will continue to celebrate Michael’s memory privately.”
Fans claim tickets
Fans without tickets to the memorial are being asked to stay away from downtown Los Angeles and watch the service on television.
The family decided to provide a free live video feed to networks so it would be televised everywhere.
“Everything about the memorial has to do with accommodating as many fans as possible,” Ken Sunshine, the Jackson family spokesman, said.
On Monday, fans chosen by random lottery for Jackson’s memorial began arriving at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to pick up their tickets. Full story
Los Angeles Police Capt. Bill Murphy said the distribution process was going smoothly.
Each winner gets two tickets, bringing the number awarded in the lottery to 17,500.
Just 11,000 of those are for seats inside the Staples Center. The other 6,500 would be for viewing the memorial telecast at the adjacent Nokia Theater. AEG Live, the promoter of Michael Jackson’s London shows, owns and operates both venues.
Executors control Jackson’s assets
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted control of Jackson’s assets to the executors of his will Monday.
The executors — John Branca, Jackson’s longtime personal attorney, and John McClain, a music industry executive and longtime friend — had sought immediate control of the entertainer’s assets at a hearing before Judge Mitchell Beckloff.
The judge appointed the men as special administrators until another hearing August 3. He said they will be responsible for protecting the state from immediate losses.
The men can enter into new ventures only with court approval, Beckloff said.
Jackson died June 25. Since the next day, his mother, Katherine, has been administering the assets.
(CNN)
Michael Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe will attend the pop superstar’s memorial service.
Posted by: | CommentsMichael Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe will attend the pop superstar’s memorial service.
Former Jackson business associate Marc Schaffel said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Rowe was confirmed for VIP seats. Rowe is the mother of Jackson’s two oldest children.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry said she’d “love it” if the Jacksons helped defray some of the city’s expected costs associated with Tuesday’s memorial, but that officials hadn’t heard from the family.
Perry said the city didn’t immediately have an estimate of those costs. More than 1.6 million fans registered online for a chance to attend the Staples Center ceremony, and only 8,750 names were chosen. Los Angeles officials are concerned about other fans clogging city streets.
“We’re encouraging people to stay away,” Perry said on CBS’ “The Early Show” on Monday.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, in an appearance Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” made no mention of whether the Jacksons would help the city with some of the expected costs.
“The city is trying to do what it should do to secure people,” said Sharpton, a family friend. “That’s what cities do. Clearly, no one in the family are happy that the city is incurring any expense at all. You’re talking about an historic figure that will have an historic celebration, probably one that we would not see similar in this generation.”
Meanwhile, lucky fans celebrated when they got an e-mail saying they had scored the hottest ticket in town. “Congratulations, your application was successful,” said the message sent to Deka Motanya, 27, of San Francisco.
She immediately Twittered: “OMG OMG OMG OMG i got tickets to the michael jackson memorial service!!!”
It was a real-life version of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets. Each selected person gets a pair of free tickets, with the odds of being chosen about 1 in 183.
Dozens of police officers and a fire truck were parked outside Dodger Stadium on Monday, where ticket winners could start picking up their coveted passes.
Nancy Kothari, 31, drove all night from Yuma, Arizona, to be at the stadium before the gates opened.
“I grew up with Michael Jackson, with his music,” Kothari said. “`Thriller’ was the first album I ever had.”
Kothari said she expected the service to be “extremely sad.”
“I’m kind of nervous in a way, but also excited,” she said.
Tickets were handed out in a drive-through process. Voucher holders had to get past a police checkpoint outside the stadium, then drive into a parking lot where orange traffic cones marked about 20 lanes. A police officer and an event staffer stood at the end of each lane. Drivers pulled up, handed over their vouchers, had a band placed on their wrist and were given tickets and another wristband.
Ticket winners were to show up with a unique code and instructions, and organizers were to check IDs to make sure those picking up wristbands were the same people who originally applied online, said Staples Center spokesman Michael Roth.
Fans must have both the ticket and the wristband to enter Staples Center on Tuesday. Wristbands that have been ripped, taped or tampered with will be voided.
But Roth acknowledged that high-priced scalping of the free passes was possible because winners were permitted to give anyone their second bracelet.
“Theoretically, the second wrist band can be sold,” Roth said.
Organizers were considering how to distribute any unclaimed seats, but had not immediately decided on a plan, Roth said.
The memorial service will be broadcast live on five television networks.
David Gobaud, 25, who studies computer science at Stanford University, said he didn’t believe his e-mail of acceptance was real at first. “It’s Michael Jackson, one of the greatest musical stars of all time,” he said.
Zach Moss, a 21-year-old ticket winner from Chicago who is working as a DJ in Las Vegas this summer, said clubgoers have responded strongly to Jackson’s music since his death.
“You can play two, three Michael Jackson songs back to back and people are going to have this huge jubilation celebration,” he said. “Everyone throws their drinks up and shouts, ‘MJ!’ It’s extremely powerful.”
The tickets will admit 11,000 people to the Staples Center plus 6,500 in the Nokia Theater overflow section next door. The streets around Staples Center will be closed to prevent those without tickets from trying to attend, police said.
Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell warned the ticketless to stay away. He would not say how many police would be on the job, but alluded to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the recent championship celebration for the Los Angeles Lakers at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“You’ll be standing in the hot sun on a city street with a lot of other people,” he said. “But not within eyeshot of Staples.”
The ceremony will not be shown on Staples’ giant outdoor TV screen and there will be no funeral procession through the city. No details were available about the actual memorial events.
The joyful anticipation among the chosen fans comes as the courts continue to untangle the future of Jackson’s estate and police probe the circumstances of his death.
Jackson died at age 50 on June 25 after going into cardiac arrest in the bedroom of his rented mansion. The cause of Jackson’s death has not been determined. Autopsy results are not expected for several weeks.
Jackson’s family was planning a private ceremony at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, McDonnell said. He did not provide further details.
Television networks planning Jackson coverage
Posted by: | CommentsNBC executives changed their minds Sunday and decided to join other networks that will televise Michael Jackson’s memorial service live this week.
NBC joins ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! Entertainment in offering the ceremony live. It’s set for 10 a.m. PDT (1700 GMT) Tuesday at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.
NBC had initially planned only a one-hour prime-time special on Tuesday night, but said Sunday it would also cover the event live. It was not immediately clear who would anchor.
Charles Gibson will anchor coverage for ABC, which is setting aside its typical daytime programming.
CBS anchor Katie Couric will be at the Staples Center, although the network had not yet said whether it was offering live coverage of the memorial.
CNN has seen its ratings soar with the Jackson story, and it will show the memorial on the main network and HLN (formerly Headline News). CNN International will air the ceremony to the rest of the world. Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Don Lemon are the anchors for CNN coverage. Robin Meade, A.J. Hammer and Jane Velez-Mitchell will anchor at HLN. CNN en Espanol also will cover it.
Chris Jansing will anchor live coverage of the memorial on MSNBC. Fox News Channel hadn’t announced its plans.
E! Entertainment will cover the ceremony on its television network and its Web site.