This Is It (Michael Jackson concerts)

From Jackopedia

This Is It
Promotional banner for Jackson's concert.
Tour by Michael Jackson
Location	The O2 arena London, United Kingdom
Start date	Cancelled July 13, 2009 (scheduled)
End date	Cancelled March 6, 2010 (scheduled)
Shows	All cancelled 50 scheduled
Michael Jackson tour chronology
HIStory World Tour (1996-97)	This is It (Cancelled)

This Is It was a scheduled sellout series of 50 "comeback" concert performances by Michael Jackson at the The O₂ arena in London, scheduled to begin in July 2009 and continue through March 2010. Less than three weeks before the first show was to begin, Jackson died from cardiac arrest.^[1] Had Jackson survived, the tour would have eventually continued through Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.^[2]

The shows were to be Jackson's first major series of concerts since the HIStory World Tour finished in 1997, and had been cited as one of the year's most important musical events. With fifty sold out shows at 23,000 capacity, over 1 million people would have attended in total. Randy Phillips, president and chief executive of AEG Live, stated that the first 10 dates alone would have earned the singer approximately £50 million.

Jackson's family has said it would like to see an investigation into the role of AEG Live in the final weeks of his life, and in particular the personal advisers and representatives they believe the promoter put in place for him.^[3]

Contents 1 Promotion 2 Significance 3 Public interest 4 Preparation and concert details 4.1 Cancelled dates 5 Litigation 6 Jackson's death and implications 7 Proposed set list 8 Personnel 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Promotion

The announcement of Jackson's first 10 performances was made by the singer himself, during a press conference at The O₂ arena on March 5, 2009. As many as 7,000 fans and 350 reporters awaited Jackson's arrival, some donning his signature outfits.^[4][5][6][7] He commented, "I just wanted to say that these will be my final show performances in London. When I say this is it, it really means this is it", adding that it was his "final curtain call".^[8] Organizers touted the residency as, "dramatic shows [that] promise an explosive return with a band of the highest calibre, a state-of-the-art stage show and incredible surprise support acts".^[9]

Hours before the press conference, promotional posters for the residency were displayed around London. The promotion took up an entire commercial break period on ITV London during Dancing on Ice, the first time this has ever happened for a musical artist. The advert, which cost £1 million to air, was viewed by 11 million people.^{[10][11][12][13]}

[edit] Significance

The shows, Jackson's first significant concert events since the HIStory World Tour in 1997, had been cited as one of the year's most important musical events.^[14][15] Randy Phillips, president and chief executive of AEG Live, stated that the first 10 dates would earn the singer approximately £50 million.^[6]

The Guardian characterized the announced 10 concerts as an "astonishing comeback for a man who in recent years has been dogged by controversy", adding that the entertainer still had "enormous commercial clout".^[16] The Evening Standard, stated that the deal was the "showbiz coup of the decade" for AEG Live.^[17] The Independent stated that the finalized 50 concerts would provide London with a "much-needed" economic boost.^[18] Joe Cohen, chief executive of Seatwave, told BBC 6 Music that the shows would generate £1 billion for the economy.^[19]

[edit] Public interest

Some websites offered early tickets, which the Association of Secondary Ticket Agents warned were fake. "We are warning people not to buy tickets that are not yet on sale because it is unlikely that they will receive those tickets", announced the organization's chief, Graham Burns. He concluded, "It's impossible when the dates haven't been announced to be selling tickets for something when there are no announced dates".^[20] Jackson's official website allowed fans to register early for a "pre-sale" draw. The website could not deal with the large number of registrations—reportedly up to 16,000 applications a second—some fans had difficulty applying. A spokeswoman for the singer said that they were investigating the reported problems.^[21] In the space of 24 hours, nearly a million people registered for pre-sale tickets, enough to fill the venue 50 times over.^[22] Fans from over 200 countries registered for the pre-sale draw.^[23] Tickets that had not even been printed were selling on eBay for £300.^[16] Sales of Jackson's albums increased following the press conference. Overnight, sales of Off the Wall rose 200%, Bad rose 110%, Dangerous rose 165% and Thriller 25 rose 155%.^[24]

The two day pre-sale began on March 11, and 40 extra dates were added to meet high demand—five of these dates were reserved in their entirety for the public sale.^[25] More than 1.5  million fans caused two sites offering pre-sale tickets to crash within minutes of going online.^[26] In the space of two hours, 190,000 tickets were sold.^[27] Two million people tried to buy pre-sale tickets in the space of 18 hours.^[28] Veronica Schmidt of The Times, stated of the reception, "Michael Jackson has floored his critics",^[29] while organizers proclaimed it was a "cultural phenomenon".^[30] Jackson broke the previous record, for the number of shows performed by an artist at a single venue, which was set by Prince, who hosted a 21-date residency at the same arena. According to Jackson's website, the following records were broken: "The biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city", "The most amount of people to attend a series of arena shows", "The fastest ticket sales in history".^[25] Randy Phillips acknowledged that Jackson could have sold out even more dates, but this would have conflicted with other career plans the singer has.^[31] On March 13, the other 50% of seats for dates 1-45 and all the seats for dates 46-50 went on sale to the general public. Within a few hours, all 50 dates had sold out.^[32] At this stage, sales of King of Pop were up 400% and sales of Thriller were up 200%.^[33] Tickets appeared on eBay for as much as £10,000.^[34]

[edit] Preparation and concert details

The 50-concert run was originally scheduled to start on July 8, 2009 and conclude on March 6, 2010.^[35] Each of the shows would have been performed at The O₂ arena in London, UK which has a capacity of 23,000—therefore a total of 1,150,000 people would have attended.^[36] Christian Audigier, a fashion designer (and personal friend of Jackson), worked on the clothing for the shows.^[37] Jay Ruckel from La Crasia Gloves created Jackson's iconic single glove for the concerts.^[38] The costumes he was set to wear during the shows were encrusted with 300,000 Swarovski crystals.^[39] In May 2009, thousands of dancers flew in from all around the world to audition for Jackson, who helped select the 12 finalists in person. Kenny Ortega, who had collaborated with Jackson previously, was to work on the overall design and direction of concerts. Ortega said that the final product would have been a "theatrical musical experience".^[40][41][42] According to Randy Philips, £13 million were to be spent on producing the concerts, which would have included 18-22 songs and 22 different sets. There also would have been aerial dancing similar to routines by Cirque du Soleil.^[41] Carla Ferrigno told Reuters that her husband had been helping Jackson train in advance of the shows. Jackson and Ferrigno have worked together in the past.^[43]

On May 20, it was announced that the first concert would be pushed back five days to July 13 and three other July dates would be rescheduled for March 2010. AEG Live said the delay was necessary because more time was needed for dress rehearsals. The revised schedule called for 27 shows between July 13 and September 29, 2009, followed by a three month break, and resuming in the new year with 23 more shows between January 7 and March 6, 2010.^[35] Some fans petitioned for the reversal of AEG Live's decision.^[44] In late June, several hundred seats for each of the dates were put on sale. These seats were held back until production logistics were worked out.^[45]

[edit] Cancelled dates

July 2009 July 13 July 16 July 18 July 22 July 24 July 26 July 28 July 30

August 2009 August 1 August 3 August 10 August 12 August 17 August 19 August 24 August 26 August 28 August 30

September 2009 September 1 September 3 September 6 September 8 September 10 September 21 September 23 September 27 September 29

January 2010 January 7 January 9 January 12 January 14 January 16 January 18 January 23 January 25 January 27 January 29

February 2010 February 1 February 3 February 8 February 10 February 12 February 16 February 18 February 20 February 22 February 24

March 2010 March 1 March 3 March 6

[edit] Litigation

In June 2009, concert promoter Allgood Entertainment sued Jackson for $40 million, claiming that the singer, through his manager, had agreed to a single, $30 million reunion concert with his siblings from The Jackson 5, as well as Janet Jackson. According to the concert promoter, the alleged contractual agreement prevented the singer from performing elsewhere before the reunion concert or for a three month period after it—thus agreeing to a 50 date residency at The O₂ arena was an alleged breach of the Allgood Entertainment contract. Allgood Entertainment state that AEG Live knew of the alleged agreement with Jackson and used their dominance in the industry to coerce Jackson into agreeing to the residency.^[46][47][48]

[edit] Jackson's death and implications

Jackson died on June 25, 2009, following a cardiac arrest, eighteen days before his planned first show. AEG Live, who persuaded Jackson to sign up for the shows, is currently facing a liability of up to £300 million and an empty venue for the next nine months.^[49] The O₂ arena has stated that full refunds, including all ticket service charges, will be available to those who purchased tickets through authorised agents, but that "fans will have the option to be sent the actual tickets they would have received to attend the shows in lieu of the full refunds which are being offered."^[50] Fans who bought their tickets from private sellers may face difficulties. eBay recommended that purchasers contact their sellers for refunds and stated that those who used PayPal can get their money back if the purchase was made during the last 45 days,^[51] then later stated that "all buyers on the site will receive a full refund for their ticket purchase".^[52]

An anonymous AEG Live official reported that Jackson's final dress rehearsal was recorded and might be released "as a 'live' album and DVD." The rehearsal, held the day before his death, "was recorded in multi-camera high-definition video and multi-track surround-sound audio."^[53]

[edit] Proposed set list

Soon after the announcement of the concerts, a rumoured setlist appeared on various websites. The show was rumoured to feature 16 songs, mostly from Thriller and Bad.^[54][55] The accuracy cannot be confirmed, however, as soon after the concerts were announced, the official This Is It website gave fans the opportunity to vote for a set list.

1. Billie Jean
2. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
3. Rock with You
4. The Way You Make Me Feel
5. Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough
6. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
7. Human Nature
8. Smooth Criminal
9. Girlfriend
10. Man in the Mirror
11. Beat It
12. One Day in Your Life
13. Heal The World
14. You Are Not Alone
15. Remember the Time
16. Thriller

Following Jackson's death, a video was released showing Jackson rehearsing They Don't Care About Us two days before he died.

[edit] Personnel

• Show Directors: Michael Jackson, Kenny Ortega
• Musical Director: Michael Bearden
• Choreographer: Travis Payne
• Assistant Choreographers: Stacy Walker, Tony Testa
• Dance Coach for Michael Jackson: David Elsewhere ^[56]
• Associate Producer: Alif Sankey
• Production Designers: Michael Cotten, Michael Curry
• Lightning Design: Patrick Woodroffe
• Casting Director: Gregg Smith
• Promoter: AEG Live

[edit] See also

• Dome Project

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• This Is It Official Website
• Official ticket refund website