HE LIVES, IN A WAY

Breaking News: Oprah & Sony Wrestle Over Michael Jackson Mania Today

TALK SHOW TITAN OPRAH WINFREY AND SONY RECORDS ARE WRESTLING TO SEE WHO CAN WIN a bigger piece of Michael Jackson mania today.

On the day that O broadcast her sitdown with Michael's mother, as well as brief conversations with the King of Pop's three heirs, Sony Music Entertainment has released the song Breaking News from Jackson's upcoming posthumously produced CD, Michael.

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November 08, 2010

ON TRIAL

Criminal Trial Our Best Chance For Separating Michael Jackson Fact From Fiction

THE CLOSEST THE PUBLIC WILL EVER GET TO THE TRUTH about Michael Jackson's mental and physical state will come during the criminal trial of Dr. Conrad Murray on manslaughter charges.

For this reason, I'm looking forward to the testimony of Murray, Jackson family members, nanny Grace Rharamba, and any and all other players in the Michael Jackson death drama.

Media are already lining up outside the Los Angeles county courthouse awaiting Murray's "perp walk" as he is expected to arrive in court today to be formally charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Undercover police reportedly will be in the crowd to protect Murray from any crazed Jackson fan who might try to attack Murray.

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February 08, 2010

MURDER, INC.

Death's Cleansing Affect On The Public's View Of Michael Jackson

OKAY, I ADMIT IT: THE EXTENT OF MY MICHAEL JACKSON FANDOM IS THE FREE WILLY THEME.

Yes, MJ's death left a hole in the heart of the American public, but, come on people, that was last June. Move on folks. I know it sounds harsh, but the time for mourning has passed.

Now comes the latest that Jackson's homicide has been listed as a cause of Jackson's death reported by EW.

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January 10, 2010

A CLIFFHANGER

A Real Life Momma Mia! The Mystery Of The "Jackson Three's" Parentage

AS THE INEVITABLE CONFIRMATION COMES THAT MICHAEL JACKSON DIED OF AN OVERDOSE OF DRUGS, I find myself wishing that such finality was immiment in the question of who really are the parents of his children.

On its face, the answer is obvious. Michael Jackson was, and a supernaturally good one at that, at least according to public pronouncements from friends and family. I have no reason to doubt the truthfulness of those statements other than the odd video that surfaced after his death in which his children are miked and repeat lines that seem rehearsed. "Daddy, thank you for my birthday cake and I love you so much, and, and and, uh, I love my daddy so much. You're the best daddy in the whole world," Paris says to the camera.

Sadly, the pop star who was both "father and the mother" to three children is now dead, opening the Pandora's box of who their biological parents really are.

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August 25, 2009

OUT OF THE VAULT

News Sources: Potentially "Hundreds" of Michael Jackson's Songs Still Unpublished

But Leaked Collaboration Not Up To Jackson's Legendary Perfectionism

FORMER former Sony Music chairman and CEO Tommy Mottola told Time magazine this week that unpublished music from Michael Jackson "could trickle out for years."

"There were so many recordings, and so many of them were great," said Mottola, who said some may in fact be Jackson's "best work."

And Ian Halperin, author of the just released unauthorized biography Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson," told MTV News that the King of Pop had "almost 200 unreleased songs. He did leave a large, unpublished library, and..he willed it to his children and a bit to charity."

Since Jackson's untimely death on June 25th, more than 9 million of his albums have sold, propelling him to the top of the charts 40 years after first appearing as the youngest member of Jackson Five.

"The beauty of Michael Jackson as an artist is that he never stopped until the day he died," Halperin said in an interview with MTV. "When some of his songs are released, you're gonna see a different type of artist."

One collaboration between Jackson and the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury leaked since Michael died does show a different side of Michael.

The recording, if legitimate, is not tightly produced and does not have the snap of the bulk of Jackson's commercial recordings. The lesser quality to the track is evident on even a quick listen to the song entitled, There Must Be More to Life Than This.

The recording's unauthorized release prompted former Queen guitarist to rant about " "music thieves" on his blog. May says the two recorded the song together at Jackson's house in the mid-1980s.

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July 16, 2009

GET A CLUE

A Real Whodunnit: Fingering 'Suspects' In The Jackson Murder Mystery

HEARTBROKEN SIBLING LATOYA JACKSON POINTED FINGERS AT unnamed persons for being the culprits behind Michael Jackson's so-called "murder."

"We don't think just one person was involved," La Toya, 53, purportedly told News of the World. "Rather, it was a conspiracy of people. I feel it was all about money. Michael was worth well over a billion in music publishing assets and somebody killed him for that. He was worth more dead than alive."

Crabby always won at Clue, so let's review the top 10 suspects, who was in the room, who had motive.

10. Joe Jackson -- Reigning patriarch of the Jackson Family, old Joe missed the limelight but recognized the appeal of his aging offspring had waned. With Michael out of the way, he figures, he could capitalize on the public's curiosity about his children, beat them into shape and hit the road once more!

9. Katherine Jackson -- At 79, MJ's beloved mama knew that time was running out for her and wanted to get her hands on her son's bags of money. Plus! As the mother of nine children, she always missed having little ones and thought raising Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket would be a way to feather her empty nest.

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July 14, 2009

NEWS AS OBSESSION

Tabloid Trash Talk

Newsracks Serve 'All-You-Can Eat' Of Dead Michael Jackson

I FELL ASLEEP TWICE READING ALL THE TABLOID CRAP ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON THIS WEEKEND. Even in death, Michael's the King of Controversy.

Two weeks after he died at age 50, MJ's reconstructed face remains pasted all over the newsstands. Now the drama turns to who gets custody of the children-turned-meal tickets.

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July 12, 2009

MJ'S MEMORIAL

The Best And Worst Of Michael Jackson's Memorial

THE STARS WHO PARADED ACROSS THE STAGE AT MICHAEL JACKSON'S MEMORIAL SERVICE AT L.A. Staples Center captured the good, the bad and the boring of mourning as entertainment.

The Good

Shaheen Jafargholi is the 12-year-old squirt from Britain's Got Talent. I didn't know who he was at first. From afar, he looked like a dyke and sounded like, well, a choirboy. (Don't get your skivs in a twist, ya'll. I've got the street cred to use the term "dyke.") The kid owned it, what can I say?

Next on the cue, the super-pretty, super-pregs Jennifer Hudson. As usual, the American Idol finalist delivered the bacon with her monster pipes. They breed 'em good in Chicago!

Last, and certainly not least, Stevie Wonder delivered a stellar performance. Before he began singing, he made a much-needed declaration that he was "at peace" with Michael's death. I'm not a religious person, but Stevie Wonder reminding us that "God is good" made me feel all fuzzy inside.

The Sad

The entire tribute tugged at the heartstrings, but these shredded them.

The most poignant and heartbreaking moment of the service was when Michael's 11-year-old daughter, Paris Jackson, took to the stage and declared that MJ was "the best father you could ever imagine."

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July 09, 2009

THE ULTIMATE GROUPIE

A Last Chance For Debbie Rowe, The Loneliest Woman In The World

SPECULATING ON THE MOTIVES OF DEBBIE ROWE, THE MOTHER OF HIS CHLDREN MICHAEL JACKSON'S CHILDREN, HAS BEEN A SPORT FOR A DECADE.

Now, with the King of Pop all but buried, and a custody battle for his three children looming, the former dermatologist's assistant once more is thrust into the public spotlight.

For a decade, she has paid the price for the ultimate sin -- being a mother who turns her back on her children. And the sentence for her crime has been the public's opprobrium for being a womb for rent. (TMZ, where is that proof that she isn't Paris' and Michael's mom?)

Rowe was once quoted as saying, "I am possessive and protective of my babies. Their happiness means more to me than anything else on this world. I love them more than I would ever have thought was possible." But the love she expressed was for her parrot, 11 dogs, and 30 horses.

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July 08, 2009

CELEBRITY JUSTICE

Victim Or Predator? Making Sense Of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Of Michael Jackson

DOES A DEAD ACCUSED CHILD MOLESTER DESERVE OUR ADULATION AND SYMPATHY?

As the media feverishly feed us titillating tidbits on the bizarre life and death of Pop's most compelling personality, competing storylines boil down to that question.

The most viperous attack on the collective hagiography compiled since Jackson died June 25th comes from U.S. Rep. Peter King (NY-R), who posted a video on YouTube excoriating the media for being "too politically correct" in its posthumous coverage of Jackson.

"This guy was a pervert," King says. "He was a child molester. He was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country?"

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July 06, 2009

UN RIP

Tabloid Trash Talk

Us Weekly Gets Ghoulish & InTouch Goes Kitschy Covering Celebrity Deaths

DO YOU REMEMBER ALL THOSE CELEBRITIES WHO didn't die last week? No? Well, neither do the tabloids.

That's good news for R. Kelly because people probably flipped right by the National Enquirer's page 3 story about new allegations of him being sexually involved with a minor.

But bad news for ex-Hef girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson whose surprisingly tasteful wedding at the Playboy Mansion got bumped from the cover of Us Weekly by photos of Michael Jackson and his kids.

I'm not sure what OK! had planned before Michael died, but I wish they had just run with it instead of the revolting closeup photo of MJ being taken from his house on a stretcher. It's ghoulish if reports that the singer died in the house are true. I guess we can all take consolation in the fact that Michael still looked great?

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July 05, 2009

PRETTY IN PICTURES

Are Michael's Children Wearing Makeup? Or Is This Picture Photoshopped?

THE SNAPSHOT IS SEVERAL YEARS OLD AND SHOWS MICHAEL JACKSON posing with his three adorable children.

Various cutlines say that this is Michael celebrating his youngest son's first birthday.

The two oldest children wear festive Elmo party hats. The children are beautiful and each wear a rosy glow on their cheeks.

But…upon close inspection, the glow seems supernaturallly pink. The tint on their faces seems to match the shade on Michael's own colored cheeks.

Is it makeup? Or did someone touch up the photo to make these children even more idyllic than in real life?

The question begs another: is childhood innocence even more beautiful when photoshopped? Is the penchant for fiction stronger than our taste for truth?

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LAST DANCE

Concert Promoter Releases Video of Michael Jackson Rehearsing Dance

THE VIDEO CAPTURES THE SHOWMAN STILL COMMANDING THE SPOTLIGHT WITH FLUID MOVES AND STRONG VOICE.

No one else on stage draws your attention except the thin man with the suit and black hair.

The tape of Jackson's June 23rd rehearsal at Los Angeles's Staples Center is riveting because it suggests that Michael Jackson might have been able to pull off the 50-show tour scheduled to start next month in London.

No rest yet for the dead, as the Drug Enforcement Agency joins the investigation into Jacksons' death.

The MJ show goes on, with the latest drama the impending courtroom showdown between his mother Katherine and Debbie Rowe for custody of at least two of the Jackson children.

"She is going to be pursuing custody of the children," Attorney Iris Finsilver told People. "Frankly, she won't have to fight for them. She is the children's biological mother. She loves her children."

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July 02, 2009

A MATCH MADE IN TVLAND

'Marsha Brady' Wanted To Be 'Mrs. Michael Jackson'

MAUREEN MCCORMICK, FOREVER TO BE KNOWN AS MARSHA BRADY, REVEALS THAT WAS COMPLETELY 'IN LOVE' WITH Michael Jackson when the two dated as children stars.

"I still am in shock,'' McCormick said of the pop star's premature death. "I still can't believe that he's gone. He was so amazing."

Famous for her role as the perfect "Marsha Brady," McCormick says she used to drive over to the "Jackson Five house" in her a chocolate brown Mercedes 220 diesel.

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July 01, 2009

THE ENDGAME BEGINS

The Lingering Question: What Will Happen To The "Jackson Three?"

MUCH LIKE HIS LIFE, MICHAEL JACKSON'S DEATH HAS IGNITED RUMORS AND SPECULATION ABOUT money, lifestyle and his children.

As authorities and family members searched for a will and hashed out matters of the singer's estate, online news and gossip sites reported earlier today that neither Michael nor Debbie Rowe were the biological parents of his two oldest children, Prince Michael and Paris.

An unnamed "inside source" confirmed at least part of this to Us Weekly today, telling the tabloid that Arnold Klein, Jackson's dermatologist and Rowe's former employer is actually the two oldest children's father.

Jackson's will has only recently been recovered and will be filed in court tomorrow. His mother, Katherine, has been granted temporary custody of all three kids. According to John Branca, Jackson's lawyer, the will states that the singer wanted his mother to be their guardian.

Yet despite earlier reports, Debbie's parental rights were never terminated and, based on law, she is likely to gain custody if she challenges the will. Her attorney told the Los Angeles Times that she is considering seeking custody.

Exacerbating the issue is reports that Michael had never bothered to legally adopt any of the children, leaving the surviving Jackson family wide open for a custody battle.

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VARIOUS AND SORDID

Media Voraciously Feed On 'Wacko Jacko' Rumor, Gossip, Tidbits

THE MEDIA CONTINUES ITS VORACIOUS APPETITE FOR ALL THINGS MICHAEL JACKSON. To feed the beasts, news and rumors have flown fast and furiously since Wacko Jacko left this realm. Here are 10 facts and/ or rumors in summary:

1. Michael's beloved animal menagerie has been relocated over the past few years, with Tippi Hedren, star of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and mother to Melanie Griffith, adopting Michael's two tigers.

2. A supposed autopsy report, released by England's The Sun, said that Michael's body was in "terrible shape." The paper reported that his body was covered in bruises, was bald and that there was nothing but pills in his stomach.

Two hours later, TMZ reported that the autopsy information was fake. The LA County coroner's office released a statement saying: "The report that is being published did not come from this office. I don't know where the information came from, or who that information came from. It is not accurate. Some of it is totally false."

3. The News of the World published an alleged interview with the biological mother of Michael's two oldest children, Debbie Rowe, claiming that Michael isn't the father of her children. She has been quoted as saying: I was just the vessel. It wasn't Michael's sperm.

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June 29, 2009

CELEBRITIES ARE MORTAL, TOO

Reeling From A Week Of Celebrity Deaths

The List Grows As Pitchman Billy Mays Dies Sunday

THE PROBLEM WITH THE TABLOID WEEKLIES IS THEY ARE JUST SO LAST TUESDAY'S NEWS.

WHEN THEY WENT TO PRINT LAST WEEK, FARRAH FAWCETT AND MICHAEL JACKSON were still alive, and US mag's Fashion Police were all over Michael wearing women's clothes. And all of the tabs had stories about Farrah's impending deathbed marriage to Ryan O'Neal.

Man, you've got to feel for that guy. His son's in jail and just when his longtime paramour finally agrees to marry him, she dies of rectal cancer.

And then you have to feel bad for Farrah herself because she had, what, like eight hours in the celebrity death spotlight? And then BAM out of nowhere Michael Jackson kicks it too!

Thursday was crazy. So many emotions and so many Twittered tweets.

Preceding Thursday's earth shattering news, on Tuesday, was that we lost the sidekick for all seasons when Ed McMahon died at the age of 86.

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SUSPICIOUS MINDS

JACKSON FAMILY ATTORNEY SAYS HE 'WARNED' OF MICHAEL'S 'OVERMEDICATION'

BRIAN OXMAN, A JACKSON FAMILY ATTORNEY, TOLD CBS News that he had warned family members that Michael was "overmedicated," and that he would speak out if a drug overdose was the cause of death.

"I have warned that one day Michael Jackson would wake up dead, and that I would not be silent if that was the case because of the misuse of medications,'' Oxman told Harry Smith. "I have made that statement to family members and I told them I would not be still."

Oxman then said he didn't want to "speculate" until the autopsy is complete, but that he had been suspicious of the pop star's prescription drug use for some time.

"I have warned of the use of prescription medications, and people who have enabled the use of prescription medications. If Jackson's cause of death is "as I fear, I am going to be very vocal,'' he warned.

He said that after Anna Nicole "passed away, I said one day if have this kind of a circumstance, and we too have to face this kind of tragedy, I would not be silent."

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June 25, 2009

KING OF POP DEAD

MICHAEL JACKSON DIES AT 50; WORLD REACTS; DRUGS MAY BE A FACTOR

AFTER HOURS OF SPECULATION, THE Los Angeles Times, NBC News and other news agencies reported that King of Pop Michael Jackon has died at the age of 50.

The LA Times said he was rushed to the hospital early this afternoon suffering what was believed to be a cardiac arrest.

Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, said he had warned family members that Michael was "overmedicated" and that he would speak out if a drug overdose proved to be the cause of death.

"I have warned that one day Michael Jackson would wake up dead, and that I would not be silent if that were the case because of the misuse of medications,'' Oxman told CBS News.

LA Fire Dept Capt. Steve Ruda told the paper that Jackson was not breathing when they arrived at his Holmby Hills home, and that EMT workers had tried to recuscitate him on the way to the hospital.

TMZ was the first to report that Jackson had passed away. News sources originally reported that Jackson was in a coma and that family members were rushing to his side.

The death of the musical legend -- hailed for his musical genius but derided for his odd behavior -- dominated news coverage Thursday afternoon.

"As someone who served as Michael Jackson's publicist during the first child molestation incident, I must confess I am not surprised by today's tragic news,"' Michael Levine told TMZ. "Michael has been on an impossibly difficult and often self-destructive journey for years. His talent was unquestionable but so too was his discomfort with the norms of the world. A human simply can not withstand this level of prolonged stress."'

Musical producer Quincy Jones, who worked with Jackson on a movie based on the Broadway production,f The Wiz, released a statement saying, "I've lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him."

The paparazzi-owned website X17online reported that Jackson's death is being investigated as a possible drug overdose.

Here are relevant links:

TMZ broke the news about Michael's death and is the go-to source on the story.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Jackson was found in a coma.

X17online reports that Jackson's death is being investigated as a possible drug overdose.

Yahoo's The Starting Point Twitters live from outside the hospital where Jackson is taken.

Entertainment Weekly published a succinct obituary.

MSNBC has a piece on the pop star's "lasting and conflicting legacy."

Jermaine Jackson announces Michael's death at a Thursday afternoon press conference.

The Washington Post compiles quotes from notables on Michael's death.

WonderWall has celebrities' reactions to the news on Twitter.

Wikipedia has a comprehensive biography of Jackson's life.

Wikipedia's entry on The Jackson Five.

Jackson's professional milestones are so extensive that Wikipedia also has a page detailing his records and achievements.

The original Thriller video on YouTube, which as of 6:55 p.m. June 25 Central Time had been viewed 37,086,255 times.

Julien's Auctions has a five catalogue boxed collection of Jackson's belongings that were scheduled to be auctioned off last April. The auction was cancelled a week before the sale was scheduled to take place.

Michael Jackson's official website.

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