Blog Posts For Tag: Michael Jackson

“Star Wars” fans get ready for your very own concert!  For the first time ever “Star Wars” is kicking off a world tour in October. George Lucas is planning to bring the franchise alive in a concert venue featuring a symphony orchestra playing music from all 6 movies. In addition to the music, Anthony Daniels, who plays C3PO, will narrate the production, along with clips that will be shown from all the movies on the largest mega screen ever to go on tour. There will also be an exhibit that includes props from all 6 movies as well, including costumes and some never before seen items.  Tickets go on sale in August and will be a treat for young and old. 
 

What is the obsession with Kendra Wilkinson from “The Girls Next Door”? She has been on 2 reality TV shows one she is currently starring in and now she has a memoir that is going to be published. I mean she is 24 years old, how much can she have to say?  The book which is scheduled to be released next summer is said to talk about her childhood, as well as her time in the Playboy mansion and the time she spent with Hugh Hefner. She will talk about her new life with Hank Baskett and the impending birth of her new baby. She is definitely the “it girl” of the moment. She also made a statement the other day about how she is no longer going to be watching “Jon and Kate Plus 8” anymore. She liked it better in the old days when they were just a happy regular family and not all Hollywood and drama like now. She says, “I feel bad for the kids.” Ironically she says that “she would never allow her new baby to appear on her hit E! show ‘Kendra’. That will all be private.” Funny on that same day she signed on for another season of her show with 12 new episodes. We will see how long that sentiment lasts.

Big break up news today. Not exactly the birthday gift she was hoping for …Tony Romo broke up with Jessica Simpson the night before her 29th birthday. It seems that the happy couple has not been happy for awhile. The two have very busy schedules; Tony busy with quarterbacking for the Dallas Cowboys and Jessica working on her new reality show, “The Price of Beauty”. Jessica still loves Tony and is brokenhearted but it just wasn’t meant to be. Jessica sent out a tweet to her fans to let them know she is doing ok and still hopeful about finding love again. She says, “Everyone needs to know that hope floats…grab the strings and pull it back to you.”

Being a big “Jon Plus Kate Plus 8” fan (if you hadn’t noticed), I have to say I find it very difficult to see pictures and read stories that Jon is having a great time enjoying his new life with his new girlfriend. The couple just filed for divorce last month, and he has 8 children at home, so it feels a bit, for lack of a better word, icky. Here is the latest; Jon is vacationing in France on the French Riviera with his 22 year old girlfriend, Hailey Glassman. Jon is 32. There are pictures of the couple, holding hands, drinking champagne and looking quite cozy. I wonder what his kids are going to think years from now when they see these pictures of their dad. I understand Jon and Kate are getting a divorce and things didn’t work out between them but this seems a bit over the top so soon. Here is the irony about his new girlfriend, (did I mention she is just 22???) she is the daughter of the doctor who gave Kate her tummy tuck a few years back. Anyway it is hard to look at him as the devoted father when he is out in France with his new gal pal.

Here is some scandalous gossip for you which we haven’t heard the likes of in a while. The reason has come out to why hunky actor Lorenzo Lamas and his beautiful 4th wife, former Playmate of the Month, Shauna Sand divorced. It seems that Shauna was having an affair…but not just any old affair; she was having an affair with then 18 year old step son, AJ Lamas. After all the years of soap opera acting it appears he has been living a real life one.  A friend says, “He thought Shauna was acting like a mom to AJ, he had no clue that she was his son’s lover!” That has got to be the lowest form of betrayal ever! If you want to see more about this Hollywood family you will get your chance. Lamas and his family, including AJ and daughter Shayne, who was the “winner” on ABC’s “The Bachelor”, as well as Shayne’s sister, Dakota will have their own reality series on E! this fall.  E! just loves the family reality series don’t they?.

The Michael Jackson memorial service at the Staples Center was quite an event. I am happy to say with all those people and celebrities the setting seemed just right. It was a somber yet lovely ceremony. It was a day to remember Michael and appreciate all he has given to the world. He has touched us all in some way. You really got to see the more human side of MJ and forget about some of the crazy stuff. Brooke Shields (who looked so beautiful) spoke about their friendship and dispelled any question that it was anything other than two famous kids feeling comfortable around each other and just being kids. Magic Johnson talked about the time he learned that Michael Jackson loved Kentucky Fried Chicken. If that doesn’t help normalize MJ what does?  The service started with Mariah Carey singing “I’ll Be There” which led to many more magical music moments. Usher sang “Gone to Soon” and he barely held it together in the end as he sang to Michael. Stevie Wonder sang “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer” which was a song he wrote about the death of his wife and then led into “They Won’t Go When I Go”. An 8 month pregnant Jennifer Hudson sang MJ’s song “Will You Be There” and she did such a heartfelt amazing job. John Meyer contributed an instrumental version of Michael’s “Human Nature”, which was another brilliant performance. Jermaine Jackson even got on stage and sang, “Smile” which was a song from Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times”. Jermaine has such a beautiful voice and it was good to hear him sing after so many years. It was hard to watch though because at times he could barely make it through.

Today is the day that the world will get their chance to say their final goodbyes to Michael Jackson. Although it has not been known until just recently Michael Jackson’s body will be at the Staples Center today for the memorial service. In fact it is being reported that the LAPD SWAT team will be part of the motorcade bringing the body from Forest Lawn Cemetery, where the family held a private memorial, to the Staples Center. There is also a helicopter ready to go as well in case any safety issues do develop. The event is going to end up costing the city of Los Angeles around $4 million and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is asking the fans to help cover the costs. There is even a PayPal account that has been set up by the mayor where you can donate money directly. You can visit the mayors Facebook page or even his twitter page if you would like to participate. www.Facebook.com/villaraigosa or www.twitter.com/villaraigosa . The Staples Memorial Service will start at 10:00 a.m. pacific time and Rev. Al Sharpton is set to deliver the eulogy. I have to say I am a bit nervous to watch, I just hope there are no altercations or issues with all those people and fans gathered together. This event is said to be the biggest of all time, even bigger the Obama’s inauguration. Billions of people are going to be watching it on TV and between being streamed live and people Twittering about it this will really be a historic event.
 

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was found shot to death on July 4th alongside his 20 year old girlfriend Saleh Kazemi, who was shot once in the head. This is a tragic story, especially considering McNair is married with 4 sons. At this point the police are calling the shooting a homicide but so far have no suspects in custody. It seemed that McNair was serious with the girlfriend according the Kazemi’s sister who said her sister was planning to marry McNair. Neighbors often saw Kazemi getting dropped off at her apartment in a limousine early in the morning and she also has a 2007 Cadillac Escalade that is in her name as well as McNair’s. Although there is no record showing that he was getting a divorce his $3 million home is on the market in Nashville. At this point it is unclear how much his wife knew. As you can imagine she is quite distraught over the whole situation. McNair was a very generous person, personally helping victims from Hurricane Katrina and helping pay for children to go to football camps, plus his amazing 13 year football career makes the thought of homicide unimaginable. McNair played in 4 Pro Bowls as well as he played for the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens.

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was found shot to death on July 4th alongside his 20 year old girlfriend Saleh Kazemi, who was shot once in the head. This is a tragic story, especially considering McNair is married with 4 sons. At this point the police are calling the shooting a homicide but so far have no suspects in custody. It seemed that McNair was serious with the girlfriend according the Kazemi’s sister who said her sister was planning to marry McNair. Neighbors often saw Kazemi getting dropped off at her apartment in a limousine early in the morning and she also has a 2007 Cadillac Escalade that is in her name as well as McNair’s. Although there is no record showing that he was getting a divorce his $3 million home is on the market in Nashville. At this point it is unclear how much his wife knew. As you can imagine she is quite distraught over the whole situation. McNair was a very generous person, personally helping victims from Hurricane Katrina and helping pay for children to go to football camps, plus his amazing 13 year football career makes the thought of homicide unimaginable. McNair played in 4 Pro Bowls as well as he played for the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens.

The custody battle for Michael Jackson is about to begin and one can only imagine that it is going to get ugly. Debbie Rowe is now stating that she wants her biological children Prince Michael and Paris. She even says she would take Blanket too if the court would grant her that so as not to break the children up. She seems to be a bit all over the place since last week she told a British newspaper that “she did not want to see your children again” and that she never consummated her marriage to Michael Jackson. With all the controversy swirling around questioning if she is really their mother and if Michael is really the father to the children, she says she would be willing to take a DNA test to prove that she is indeed their biological mother. She is one of the people that says that Michael was not the biological father that she was impregnated by an anonymous sperm donor. See, it is just getting downright ugly. She even says that she has had no relationship with the children. How could she want to rip them away from the only family they know and have left? Rowe says that she would get a restraining order against Joe Jackson the children’s grandfather to keep him away from them if she were to get custody. If those aren’t fighting words I don’t know what are. Stay tuned, you know there is going to be much more on this subject. Those poor children, hopefully the family is keeping them away from all the media and hopefully they are oblivious to all that is going on around them in terms of these custody issues.

I have some odd and ends to tell you about today that includes some TV and Broadway news but first and foremost I have a big engagement to share with you. Oldest Jonas Brother, Kevin, got engaged this morning to a very surprised and happy girlfriend.  The 21 year old flew to New Jersey after his concert last night in Vancouver. Kevin showed up early this morning and on bended knee asked 22 year old Danielle Deleasa to marry him. “She said yes, yes, yes, like 500 times super fast in a row”. The two met in the Bahamas in 2007. Brothers Nick and Joe are very excited to welcome Danielle to the family as are Mr. and Mrs. Jonas who are also thrilled with the news.

I have to tell you about this new band that is so amazing you won’t’ believe it. First though you need a second to get used to the strange name. The band is called “ChickenFoot” and is comprised of one of the world’s best guitarists, Joe Satriani and Sammy Haggar (formerly of Van Halen) is the lead singer. The rhythm section of the group is made up of bassist, Michael Anthony (also from Van Halen) and Chad Smith (formerly with the Red Hot Chili Peppers) as the drummer. The group kind of just came together by accident while the guys were jamming together at Sammy’s Cabo Wabo Cantina in Mexico. In fact several of the guys were not even looking for another great rock and roll band experience, but once they got together and saw how they all clicked as a band, they knew they had to continue. They made a great decision and have an album “Chickenfoot”, which is the kind of rock album that will just literally rock your world, and the guys are going on tour this summer. If you haven’t heard them, here is a sample of their music. These guys have chemistry together and that’s what makes it work.  All their stuff is new stuff that they have done together so you won’t find Chili Pepper or Van Halen tunes. Just pure Chickenfoot.
 

The BET Awards were last night and the theme for the night definitely centered on Michael Jackson. It was a fitting stage with all those performers there to share their thoughts, sing some Michael Jackson songs, and honor a man who helped shape, inspire, and define many of their careers. The 3 hour show was hosted by Jamie Foxx, and attended by Joe Jackson and Janet Jackson who were there to honor Michael. The show opened with New Edition performing a medley of Jackson 5 songs and wearing the garb from the 70’s. They did a great job and you just can’t help but sing along to those old songs, which were some of the best ever. Other performers also did their best to pay tribute to Michael. Ne-Yo sang his version of “The Lady in My Life” and Jamie Foxx did a re – enactment of the hit song “Beat It” when he opened the show. Jamie’s performance was upbeat and he told the audience, “No need to be sad. We want to celebrate this black man.” Ciara sang “Heal the World”. Beyonce also performed but she sang “Ave Maria” and “Angel” which were just beautiful. The whole show was basically revamped at the very last minute to include all these changes and tributes. There were plenty of Michael Jackson clips on the big video screen as well as most people receiving awards commented on the King of Pop and how he affected their lives.
 

Michael Jackson is still the main news headline but I do have some other happier news to share as well today. I found this interesting though, the former nanny of Michael’s three children is speaking out and what she has to say is not good. I think from watching Michael over the years and some of the choices he has made it is no surprise that he was a tortured soul. Whether it was from being in the fishbowl of the public eye at such an early age and not having a normal childhood as he has said or wherever his demons came from, I think we all always suspected it was there. Friday I shared what Lisa Marie Presley had to say and now the nanny is basically confirming his battle with prescription drugs. The nanny, Grace Rwaramba, who worked for Jackson for more than 10 years was just recently let go. She shares that she had to pump his stomach “many times after he’d take a dangerous combination of drugs.”  She also says that, “He always mixed so much of it. There was one period that it was so bad that I didn’t let the children see him. He always ate too little and mixed too much.”  Rwaramba says that she really wanted to help him and one time even attempted an intervention with his mothers help and his sister Janet’s help. But that upset him and caused Michael to fire her. She also talks about Michael’s debt and how he really had “no idea about money.” She tells how he was so broke he didn’t even have money to buy balloons for one of the children on their birthday. Really all you can say is that it is a sad story. So much talent yet so much pain.

The untimely death of Michael Jackson is still the top headline of the day. Everything else has pretty much come to a halt in terms of celebrity news. Now what is starting to come out are the concerns about his self destructive lifestyle and that perhaps his death was caused by an accidental drug overdose. Although nothing official has come yet from the autopsy people who loved him and respected him have spoken up about their concerns for him and his health over the years. Lisa Marie Presley was very candid on her MySpace blog today as she reflected on the death of Michael Jackson and the time she spent with him. She recalls a very eerie conversation with him when they talked about Elvis’s death. She writes, “At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, ’I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did’. Lisa Marie goes on to talk about how during their relationship together, which she insists was not a “sham”, that she really tried to “save him from the inevitable, which is what just happened. His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn’t know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome.” Lisa Marie also says that she “became very ill and emotionally/spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him. I was in over my head trying. The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tired to stop or reverse it somehow.”

I have been sitting here trying to figure out how to write about the sad events of the day. I was already so sad to hear that Farrah Fawcett had lost her battle with cancer. Even though we knew it was coming and she had been suffering so long, to actually hear about it was still so hard to believe. I have been sitting here reminiscing about when I was a kid me and my friends used to play “Charlie’s Angels” on the playground after lunch. We thought we were so cool, running around with our pretend guns, trying to get the bad guys. We all used to argue about who got to be Farrah and it was always the pretty blond girls. I always ended up being Kate Jackson. My mom had a t-shirt store and let me tell you I had so many Farrah Fawcett t-shirts and of course there was the famous swim suit poster and I even had the matching button that seriously I used to wear. And if only my hair had been straight instead of curly…I longed for feathered hair just like Farrah’s – weren’t the 80’s great?? So just like everyone still reeling from losing Farrah I was SHOCKED when my neighbor called to tell me about Michael Jackson. It was so hard to believe that at 50, he was gone, just on the verge of his comeback. And even though he was surrounded by controversy and really we haven’t heard much from him lately…he was still Michael Jackson, an amazing talent and the King of Pop. I have been sitting here watching the tributes and comments from all his Hollywood friends and it is just so hard to believe. Elton John was right in the middle of singing at his annual “White Tie and Tiara Ball” and he sang and dedicated the song “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” to Michael. Liz Taylor couldn’t even release a statement she was so upset and Madonna couldn’t stop crying. Lisa Marie Presley who was married to Michael for 20 months is “sad and confused with every emotion possible.” She also says she is “heartbroken for his children who I know were everything to him and for his family. “  You can imagine the twittering that was going on today. All the celebs have left their thoughts on the icon. Miley Cyrus tweets, “Michael Jackson was my inspiration.” MC Hammer, “I have no words…I loved Michael Jackson...RIP”. Ashton Kutcher “RIP Sending love and light to family and friend but especially his kids.”

Bono, from U2, is just full of surprises. In an upcoming broadcast on BBC Radio, on May 13th, Bono will be reading a poem he wrote about Elvis Presley more than 10 years ago. Bono is a huge Elvis fan and truly realizes what a groundbreaker Elvis was in his time. Like many, Bono was influenced by Elvis as a child. In his poem he talks about Elvis’ early years as a truck driver and how he basically revolutionized the music world. In his poem he says, “Elvis was made by America so America could remake itself”, he also writes, “Elvis woke up my heart”. The poem seems really incredible and a wonderful way to honor Elvis during the poetry season on the BBC. It has taken a while to figure out the best venue for the poem and how to present it to people and that is one of the reasons it has basically sat on a shelf for all these years. Along with the poem there will be a 15 minute presentation surrounding it that will include some of Elvis’ music along with other Elvis information to compliment the poem.

Shocking news rocks Las Vegas with the news of the sudden death of funny man Danny Gans. He performed a great set on Wednesday and seemed to be the picture of health, but then was found dead of still unknown causes on Friday morning. He was just 52 and a self proclaimed health nut. He was one of the all time great impressionist doing people like Tony Bennett and Michael Jackson. Although nothing seemed wrong with Gans, in an odd twist, Gans did change his final routine on Wednesday night. He usually ended with a medley “Apollo” however instead he did “The Curtain Falls” by Bobby Darin. A coincidence or did he know or feel something was wrong? It will be interesting to see what the autopsy says but regardless of the results he was a talented funny man who will be missed.

Bad news for “Dancing with the Stars” Fans – the latest injury victim is favorite Melissa Rycroft. Due to the injury that she sustained to one of her ribs she was not able to participate on Monday nights show. She has a hairline fracture to one of her ribs and hopefully with some rest should be able to continue in the competition. The judges did score her and her partner, Tony Dovolani, based on their rehearsal footage from what they were able to do from early on Monday. Steve O was also judged on his rehearsal performance when he hurt his back. Feel better soon Melissa we miss you and want you back soon.

Are you ready for this one…the buzz on the street is that Michael Jackson is planning a tour that would be the “greatest comeback in history”? It is being said that the King of Pop is planning a tour that would include 30 dates and that he would be performing exclusively in London’s O2 arena this summer. It is being reported that part of the deal would include Michael getting $2.1 million PER NIGHT!!!!!  That is just a staggering number to me. Tickets for his concerts are expected to exceed $700 and that would break the record held by Barbara Streisand during her comeback tour.  Michael has not performed in England since 1997.