“You could have said Mr. Jackson, ‘We believe something as personal as hiring a doctor, you should hire your own doctor with your own money,’” asked Brian Panish, one of the Jacksons’ attorneys.

“Yes,” Trell replied.

Panish asked him if anything stopped the firm from telling Michael to negotiate a deal with Murray and then advance him the money, as it had for production costs, and to pay for the cost of Michael’s mansion.

“Nothing,” Trell replied.

All of the expenses being paid by AEG had been “front-loaded” in Michael’s contract, evidently meaning that as soon as Michael began to earn money, those expenses would have to be recouped before he was paid anything. Not only were AEG going to get their upfront expenses back, but the operating costs at the O2 were coming out of  Michael’s earnings. Also AEG were paying the rent on Michael’s home, but that money would also be recouped.

There was testimony today that Thome Thome was fired in April and there was also testimony that, Michael’s health was fine in April and began to deteriorate very quickly from then.

Source: Los Angeles Times & MJWN

The emails were presented by Brian Panish, an attorney for Michael’s mother, in her lawsuit claiming AEG was negligent in hiring the personal physician, who was later convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of Michael.

The lawsuit also says AEG pushed Michael too hard, despite signs that he was in poor health.

The emails were sent Jan. 28, 2009, roughly four months before Michael’s death.

In the exchange, AEG Live General Counsel Shawn Trell told his boss that he was going to Michael’s home, to sign contracts for the ‘This Is It’ shows later that year in London.

Ted Fikre, the general counsel for Anschutz Entertainment Group, wrote back in two minutes.

“Does this mean you get to meet the freak?” Fikre replied, according to the emails.

“Apparently. Not sure how I feel about that. Interesting for sure, but kind of creepy,” replied Trell, who had spoken approvingly, while testifying on Tuesday about his only meeting with Michael.

Katherine Jackson was seated in the front row of the courtroom when the emails were displayed, and she passed Trell on her way out at the end of the day. They did not acknowledge each other.

“That email just exemplifies that AEG had no respect for Mr. Jackson,” Panish said outside of court. “All he was a vehicle to make money and to promote their concert business to catch up to Live Nation.” Live Nation is the chief rival of AEG Live.

Jessica Stebbins Bina, a trial defense lawyer for AEG, said the emails were shown merely to embarrass AEG. “We are four weeks into trial and we have yet to hear one piece of substantive evidence,” said Marvin S. Putnam, an attorney who is leading AEG’s defense.

He said Katherine Jackson’s lawyers have instead opted to attack AEG Live with “side issues and characterizations.”

Panish said after court that he would show more evidence of AEG’s disdain for Michael.

Source: Washington Post & MJWN

This will be Cirque du Soleil’s second Michael Jackson production, following ‘Michael Jackson: The Immortal,’ which toured North America and the world last year. President and chief executive of Cirque du Soleil Daniel Lamarre said during the announcement that, “this show will be very, very different.”

According to the show’s website, “Michael Jackson ONE is a theatrical evocation of Michael’s creative genius. Guided and inspired by his music, four misfits set out on a transformative adventure. By journey’s end, they will personify Michael’s agility, courage, playfulness and love.”

‘Michael Jackson ONE’ is written and directed by Jamie King, with director of creation Welby Altidor, associate show director Carla Kama, musical director Kevin Antunes, set and props designer Francois Séguin, costume designer Zaldy Goco, creators for the Man in the Mirror scene Michael Lemieux and Victor Pilon, choreographers Travis Payne, Rich and Ton Talauega, Parris Goebel, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Ivan “Flipz” Velez and Oliver Simola, as well as acrobatic performance designers Germain Guillemot and Rob Bollinger, acrobatic choreographers Ben Potvin and Andrea Ziegler, projection designers Raymond St-Jean and Jimmy Lakatos, lighting designer David Finn, sound designer Jonathan Deans, acrobatic equipment and rigging designer Pierre masse, makeup designer Nathalie Gagné, dramaturge Brian Drader, characters’ guide Manon Beaudoin and illustrator Henry Fong.

For tickets and more information about the show, click here.

Read more about the new show here.

Source: Las Vegas Broadway World & MJWN

The emotions from his death still raw, she broke down when her coach Adam Levine told her he wanted to sing Michael’s, ‘The Way You Make Me Feel.’

“I’m so honoured,’ she said, wiping away tears. ‘I’m forever grateful to him, and it hurts when people think that I’m taking advantage of him.”

Adam told her that it takes “courage to pay tribute to somebody who was a huge part of your life,” but she still insisted, “I feel really torn about singing this.”

“We are celebrating something that you were lucky enough to be a part of and we all envy about you,” Adam assured her.

Finally, Judith agreed. “There are so many emotions with the whole thing – I don’t know if I can tell you why this is so hard for me – but I need to get past it and do something beautiful.”

Wearing a trouser suit with 80s-style shoulder pads, she started with a jazz-influenced version – before going onto a more typically Michael-style uptempo ending.

“That was equal parts you paying homage to somebody who was a big part of your life, and you being you, incredibly,” host Carson Daly told her, her emotions clear on her face.

Usher – also a friend and huge fan of Michael’s – said hearing it left him with similarly confused emotions to contain. “I miss him – I miss him so much,” Usher said.

Source: Daily Mail & MJWN

Trell was also asked about an agreement Michael had signed on 2009 for a possible three-film deal. That agreement would have allowed Michael to be paid $1million to develop a script for an AEG Company. Trell said the initial project Michael was interested in pursuing was connected to ‘Thriller.’ He gave no further details.

Trell went on to say that by June 1^st the film industry was not interested in pursuing the project. June was the deadline for the agreement to kick in. He said AEG had offered to extend the deadline to October 2009, but Michael never signed the extension agreement.

Trell continued, the Broker suggested an ear, nose and throat specialist, who was flown out to Los Angeles and evaluated Michael.

“The brokers exact words to me,” said Trell were, “Other than a slight case of hay fever, he passed with flying colours.”

After the examination AEG was able to obtain a $17.5 million cancellation policy for the ‘This Is It’ concerts.

Michael was referred to as Mark Jones in the documents to mask his identity. The policy covered the first thirty shows at the O2 Arena.

Source: Associated Press & MJWN

Karen Langford, Michael’s long-time friend showed Lara Logan from ’60 Minutes’ around the five warehouses where his belongings are stored, in a secret location.

She showed Lara a handwritten manifesto of how Michael wanted his future to be, from his name to his ambition always to be the best.

In an amazing production for every fan his letter to himself was the most amazing find of all, illustrating how Michael worked from such a young age to be what he soon became, the best of them all, A Superstar!

Source: CBSnews.com & MJWN, with thanks to Paula

Concert giant AEG Live did not try to “put one over” on Michael Jackson’s estate following the singer’s June 2009 fatal overdose, a corporate lawyer testified Tuesday in a reversal of what he told jurors Monday. Apparently, the lawyer needed to read some of the fine print.

AEG Live General Counsel Shawn Trell contradicted his Monday testimony and said it wasn’t “a mistake” after all when his company’s chief financial officer included a $300,000 entry in a list of outstanding tour costs AEG sent to Michael’s estate lawyers. But AEG had never actually paid the $300,000 to the doctor who was supposed to help Michael get ready for the comeback tour but instead wound up getting convicted of manslaughter in Michael’s overdose death.

“You testified you were somewhat confused (by the inclusion of the $300,000)?” AEG defense lawyer Jessica Stebbins Bina asked Trell as she projected the list, dated July 17, 2009, on a screen for jurors.

“Do you see there’s something in parentheses?” Stebbins Bina asked, zooming in to blow up a footnote from AEG CFO Frederick Webking that stated Michael Jackson never signed Murray’s contract, so its terms were not enforceable.

“Is Mr. Webking asking the estate to pay?” Stebbins Bina asked Trell.

“No,” he replied, explaining that upon reflection he believed Mr. Webking was just being “thorough” by including the $300,000 as a budgeted cost.

“Did Mr. Webking make a mistake as you thought yesterday?” she asked.

“No,” Trell answered. “He did not.”

Trell testified in the ongoing trial of the negligence suit the iconic singer’s mother and kids brought against the concert promoter behind Michael’s ‘This is It’ tour.

Katherine Jackson, 82, sat in the front row Tuesday and periodically whispered with her daughter Rebbie.

The family matriarch filed her megabucks suit in 2010, claiming AEG failed to properly investigate Murray before agreeing to pay him an eye-popping $150,000 a month.

Murray is now serving four years for recklessly providing the fatal dose of propofol, the surgery-strength anesthetic that killed Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009. AEG claims Michael hired Dr. Murray and kept his propofol use a closely guarded secret.

In further testimony Tuesday, Trell said AEG never performed a background check on Dr. Murray, even though the company’s CEO Randy Phillips mentioned one in an email, sent five days before Michael’s death.

In the June 20 email, which the Daily News reported on last year, Phillips told tour director Kenny Ortega that he felt confident Dr. Murray was “extremely successful” and “ethical” because “we check everyone out.”

Trell testified that Phillips might have been “misinformed” or simply was stating his impression of the Las Vegas cardiologist.

He said AEG typically only runs background checks on candidates applying for full-time jobs with AEG, not independent contractors.

As jurors listened intently, Trell described the one time he met Michael at his rented estate in Holmby Hills, Calif.

He said Michael “popped up” to greet him, had a “good, firm handshake” and seemed “genuinely enthused” about his ill-fated comeback concert series.

Source: New York Daily News & MJWN

According to the LA Times, Kevin Boyle, an attorney for the Jackson family, said that AEG has not offered to settle “and they haven’t apologized.”

Marvin Putnam, attorney for AEG, says that the claims made by the Jackson family are “utterly baseless” and not worth discussing with the press.

Kevin Boyle for the Jackson family would not provide details but said AEG’s insurance would have paid, “which means they could have settled the case without them paying a dime of their own money.”

Marvin Putnam, an attorney for AEG, said it was inappropriate to discuss settlement discussions. “We don’t settle matters that are utterly baseless,” he said. “We believe that is the case in this matter. I can’t see why we would consider a settlement as anything other than a shakedown.”

Also in court today, the jury were shown an email from John Branca sent to AEG, offering to help Michael, by getting a specialist to work with him. He asked if there was a substance abuse issue, and he had the right person to help Michael. This happened on the same day the meeting between AEG executives a, Michael and Murray at Michael’s home.

On another matter, Frank DiLeo’s niece has said on a social networking site, that the Jacksons’ claim that AEG forced Michael to hire DiLeo was nonsense. She herself had witnessed both Joe and Katherine Jackson begging Frank to come back and manage Michael.

Source: Los Angeles Times & MJWN

It’s been almost four years since Michael Jackson died, but he continues to make headlines. Some of them coming out of a Los Angeles courtroom right now where his mother is suing for damages over his death from a powerful anesthetic in June 2009. But the headline of this story is that Michael Jackson is making more money after his death than he ever did when he was alive.

Tonight you’ll hear about the most remarkable financial and image resurrection in pop culture history. And get a rare look at what Michael Jackson left behind. The Michael Jackson brand is alive and well. Well-paid that is. Extremely well-paid.

Barcelona, Spain. The 297th performance of the Michael Jackson ‘IMMORTAL’ World Tour. Cirque du Soleil produces the show featuring their acrobats and contortionists, but Michael Jackson — or at least his music — is the star.

Backstage at Cirque du Soleil show ‘Immortal’

John Branca: We sold 230,000 tickets in two days in Japan. We did 90,000 people in Moscow. 190,000 people in Mexico City alone.

John Branca is an executor of Michael’s estate — an architect, if you will — of how to make money off his legacy, most of which will eventually be turned over to Michael’s three children. Branca was Michael’s lawyer and advisor off and on for over 25 years and negotiated many of the singer’s biggest deals during his lifetime.

Lara Logan: It’s just unbelievable. Michael Jackson sells more tickets dead than most artists do alive.

John Branca: That is absolutely true. Worldwide box office now is over $300 million. And Michael has almost 60 million Facebook friends. He’s the biggest selling artist on iTunes and he’s sold approximately 50 million albums since he passed away.

Lara Logan: It feels like you can’t talk about all those great things about Michael without talking about the fact that his image was so battered and tarnished by the time of his death. Have his fans just forgotten about all of that? About all the weirdness?

John Branca: As managers of the estate, we don’t really pay attention to the tabloids. We look at the Michael that we knew, the real Michael, the artistic genius, the visionary.

John Branca chooses his words carefully. Another subject he doesn’t like to discuss is Michael Jackson’s family. Michael’s father and some of his siblings challenged Branca as executor and the validity of Jackson’s will. But the California courts upheld the will and Branca’s ability to carry out Michael Jackson’s wishes.

John Branca: There was a series of wills and they were substantively almost identical.

Lara Logan: In that 20 percent went to charity, 40 percent went to his children, and 40 percent went to his mother as long as she was alive, and on her death would go to the children. The basic principle never changed.

John Branca: Never changed. The whole objective of Michael’s estate plan is to take care of his mother during her lifetime and to accumulate the principle and assets for the benefit of Michael’s children.

The will named Branca and John McClain, a longtime friend of Michael’s, as co-executors. Michael’s crippled image was not the only thing they had to contend with. At first glance, Michael Jackson left more debt than anything.7

Zack O’Malley Greenburg is a senior editor for Forbes Magazine and he’s been covering the estate since Michael’s death.

Zack O’Malley Greenburg: The day he died, Michael Jackson had about half a billion dollars in debt.

Karen Langford was friends with Michael Jackson and worked with him from 1981 until his death. She’s now the archivist for the Jackson estate. There are rows and rows, floor to ceiling, of Jackson’s possessions, most of it never seen publicly since he died. This warehouse is 20,000 square feet. Every inch of it is full. There are antiques and video games from Neverland ranch, his Grammys…

Lara Logan: This is one of how many warehouses that you have?

Karen Langford: Five.

You can see how he spent his money and some of what made up his extravagant lifestyle in this California warehouse.

Lara Logan: Wow that’s the actual sign from Neverland?

Karen Langford: That is the actual sign from Neverland that was over the gates.

Lara Logan: Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male 1983. Billie Jean.

And 30 years of cars he never wanted to get rid of.

Lara Logan: Are these all Michael’s cars?

Karen Langford: Uh, these are some of them.

Lara Logan: Some of them?

Karen Langford: Some of them.

Lara Logan: More cars.

Karen Langford: More cars.

Lara Logan: It’s another Rolls Royce.

Karen Langford: Yeah, well, there’s a few.

Lara Logan: Did he drive any of these cars?

Karen Langford: He did drive on occasion.

Late in his life Michael Jackson financed much of his lifestyle by routinely borrowing against his assets, but it wasn’t these personal belongings that he used as collateral.

Although the copyright value of his own songs was worth well in excess of a hundred million dollars, the crown jewel of his investment strategy was his portfolio of other people’s songs – especially those of the Beatles.

Lara Logan: Tell me about the music catalog, the publishing catalog that you advised Michael to buy.

John Branca: We started with the Sly & the Family Stone catalog, we bought some rock classics, People Get Ready by Curtis Mayfield. Dion & The Belmonts, Runaround Sue, The Wanderer. When a Man Loves a Woman. Great Balls of Fire. Shake, Rattle, and Roll. But then one day I got the call that the Beatles catalog was for sale. It was called ATV Music. And it was as if we had hit the mother lode.

Lara Logan: And you paid?

John Branca: The price was $47.5 million. And we later merged it with Sony’s music publishing company to create one of the biggest publishers in the world, Sony ATV Music, that the estate, to this day, owns 50 percent of.

Lara Logan: And so how much is that worth today?

John Branca: I — I wouldn’t want to speculate about what it’s worth, but it –

Lara Logan: Come on, John. You didn’t –

John Branca: It’s –

Lara Logan: You didn’t make all this money in this town without knowing what your investments are worth.

John Branca: Well, it would be speculation at this point.

Lara Logan: It’s estimated to be worth, like, a billion dollars.

John Branca: Michael’s half?

Lara Logan: Yes.

John Branca: Well, you know, you never really know what something’s worth until you go to sell it. And we are not sellers. We are not gonna sell any assets.

At the time of his death Michael Jackson had borrowed $380 million against the value of the songs he owned. So the estate had to move quickly to avoid losing the songs to creditors.

John Branca sold future music rights to Sony for a reported $250 million. It was the biggest record deal in history.

Branca’s team also combed through personal video shot during rehearsals for a comeback tour Michael was preparing for right before his death. The footage showed the talent Michael still possessed as a singer, dancer and entertainer, then 50 years old.

It was made into a movie, called ‘This Is It’ and was released within months of Michael Michael’s death. So far it’s made over $500 million.

Zack O’Malley Greenburg: A lot of companies got on board with Michael Jackson once they saw the success of ‘This Is It’ and once they saw, you know, Sony investing a quarter of billion dollars for that record deal. You know, then you see Pepsi coming back and doing an endorsement with him. You see Cirque du Soleil coming in and doing a show.

Zack O’Malley Greenburg: I think his death caused people to remember him as he was in the Thriller years. You started to hear ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Beat It’ and ‘Thriller’ on the radio all the time, I think that that transported people back to the mid-’80s when Michael was at the peak of his career.

That’s what Michael’s estate and Cirque du Soleil gambled on. Michael’s 1983 ‘Thriller’ video helped the ‘Thriller’ album become largest selling ever. It had seven hit songs on it.

His music drives the touring Cirque du Soleil production. Michael’s estate and Cirque du Soleil are 50/50 partners. And while this show is expected to continue touring for years, a new production opens this week in Las Vegas. It’s called ‘Michael Jackson: One.’ And we were allowed in to watch one the final rehearsals.

This show features more of classic Michael Jackson choreography, and more of Cirque du Soleil’s signature acrobatic production created by founder Guy Laliberte.

Lara Logan: Do people come here to see Michael Jackson? Or are they coming to see something else?

Guy Laliberte: I think people are coming here — yes, because they’re passionate about Michael. So it’s very tricky because you’re touching an iconic figure. And we have to be careful. Because the base fans they are very, very difficult and demanding.

Making money on Michael’s legacy is one thing. Keeping it is another. John Branca needed a team of lawyers to navigate a litany of claims against the estate

John Branca: There were so many claims that were filed. And I can honestly tell you that most of them were ridiculous. Most of them were absurd. People making paternity claims and claims to have written all the songs that he ever wrote. And, you know, when you have an estate and you’re in front of a court, you have to take these things seriously

Lara Logan: Every single one?

John Branca: Every single one.

Lara Logan: Settling some– throwing some out?

John Branca: Throwing many out, settling the ones that we thought were valid. There’s a couple that are still pending.

Also still a work in progress is the sorting of Michael Jackson’s effects.

Lara Logan: Michael Jackson’s personal clothing?

Karen Langford: Uh-huh (affirm).

Lara Logan: This is what he wore.

Lara Logan: There’s that famous jacket.

Karen Langford: Here it is.

Lara Logan: Wow. That’s amazing.

Karen Langford: This is one of the safes that we have and…

Karen Langford showed us some of the more valuable items, which are kept in this safe. Like this sequined glove he wore while on tour. It’s estimated to be worth over $80,000 at auction.

Lara Logan: Can I touch it?

Karen Langford: Sure.

Lara Logan: Gently.

Karen Langford: Gently.

Lara Logan: Wow, it’s kind of heavy.

Karen Langford: Uh-huh (affirm).

Lara Logan: Look at that. Sh — I mean, you can’t look at that without — look at how it sparkles.

Karen Langford: Yup.

All of his belongings will be preserved until Michael Jackson’s children come of age.

Karen Langford: This is his shoes.

When they can decide what’s to be done with all of it. The more time passes, the more its value. And the more money his legacy generates. Executors Branca and McClain get 10 percent of what they make for the estate, but their results speak volumes: they’ve already erased the half billion dollars of debt Michael had at his death.

Zack O’Malley Greenburg: Since Michael Jackson died, the estate has taken over $600 million.

Lara Logan: But he died in 2009.

Zack O’Malley Greenburg: He died in 2009. And he made –

Lara Logan: It’s — it’s in four years, roughly four years –

Zack O’Malley Greenburg: $600 –

Lara Logan: $600 –

Zack O’Malley Greenburg: –over $600 million. And that’s more than any single living artist has made over that period of time.

You can read the full transcript here

Source: CBS News

Joe Balaam, from Stowmarket, created the website for charity MJ-RTT Foundation, a group of Michael Jackson fans keen to raise money in Michael’s name.

The charity, whose initials stand for Michael Jackson Remembering The Times, now raise money for the Destiny Kids Orphanage in Hohoe, Ghana.

Joe said he started designing websites as a hobby and was pleased to help the foundation. He said, “They have been trying to raise a lot of money to help an orphanage in Ghana. “They have sent £920 in the last month and are currently helping to build a clean water system.

“I have been doing website design for the last two years – I designed a website for a driving instructor before this.”

The MJ-RTT Foundation intially raised £1,000 for a project in Ghana by auctioning MJ memorabilia after being approached through Facebook by a Ghanaian NGO. The charity then discovered the Destiny Kids Orphanage.

A spokeswoman said: “Besides trying to get sponsors for the children so that they have a regular income, we have recently completed a second auction of MJ memorabilia which raised over £300.

“This amount was sufficient to kick-start the installation of pipework to bring safe drinking water to the children.”

For more information about the MJ-RTT charity.

Visit Joe’s website.

Source: buryfreepress.co.uk & MJWN

A Pennsylvania attorney for the widow of manager Frank DiLeo said Thursday that he would turn over emails that could be relevant to the case, which accuses entertainment behemoth AEG of responsibility for the pop singer’s death in 2009.

The attorney, David Regoli, who spoke via telephone in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, said he had made a copy of DiLeo’s email inbox while he was doing work for the manager’s estate. DiLeo died in 2011.

Attorneys for Michael’s mother and three children said they have a court order for those emails and believe they could include exchanges between DiLeo and AEG executives. Their wrongful death suit alleges that AEG hired and controlled Dr. Conrad Murray, who administered a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol to the singer as he was preparing for a series of comeback concerts.

Regoli estimated that the digital file was about two gigabytes in size and he said he would make a log of the emails that would be pertinent to the trial. He is expected to give both the plaintiffs and the defense an update of his progress next week.

DiLeo, who died in 2011, was brought up last week in dramatic testimony given by Karen Faye, Michael’s hair and makeup artist.

Karen Faye said that during Michael’s final days she tried to warn DiLeo about the singer’s health.

“Frank was saying pretty much, ‘I got it under control, don’t worry about it,’ ” Faye testified Friday.

“I said, ‘But he’s losing weight rapidly.’ … I said, ‘Why don’t you ask [costume designer] Michael Bush to verify taking in his pants and how much weight he’s actually losing?’”

Faye said DiLeo went to speak to Bush and she overheard the manager say, “Get him a bucket of chicken.” “It was such a cold response,” she said. “I mean, it broke my heart.”

Michael died soon afterward. Murray is now serving jail time for involuntary manslaughter.

Source: LA Times & MJWN

Hom, who testified as an expert witness, also said he would never tell a director he had checked out a doctor if he hadn’t, a reference to claims by the Jackson family about an AEG executive.

A portion of Hom’s March 25 video deposition was played to the jury in the lawsuit brought by Katherine Jackson, who contends that entertainment giant AEG negligently hired and supervised Murray. He administered a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol to Michael to combat his insomnia. AEG says that Michael hired Murray and that any payments the company was supposed to make to the doctor were advances to the singer.

Anschutz Entertainment Group had deposed Hom as an expert witness, paying him $500 a hour. In an unusual move, Mrs Jackson’s attorneys played about 45 minutes of the deposition, taken under oath. Brian Panish, one of the family’s lawyers, said he played the testimony to ensure the jury heard it, even if AEG did not call Hom during the trial.

Hom also testified he had never been on a tour where the artist brought a doctor along, although he later said doctors toured with the Rolling Stones and Blink 182, but Hom did not work with them.

Much of Hom’s testimony centered on the relationship between a tour manager, performer and doctor. A key question in the lawsuit is whether Murray, who was in desperate financial straits, was more concerned with Michael’s interests or AEG’s.

Hom said it was not appropriate for the tour manager or promoter to inject themselves into the doctor-patient relationship.

Asked if it would be OK for someone to speak to the performer’s doctor without the artist present, he answered, “I thought it was the doctor’s responsibility to say no.”

He said he knew of no instance where a promoter or producer had a private conversation with the artist’s doctor.

He testified that when performers were ill, “my natural instinct is to go to that doctor and ask him, ‘Is that dancer going or musician going to be able to make that show in a week?”

Hom also testified that he knew of no instance where a promoter or tour manager paid the performer’s manager.

Mr Panish said outside court that he will later introduce evidence that AEG was paying Michael’s managers, which could be a conflict of interest.

Source: latimes.com & MJWN

It is entitled “2 Kings: When Biggie Smalls Crossed Michael Jackson’s Path”.

Rob speaks first of his early work, saying,

I was fortunate enough to work with MJ early in my career. He was an incredible artist. Talented beyond your wildest dreams. Extremely generous, and a hard worker.

He began his career at the Hit Factory in New York, and worked with Bruce Swedien and Michael, who had moved to New York as there had been an earthquake in Los Angeles. After a couple of months they moved back to Los Angeles, where they had two rooms at Record One and two at Larrabee Studios. It was a huge learning curve for Rob, who relished the experience.

He speaks of Michael’s attention to every little detail, and how he knew every note in every chord.

“He would sing us an entire string arrangement, every part. Steve Porcaro once told me he witnessed MJ doing that with the string section in the room. Had it all in his head, harmony and everything. Not just little eight bar loop ideas, he would actually sing the entire arrangement into a micro-cassette recorder complete with stops and fills.

“We called in a guitar player, and Michael sang every note of every chord to him. “Here’s the first chord first note, second note, third note. Here’s the second chord first note, second note, third note”, etc., etc. We then witnessed him giving the most heartfelt and profound vocal performance, live in the control room through an SM57.”

“At one point Michael was angry at one of the producers on the project because he was treating everyone terribly. Rather than create a scene or fire the guy, Michael called him to his office/lounge and one of the security guys threw a pie in his face. No further action was needed . . . . .”

Rob also recalls,

During the recording of ‘Smile’ on ‘HIStory,’ Bruce thought it would be great if Michael would sing live with the orchestra. But of course, we didn’t tell the players that. We set him up in a vocal booth off to the side. They rehearsed a bit without vocals in, then during the first take Michael sang, just about knocked them out of their chairs.

His beat-boxing was without parallel, and his time was ridiculous. His sense of harmony was incredible. Never a bad note, no tuning, even his breathing was perfectly in time.

Once, while we were taking a break, I think we were actually watching the OJ chase on TV, there was a news program talking about him being in Europe with some little boy. I was sitting next to the guy while the news is making this crap up. He just looked at me and said, this is what I have to deal with.

I spent close to 3 years working with him, and not once did I question his morals, or ever believe any of the allegations. I wasn’t even a fan then. I saw him interact with his brothers’ kids, other people’s children, and at one point my own girlfriend’s kids. I got to spend a day at Neverland with them. A completely incredible human being, always looking for a way to make all children’s lives better. Every weekend at Neverland was donated to a different children’s group – children with AIDS, children cancer, etc., and most of the time he wasn’t there.

He was simply living the childhood he never had. In many ways he never grew up.

While they were recoding ‘History,’ Rob recalls.

“I got to spend a couple quiet moments with him during that time. We talked about John Lennon one night as he was gearing up to sing the last vocal of the record – the huge ad libs at the end of ‘Earth Song,’ I told him the story of John singing ‘Twist And Shout,’ while being sick, and though most people think he was screaming for effect, it was actually his voice giving out. He loved it, and then went in to sing his heart out.

Rob has lots of similar anecdotes to tell about Michael, but the story of Biggie Smalls and Michael is heart-warming to say the least, and his meeting with Biggy Smalls is no exception,

“By the way, to elaborate a bit on the Notorious B.I.G. session, it was kinda like this. Michael used to call people to ask them to participate on albums. It was interesting knowing that nearly anyone on the planet would come to the phone if it were Michael calling. Anyway, I heard rumours that B.I.G. was going to come, and I was excited about that! I knew that I would be the one to record that, as I had recorded nearly all of that tune, ‘This Time Around.’

So, Dallas and I were expecting him any minute, and pretty much on time, Notorious strolls in. He was quite an imposing figure when he walked in, as he was quite popular at the time. I had no idea what to expect from him in terms of attitude, but he seemed nice when he walked in. No problem. But almost immediately, he blurted out, “Yo, Dallas, can I meet Mike?” To which, Dallas replied that he thought so. Biggie went on to talk about how much this opportunity meant to him, as Michael was his hero. Anyway, Dallas tells him that we’re going to lay down the rap first, so Biggie heads in the booth, we get some headphone levels and get ready to start recording.

So, we hit the big red button (on a Sony 3348 machine), and away we go. During his first take, Dallas and I looked at each other, because it was spot on. wow. I was impressed, and so was Dallas. We listened back, and Dallas was like, “Wow, I think we got it”. As I recall, we took another take for good measure, but I’m fairly certain that we ended up using the first take. So, Notorious comes in, and asks if he can meet Michael now. We sent word to the back room where Michael was working that Biggie was finished and wanted to meet him.

Simply for security, Michael’s security would enter and make sure that no one was in the room that shouldn’t be, and once that was confirmed (it was just me, Biggie and Dallas), Michael came in. Biggie nearly broke out in tears…I could tell how much this meant to him. Well, Michael could have this effect on anyone, even the most hardcore rappers! Biggie was tripping up on his words, bowing down and telling Michael how much his music had meant to him in his life. Michael was, as always, very humble and kept smiling while Biggie just went on and on how much he loved Michael. I watched Biggie just become this big butterball of a man, and it was really very sweet to witness. After all, we are all just people.

Michael finally asked to hear what we had done, and we popped it up on the big speakers and let her go. Michael LOVED it and was excited to tell Biggie that! “Oh, let’s hear it again,” I recall Michael saying, and we listened again. Michael just loved it…and thanked Biggie for coming all the way from Philadelphia. Biggie asked rather sheepishly whether he could get a photo, and Michael agreed. A shot was taken, we listened again, and Michael thanked Biggie. Michael said goodbye and stepped out, leaving Biggie standing there looking completely stunned. It will always remain a great, great memory.”

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Source: madandcrazy blogspot.co.uk & MJWN, with thanks to Matt

He testified that production wanted MJ to be more in attendance with all the cast, rather than just MJ rehearsing by himself at his house. “He seemed very tired, we all were,” Travis said.

‘Drill,’ was the last thing they worked together, Travis said. Michael had a great love for military precision. He said MJ’s dancing seemed fine to him. He said they were working on things created decades before to make them age appropriate, dynamic.

Travis said he had meals with MJ. He said MJ’s appetite depended on the day. “Customarily, we would see each other every day,” he said. Rehearsal with MJ was scheduled five days a week.

MJ told Travis he expected him to be in every show. He wanted him to take notes to make sure show was as perfect as possible.

Travis said they started rehearsing after the press conference, and stopped the day before MJ died. He spoke with MJ everyday. Bina showed an email Travis wrote. It said MJ was very persistent about having a torch, a concept that meant a lot to Michael.

They auditioned 5,000 dancers, MJ chose the final ones. Travis said MJ chose the band director also. He said “Everything started with Mr. Jackson, always. As his support team, we would contribute with ideas. MJ had the final word.”

‘This Is It’ was a partnership with AEG. Travis said this new way of doing business would revolutionize the way tours were done. He said he found out that his role would not include dancing, he would choreograph and would be the associate director in ‘This Is It.’

“He looked fine to me health wise, I thought he was thinner from what I have seen him in the past, but nothing alarming,” he recalled.

He said he knew MJ was excited about the tour and his children, to share this experience with them. He met with MJ in late March/2009. Payne didn’t personally meet with MJ until after the press conference announcement. He said he was excited to work with him again.

He said he worked with Kenny Ortega for many years. He and Ortega were in Vegas when MJ called Ortega asking him to work on a new project.

He said he never saw MJ take drugs, medication or alcohol. “Nothing.” Travis said he knew there were physicians tending to MJ, only ones he personally met were Dr. Klein and Debbie Rowe. Travis said: Michael had an incident, appeared to faint, we were asked to leave the theater and were told later the show was not going to happen.

He worked with MJ in the ‘One Night Only’ show, one time performance by MJ and dancers in New York. The show never happened. He said MJ rehearsed with the dancers and separately. Dancers would get up to speed in the beginning, MJ was good at giving space to learn.

Rehearsals for ‘HIStory’ tour were very extensive, Travis said. He was involved with selecting dancers, ideas for costumes and whatever needed.

He worked with MJ in ‘Ghost’ in 1995/96, then ‘HIStory’ tour, other TV shows and commercials and culminated with ‘This Is It.’

“In the ‘Dangerous’ tour I was ecstatic! I was working with my idol,” Travis described. During ‘Dangerous’ the relationship with MJ grew. Travis said all he knew pain was an on going issue for MJ since the Pepsi commercial accident.

The next time he worked with MJ was in the ‘Dangerous’ tour as dancer and choreographer. He worked with MJ first time in 1992 as a dancer in the short film ‘Remember The Time.’

He also worked with Paula Abdul, Brandy, Diana Ross, Mick Jagger, Marilyn Manson, MJ, among others.

Source: Associated Press & MJWN

Travis said AEG didn’t want to pay what he regarded as his standard operating cost. Michael told AEG to pay him what he and his agent requested.

He went on to say that he was concerned that Michael had missed some rehearsals. He didn’t know why he wasn’t showing up, but MJ was also working on an album and book.

Travis said Michael explained to him he had trouble sleeping. He was not sure how much weight MJ had lost. He told the jury he advised MJ he was looking thin and MJ said he was getting down to his fighting weight. “I had no reason to doubt him,” he said.

Travis remembered that there was one day when MJ was cold. He thought the frustration had MJ on edge, but he took it that he was fighting a cold. “There were times he was tired and had to be not convinced but supported,” Travis recalled. He said that in April, May, June MJ missed 5 rehearsals with the whole group. He said one time Ortega sent MJ home.

Jessica Stebbins Bina (for AEG) showed an email from Kenny Ortega to Paul Gongaware on Jun 14, “We’re you aware that MJ’s doctor didn’t permit him to attend rehearsal yesterday?”

Email continues: “Are Randy and Frank aware of this? Please have them stay on top of his health situation.”  Email continues: “Without invading MJ’s privacy, it might be good idea to talk to his doctor to make sure everything MJ requires is in place. Email continues, “Who is responsible for MJ getting proper nourishment/vitamins/therapy everyday?” Email continues: “Personally, I feel he should have a top Nutritionist and Physical Therapist working with him on a regular basis.” Email continues: “The demand on this guy are mentally and physically extraordinary! The show requirements exhaust our 20 year olds.” Email continues: “Please don’t underestimate the need to stay on top of this.”

Another part of the same email chain, from Gongaware: “Frank and I have discussed it already and have requested … a face-to-face meeting with the doctor… We want to remind him that it’s AEG not MJ who’s paying his salary.” Gongaware email: “We want him to understand what is expected of him. He has been dodging Frank so far.”

Travis said his understanding was that AEG was paying Dr. Murray’s salary not Michael. The doctor was there to oversee many things, he said, and went on to explain he didn’t have much of reason to question Dr. Murray, since he thought that a doctor selected to work with MJ, would be top notch.

Travis said he met Murray at the Carolwood house. “I was going up the steps, Dr. Murray going downstairs, Michael introduced us.”

Later after jurors had left, Judge Palazuelos said she sustained an objection by the plaintiffs and will not allow the defense to use Dr. Murray’s interview with by June 25, Travis said MJ had not developed the goal of singing and dancing at the same time. He resumes testimony tomorrow morning.

Source: Associated Press & MJWN