Michael Jackson would have turned 51 on August 29, and the promoters of his planned This Is It tour are hoping to celebrate with a concert. It would take place at London`s O2 Arena (UK) and feature rehearsal footage and appearances by members of his family.
“This is more than a tribute, this is Michael’s last masterpiece,” said Randy Phillips, CEO of AIG Live. “The obvious date is August 29 — it’s his birthday, and that’s what we’re shooting for.”
The show would include “the brothers, possibly Janet” and the existing band against a backdrop of hours of Jackson video.
While talks with the family are still very preliminary, their initial response to involvement with the show has been “excellent.”
“They like the idea of taking their brother’s last work and showing it to the world.”
The Jackson family spokesperson declined to comment on this story.
Phillips, who plans to sit down this weekend with Michael Jackson’s choreographer Kenny Ortega to “figure it out conceptually,” envisions it as a singular “pay-per-broadcast vehicle.”
“This show would be This Is It, ” he says. “The only thing missing would be Michael Jackson in person.”
The producers had spent $15 million filming 130 hours of footage of rehearsals, including three songs in 3D, which would be incorporated into the concert.
Refering to the high costs the city of Los Angeles had due to the memoria service earlier this week, Phillips pointed out the AEG company spent as much as the city (about $1.2-1.5 million) putting on the free event for the public. The company could defray some of its own costs with memorial DVD or CD sales, but Phillips declined to discuss specifics.
“We have had a lot of calls about that,” he says of memorial DVDs.
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