Michael Jackson presale NOW 27 SHOWS!!!!

So the pre-sale for Michael Jackson's O2 shows started today, in true fashion I set my alarm, but for LA time not London, so I clearly woke up after the sale, but the 10 dates are already at 18 and growing by the minute!!! Below is a list of all the announced dates so far (12:15pm GMT)

Wed 08/07/09
Fri 10/07/09
Sun 12/07/09
Tue 14/07/09
Thu 16/07/09
Sat 18/07/09
Wed 22/07/09
Fri 24/07/09
Sun 26/07/09
Tue 28/07/09
Thu 30/07/09
Sat 01/08/09
Mon 03/08/09
Mon 10/08/09
Wed 12/08/09
Mon 17/08/09
Wed 19/08/09
Mon 24/08/09
Wed 26/08/09
Fri 28/08/09
Sun 30/08/09
Tue 01/09/09
Thu 03/09/09
Sun 06/09/09
Tue 08/09/09
Thu 10/09/09
Mon 21/09/09

Back in London

Apologies for the lack of updates these last few days, I have had to head back to London to sort out a load of things, and subsequently my life (and this site) has been put on hold to do so.

I hope that all of you have been keeping well and updates will resume this afternoon.

Chris and Rihanna saga continues

So following on from the newest round of rumours, Chris Brown went in to court today to face up to the charges brought against him (felony assault and criminal threat). However Brown did not enter into a plea and subsequently his lawyer asked to postpone the arraignment until April 6th, to which the judge accepted.

However the judge did order Brown "not to annoy, harass, threaten or commit violence against anyone."

Also in an extreme twist on events, speculation is rife that whilst in Miami Chris Brown and Rihanna actually got engaged???!!!!

According to Perez Hilton: This is the response we got back from one of her reps about the wedding/engagement reports:

"Sorry for the delayed response, but we aren’t able to offer anything right now but will keep you in posted if that changes.

With every day something new unravels...next she will be pregnant!!!!

Rock Band - Beatles Edition gets release date

Mark September 9th in your diarys!

The Beatles will finally release their music in a digital format for the gaming phenomenon Rock Band.

The game will be released worldwide for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii.

Exclusive content will be made available for fans who pre-order the game (pre-order date still TBC)

The game along will carry a $59.99 list price. A version with standalone guitars will run $99.99, while the Limited Edition Premium Bundle will cost $249.99.

Double "Relapse" for Eminem

Eminem is making his "Relapse" a double: not only did the best selling rapper reveal the release date for his highly-anticipated return to the rap game, but he announced that the follow-up will drop in 2009 too.

"Relpase," Eminem's first full album of new material in four years, is due from Interscope/Aftermath/Shady on May 19. The album's first single, "Crack the Bottle," is currently at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

A second album, "Relapse 2," is promised before the end of the year. "A lot of people were expecting Relapse to drop last year," said Eminem in a statement. "I was one of them. Then Dre and I went back in the studio in September for a few days, and that turned into six months. We were on such a roll; we wound up with a ton of new music produced by Dre."

The second single from Eminem will be released on April 7th, with the download released the same day as the video and single are serviced to radio.

20-25 O2 dates according to AEG ECO + President

AEG president and CEO Tim Leiweke revealed that Michael Jackson is set to perform 20 to 25 shows at London's O2 Arena and that the singer is "very focused." Leiweke was speaking during his keynote Q&A session at the Billboard Music & Money Symposium at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City.

"The man is very sane, the man is very focused, the man is very healthy," Leiweke said of Jackson. "I think he has been dragged through the mud."

The shows will be promoted by AEG Live, which also put together Prince's record-setting run of 21 sellouts at the O2 that grossed more than $22 million. The Spice Girls, Take That, and Kylie Minogue all have played multiple nights at the London arena, and Britney Spears has an eight night run scheduled for June. AEG operates the O2 venue.

Leiweke told the Billboard Music & Money audience: "We’ll announce 10 shows. I think you'll see 20, 25 dates at the O2. His production budget is... Wow."

"Despite everything you read about him, he was fine," added Leiweke. "The man took a physical for us to go do these concerts."

Leiweke also confirmed that it has taken some time to get Jackson to agree to the deal. Jackson has not released a studio album or played a full concert since 2001. His last major tour was the "HIStory" World Tour in 1996-1997.

"We spent two years working with Michael trying to get him comfortable with this," said Leiweke.

Asked why the comeback was being staged in London at the O2, Leiweke commented: "It's the most important venue in music today. With all due respect to the Staples Center and the [Madison Square] Garden, the O2 is where you went to see Led Zeppelin reunite."

Past O2 multiple-night runs (via Billboard Boxscore):

Prince $22,052,026 (£10,971,157) 351,527 21 shows (all sellouts)
Spice Girls $33,829,250 (£16,637,563) 256,647 17 shows (all sellouts)
Take That $10,195,810 (£5,097,905) 132,835 9 shows (all sellouts)
Kylie Minogue $9,881,561 (£4,964,386) 116,375 7 shows (all sellouts)
Justin Timberlake $7,346,896 (£3,649,725) 79,742 5 shows (all sellouts)
Stevie Wonder $6,343,690 (£3,603,960) 60,066 4 shows (all sellouts)
Neil Diamond $5,896,536 (£2,985,890) 46,174 3 shows (all sellouts)

Michael's press conference announcing 10 dates at O2

Starting July 8th, Michael Jackson will perform a series of 10 concerts at the O2 arena in London. To get tickets for the show, you must register with his website www.michaeljacksonlive.com this is for the pre-sale only and will take place on Wednesday 11th March at 7am GMT, failing that the general onsale is at 7am on Friday 13th July.

This definitely is the show of the year - if not the decade!!!!

PRESS CONFERENCE




Below is the email confirmation for registering with the website for the pre-sale.

Welcome to MichaelJacksonLive.com!
You successfully registered for your chance
to participate in the Michael Jackson Presale.
Michael announced 10 shows at The O2 arena
in London starting 8 July 2009

If your application is successful you will receive an email in the upcoming days with your exclusive unique password and information on where and when you can purchase tickets during the presale window. The password pin code can only be used once. The password pin code allows up to four (4) tickets to be purchased during the presale window.

If you miss the presale window or due to demand are unsuccessful in being chosen to receive a password pin code, the general onsale is 7am 13 March 2009.

Barry Islands In The Stream

My favourite show from England "Gavin and Stacey" have brought two of their stars Ness and Bryn together to record their take on Dolly Parton's "Islands In The Stream" with a special guest appearance (see the video) for this years Comic Relief.

Check out the video below.



If you ask me it is much better than The Staurdays "Just Can't Get Enough"

'Substantial doubt' for GM future

Ongoing losses and the struggle to generate cashflow meant the firm's ability to continue as a going concern should be questioned, auditors stated.


Last week GM posted a $30.9bn (£21.9bn) loss for 2008 and warned that 2009 was set to be "challenging". The firm, which plans to cut 47,000 jobs also said it might need another $22.6bn in government loans to survive.

It has already received $13.4bn in federal loans as it struggles in what analysts say is the worst vehicle sales market in 27 years.
GM said that its creditors had decided not to force the company to repay more than $6bn in loans following the auditor's warning, in order to let GM press the case for more government financial aid.

Shares in General Motors fell almost 15% in early New York trading.

US Bilboard Hot 100

Flo-rida once again tops the digital sales for a 3rd week running, and will once again reign on top of the Billboard Hot 100. Unsurprisingly the oscar awarded Jai Ho, makes the biggest impact on the digital sales jumping from 76 to number 7 and with a new version coming from the Pussy Cat Dolls, it looks like this song will be around for a long time in the charts.

(1) 1 FLO RIDA RIGHT ROUND 334312 1430355
(4) 2 LADY GAGA POKER FACE 182208 1073181
(2) 3 T.I. FEAT. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE DEAD AND GONE 182036 1276454
(6) 4 SOULJA BOY KISS ME THRU THE PHONE 156070 750417
(3) 5 EMINEM CRACK A BOTTLE 141503 995875
(5) 6 ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS GIVES YOU HELL 137290 -12 155381 1912340
(76) 7 RAHMAN*A.R JAI HO! 130062 489 22081 216018
(7) 8 CLARKSON*KELLY MY LIFE WOULD SUCK 103828 1044863
(8) 9 LADY GAGA F JUST DANCE 103561 -13 119175 3213504
(9) 10 WEST*KANYE HEARTLESS 95591 2381817



Over on the album charts; with an 18% uptick in sales, Taylor Swift's "Fearless" continues its rule over The Billboard 200 for an 11th week. The Big Machine effort sold 73,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. As reported last week, such a feat has gone unmatched by any album since Santana's "Supernatural" collected 12 weeks at No. 1 in 1999 and 2000.

Debuting at No. 2, a career high, is Lamb of God's "Wrath" (Prosthetic/Epic), having sold 68,000. The metal act's last release, "Sacrament," entered at No. 8 with 63,000 in 2006.

The Jonas Brothers' "3D Concert Experience" soundtrack from Hollywood Records bows right behind at No. 3 with 50,000. The group's movie opened with $12.5 million at the U.S. and Canada box office last weekend, a lower figure than what was expected by industry observers.