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Kenny Ortega -- the director of both the concert and now the film 'This is It' -- and others close to the King of Pop's concert-series give Entertainment Weekly an inside look into the last days of Michael Jackson.
"Over the last few years, Michael would say, 'Let's find something to do,'" Ortega told EW. "But he turned down a lot. He turned down an invitation to do a Vegas production. He said, 'It has to be important. We can't do something just because we can.' I'd never heard him talk like that before. This time around, he wanted to do it for deeper reasons, more mature reasons."
Randy Phillips, president of the concert promotion firm AEG Live that organized the concerts, said of Jackson's decision to perform again, "After the press conference, I asked him, 'Why now?' He said, 'Because I've spent 12-and-a-half years bringing my kids up, and now they're old enough to appreciate what I do -- and I'm still young enough to do it.' Yes, he had to clean up his finances. But money was not the primary motivating factor."
Phillips revealed that Jackson's creative vision of the London concert series did become costly. "We went and met with Michael, and Kenny said, 'Michael, you've got to stop. We've got an incredible show, we don't need any more vignettes.' Michael said, 'But Kenny, God channels this through me at night. I can't sleep because I'm so super-charged.' Kenny said, 'But Michael, we have to finish. Can't God take a vacation?' Without missing a beat, Michael said, 'You don't understand -- if I'm not there to receive these ideas, God might give them to Prince.'"
Michael Jackson graces the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands Friday, October 16.
"Over the last few years, Michael would say, 'Let's find something to do,'" Ortega told EW. "But he turned down a lot. He turned down an invitation to do a Vegas production. He said, 'It has to be important. We can't do something just because we can.' I'd never heard him talk like that before. This time around, he wanted to do it for deeper reasons, more mature reasons."
Randy Phillips, president of the concert promotion firm AEG Live that organized the concerts, said of Jackson's decision to perform again, "After the press conference, I asked him, 'Why now?' He said, 'Because I've spent 12-and-a-half years bringing my kids up, and now they're old enough to appreciate what I do -- and I'm still young enough to do it.' Yes, he had to clean up his finances. But money was not the primary motivating factor."
Phillips revealed that Jackson's creative vision of the London concert series did become costly. "We went and met with Michael, and Kenny said, 'Michael, you've got to stop. We've got an incredible show, we don't need any more vignettes.' Michael said, 'But Kenny, God channels this through me at night. I can't sleep because I'm so super-charged.' Kenny said, 'But Michael, we have to finish. Can't God take a vacation?' Without missing a beat, Michael said, 'You don't understand -- if I'm not there to receive these ideas, God might give them to Prince.'"
Michael Jackson graces the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands Friday, October 16.
