Interesting story about the shows from the "inside"

[ensleyave]

i for one didnt feel it was his best behavior, ive watched him for years ,but the ony reason i went to the theater was i wanted to see him one last time and i didnt care what capacity he was in. im not raving about the movie but it was good to see him and to see how much he was trying even with all that was going on around him. i do feel there is something to this article because watching him i felt there was something off about him. eccentric maybe but i watched him at the awards in 2007 and i saw nothing of the behavior i saw in the film. i left feeling that something was wrong. and i felt anger that i couldnt shake.

I am glad you said that. I felt the same thing too and I felt guilty for feeling that way. I saw it last night and I feel quiet and sad. I don't know.

 

[iamthriller82]

It all seems honest to me, i just never thought that there was tension between Michael and Kenny

 

[wendy2004]

First, let me say this all seems perfectly plausible. In fact some of it matches some suspicions I've had. However, I think there's also some things in here that could be fodder for exaggeration if not exaggerated in themselves. I'll point out a few.

This from KOP board, posted by MRfuture, I cant say if it is 100% true, but what the guy says make alot of sense. I always felt the shows were being rushed, they should have announced the shows at least one month earlier for preparations and stuff.... NOTHING was ready, and they were supposed to leave for London in 8 days. I cant even begin to understand the pressure that was on Michael....

Nothing was completely ready, yes. However, they still had 8 days before leaving for London and the bulk WAS done. The day MJ died he was supposed to do Dirty Diana. That would leave only HTW and WATW to rehearse, which, according to Kenny would have to had taken place in London becuz of the children's choir. People have to realize there was only so much which COULD be done in L.A. It didn't mean things were completely off-track. And I'm sure there are some fans here who work in the theater or whatnot who know that 2 or 3 weeks before an opening, things can still appear to be chaotic but as each day gets closer, things seem to fall into place like clockwork. That seemed to be what was happening here as I clearly remember everyone saying the week of MJ's death they were finally stepping into the show WITH the props (Thriller spider, etc.) and whatnot and Michael was excited. And for the record "Lightman" was ready on the day Michael died. One of the dancers, I believe, said they got the call just before hearing Michael was rushed to the hospital. So, things did seem to be coming together with each passing day.

Yeasterday I had the amazing chance to speak to someone who worked on This Is It. This person has worked with Michael in the past, I've seen him before on TV close to Michael, and I also saw him in the movie and his name appears at the end. He is here in Miami on vacation with family and a good friend of mine knows him. I begged him to let me meet him and he was the sweetest person, and he loved Michael.

He gave me the ok to share with you what he told me, however with the condition that I would name provide his name. He is under contract with AEG/Sony and is only allowed to officially talk good about the movie and the concert. As he told me "hey, I also gotta pay my bills, so I have to do what they say."

However, at the same time he told me to "share with fans what I said, because it is important that some things are known."

This is possible. However, I, too think if someone is going to spill the beans they should have the balls to put their name to what they have to say. Otherwise, it makes them no better than the ppl they are talking about.
And I remember Mrfuture, too. He seems to have the luck of coming across people who had some dealings with MJ and tells interesting stories. I remember the one about the "chalky white hand reaching for muscle magazines left by a hotel courier outside Michael's hotel door." Lawd.

But for the sake of chance, I'll entertain this collection of events.

- Michael has always been a very sweet, humble person, since the first time they met 20 years ago, however he noticed that during these reharsals, he looked even more humble than usual, to the point that he actually felt Michael was incredibly insecure this time around, he saw him very vulnerable and everyone automatically tried to make him feel ok, everyone wanted to bring the spark in him that old Michael Jackson had. According to this person a combination of the 2005 trial and the long absence from the spotlight made Michael feel very insecure.

We also saw in the movie, that Michael was assertive when he wanted to be. "I want you to play it like I wrote it." He said it with L.O.V.E., of course.

-Michael did not get along at all with Randy Phillips. Everyone knew it, even Phillips knew it. Phillips had a very arrogant way of dealing with Michael, he was terrified that Michael would not get ready for the shows and AEG would lose a lot of money. According to this person, Phillips made it clear to several people that these concerts had to happen, no matter what, because he "had to personally convince everyone at AEG that this was a good deal" therefore his job was at risk if anything went wrong. On many occasions Phillips would go to Michael's house with Ortega and Travis Payne whenever Michael would not show up. At times they would come back with him, at times no. The official explanations to the crew was "Michael is not feeling well today," "Michael reharsed at home" or "Michael is reharsing with his vocal coach."
At first the crew believed it, but after a few weeks everyone started realizing something was up because even though Ortega and Payne would say everything was fine, it was obvious that they were very frustrated and nervous, and there were several heated discussions between Ortega, Phillips and Payne, but what exactly was being discussed was not clear since they always ade sure they would be far enough for anyone to hear. During these conversations one of them would always be on a cellphone, and then the would pass it aroud to themselves. This person believes they were talking to Michael.

All of that ^^ I can believe. Anyone whose arse and job are on the line are going to be a bit aggressive and possibly nervous when things don't progress as they'd like to see. I've no doubt Randy was a nervous Nelly sweating bullets. Remember, he had to convince the owner of AEG (can't spell his name at the mo) to do the concerts with MJ. The owner wasn't too keen at first, remember? And we heard that story of how the owner met Michael along with Blanket and was convinced that MJ couldn't be all bad becuz of how he interacted with Blanket. He liked that Michael was a devoted father. So yeah, Randy prolly knew what time it was if things didn't pan out.

-Michael, and this is shown in the movie, did not want to wear the ear monitors. As this person told me, "look at any footage from Michael in concerts in the past, and you will never find him wearing ear monitors, he did not like them, did not need them." According to him, Ortega got upset at one time at Michael, and in front of everyone told him "you have to undrstand that here you do not have an option, you have to wear them, this is going to be a closed arena, not an open stadium, and the sound is different." He said his tone was very nasty and everyone was shocked, especially since Michael looked very upset, but mostly hurt, by it.
Interestingly, yesterday Karen Faye wrote on her facebook that Michael always complained to her that he did not like ear monitors, and asked her to tell Ortega. According to her, she did and Ortega told her "well, he has to wear them!"

Here's the thing about this little detail. Michael explained why he was having a problem and in the movie, Kenny didn't insist he had to wear them. They adjusted the situation so Michael could continue without. And I saw him NOT using them a couple of times during the film. There was once during Beat It where the earpieces were flopping around his neck while he was grooving. So it looks like he didn't wear them when he didn't want to.

-This is very interesting. According to this person, there was absolutely no way the concert was going to be ready for opening night on July 13th, and everyone kenw it. He asked me the following "when you saw the movie, you do realize right that they had to show the best scenes, the best performances, right ?" I said "yes, of course" to which he replied "so do you realize that what you have seen, most of it came from June 24th, 23rd and 22nd ?

This isn't entirely true. Not everything was from those days. If I remember correctly, the 22nd was a Monday and Michael didn't show up that day, only on the Tuesday and Wednesday.

Based on what you saw, did it feel as if everything was going to be ready in 2 weeks ?" He said that Michael did not have his clothes ready, and that there was "pathetic" @#$%$ing around from different stylists that were trying to come up with ideas. But nothing was ready, no clothes, not even for the dancers. Michael wanted Michael Bush, but Travis Payne brought in that Zaldy guy, and AEG was behind Zaldy, rather than Michael Bush

I forget who already posted about this but that's also not completely true. They showed how some of the items were ready. There was footage on either ET or Access Hollywood that showed pix of Michael trying on the items and seeing how they worked with the lighting technology. And if I'm not mistaken that happened either the week before or the week of his death. So things seemed to be coming together. What I am curious about is why there was no film footage of this. Why only pix of Michael trying on the clothes? And I can see there possibly being some rivalry there and Bush feeling his toes were being stepped on with Zaldy on board. So I'd advise ppl to be careful there. Rivalries tend to lead to drama...unecessary drama and that can essentially cloud things and opinions.

The opening number for the concert was only done on the computer, just like we saw in the movie. It was never reharsed, and the robot that Michael would have come out from was not ever ready. Also the closing of the show was just a concept.

As I stated before, the robot was ready on the day MJ died. So it wasn't like he was still an image on the computer and not built or realized yet. Not only was it built but it was functioning at the time of Michael's death.

He also confirmed that they never had a full reharsal. In other words, they never practiced the whole concert, it would always be a few songs on several days, but it was never put all together, therefore they were laso very concerned that once everything was gonna put together, it would take much longer that the 2 hours orgnally planned. This was going to be a huge problem for AEG and the O2 arena, because of an agreement they had with time. Also, Michael did not want to have long shows, for obvious reasons.

Also, they never reharsed with implementing the videos for Smooth, Thriller and Earth as we saw in the movie, those were edited in the movie, but they never reharsed using them, and it was still unclear how they would be used with the songs, especially Smooth Criminal.

Again, with the bulk of the show done, didn't seem that far off to coming together. Of course, I wasn't there, but for a show with so many numbers, it didn't seem farfetched to think with only 2 or 3 more on the list. And again, more than likely a lot of technical stuff couldn't be done UNTIL they got to London. Hence, why some of the shows had to be put back to March to allow for more rehearsal time in the O2.

-For the most part, Michael looked well, however this person did unfortunately confirm to me that there were days that something was "wrong" and everybody knew it. He worked with Michael in the past and Michael never wore sunglasses while reharsing the dark like that, especially since Michael in the past would always want to see how the lights looked and for that reason did not like using shades. But he said "don't expect them to talk about it on tv of course, same with me, I won't and I can't." He said that at first everybody thought Michael was just eccentric and stuff, especially the dancers, they were just excited to see him, but he said for those who knew him for many years, including him, started realizing alarming signs.

There are days when something is wrong with everybody. I honestly don't get how ppl seemed to think everything had to be always "right" with Michael all the time. The man was human. He was allowed to be disgruntled sometimes. Geez! And besides these concerts he had a lot of other outside things pressing on him. Remember AGE and Raymone and who knows what else? And about the glasses, we know he was going to Klein and possibly getting wrinkles dealt with. The glasses could have been doing double-duty, if you get my drift.

However, he said, this just shows how vulnerable Michael was and he does not like how people associate this behavior with something negative. He said "he went through so much poor thing, I perfectly understand why this was happening." Oh and btw, he said that some of the crew members started checking TMZ with their IPHONES to find out whether or not Michael had seen Dr. Klein during the day. It would usually warn them on what to expect when he showed up.

Okay, perhaps they did get my drift.

-Michael had fun when performing, it appeared as if it was what he needed, however off stage Michael did no look happy, he rarely interacted with the crew, other than Karen Faye and at times with Michael Bush. According to this person, Michael stayed as far as he could from Ortega, Payne and Phillips off stage, because he always felt he was being chased by them to do more, perform more and give more.

See, that conflicts with what another crew member said. (can't remember the name now and I need to wrap this up and get to the bank before it closes lol) But he said this was the first time Michael spent MORE time with his crew to say "hello" and let them know he was there. And in the movie, I see people like Payne and Holley always nearby to assist Michael with vocal direction or whathaveyou.

He said that the crew in general felt Ortega was being too demanding, especially when it was obvious nothing was ready on time. But they mostly felt Ortega was being pressured by Phillips, and that it was Phillips who was just going crazy because was in a position of losing everything with these shows.

I have no defense for Randy except to say, yes, the man's job was on the line. I can see him going bats*it crazy when he felt things were out of order. However, Kenny's job as a director of the shows was to be demanding. You can't "direct" people and be a softie. Sometimes it means getting in and on someone's ass to get them to do what needs to be done. I don't doubt he had to be tough at times. Afterall, this is the real world. I have never worked anywhere where someone didn't get their arse chewed out by the boss every now and then to get things done as they should be done...not necessarily to be pushy but simply to get the job done as it should be done.

-The day after the news came out that some fans claimed Michael told them he did not want to do 50 concerts, everyone was instructed not to talk to anybody from the media, not to let in anyone who was not authorized to attend reahrsals, especially fans. When Michael came in that day, the atmosphere was tense and he did not look happy at all. Before working that day, Phillips and Ortega met with Michael and, interestingly, with his bodyguards. They spoke for about 20 minutes, but once again this person could not hear what was being said. However everyone had the feeling Michael indeed did not want to do 50 shows and believed Michael did talk to those fans

You know, I believe them to some extent. I believe Michael had a reason for telling them that at that time. What his reason was, who knows? But does no one wonder why he didn't say anything all the weeks and months prior between the selling of the 50 shows and the end of May? And how come no one asked him whether he was up to it or not before then? It's my belief the ISH hit the fan about something and Michael became dissatisfied...and he considered backing out and doing only 10 as a form of protest. But that's only my theory. The issue is whether or not he remained dissatisfied or got back on board at some point when things took a turn for the better. Remember, the week before he died, everyone said something had changed and his rehearsals were phenomenal.

This is pretty much it. This guy said that it is a shame that Michael died while being extremely stressed out. He said that a lot of pressure was put on Michael, but the truth is that the concerts were not going to be ready not because of him, but because the there was simply not enough time to acocmplish all they had planned. He said he is sure Michael would have been 100% ready by July 13th, because "he did those songs hundreds of times before during his career, he knew exaclty what to do" but everything else around was not ready.

I beleive it was rushed, too. But it didn't look like things were too far off based on the movie.

He also says he personally felt Michael sometimes did not show up because he knew things were moving slowly and sort of felt disappointed. He was a perfectionist, and when things were obviosuly not going in the right direction, he would get frustrated and sort of lose interest, instead of becoming upset at someone. Yet they made him believe it was him, that things were moving slowly because of him. But this person told me that Michael had nothing to do with all the technical stuff, like lightings, fireworks etc, therefore it was not his fault, but he was the easy target.

I can roll with this as well. But it's interesting that this person feels MJ didn't show up becuz of disappointment and not becuz he was genuinely "ill".


Okay, that's all I have time for. Gotta run lol. No time to check for typos, quotings or ramblings. Hope it made sense. Peace.

 

[ellie09]

Why would this person talk so openly about aaaaall of this to a stranger ?

Agree.

I'm not saying that the story is all made up though. Ahh.. it's so confusing...

There's a lot of contradicting info in it...that man says Michael rehearsed only a few songs. On the other hand, we knew from the dancers that Michael was rehearsing 10 hours a day without even a break...
...
I just want all speculations to stop already. I'm tired of all that coming new stories.. I just want Michael :no:

 

[gerryevans]

I can believe everything in that article and it still changes nothing. To me it sounds pretty typical for such a large scale production. :dntknw:

Exacty!!!! What entertainment production is EVER smooth sailing and without some backstage drama?

And what movie EVER shows any elements but its best "takes"? That's why after a movie is done, there are months of editing and splicing it all together.

That Kenny Ortega put this documentary all together in about 3 months is amazing.

 

[Andrew Ryan]

I believe it...

 

[MJJOS]

I actually feel quite bad for both Kenny and Michael here. Having worked together on his groundbreaking tours in the past, I am sure they know well how to work together and put on a show. I find it quite annoying to have Randy Phillips to be coming in a bugging them about it.

 

[riviera1992]

I can believe every single thing this person says, and also see the other side and whole picture.

I love me some MJ, but also understand Phillips had to be under the gun with his employers. He had proposed a budget for one amount and it had tripled!

From his standpoint, this show had to happen.

From Michael's standpoint, this show had to happen. He had pressing reasons for commiting to it in the first place.

But I think EVERYONE overreached.

The announcement made back in March and start date planned could have been met IF the scale had remained what it was initially projected to be. But it ballooned into this fantastical spectacular that seriously changed the gameplan for all involved.

I have no doubt everyone felt the overwhelming pressure as the date grew closer.

I have no doubt that after everything Michael had been put through with the trial, starting with Martin Bashir's despicable malicious documentary and betrayal that led up to it, that his core was forever damaged and unsure.

I have no doubt that TII reflects the positives versus negatives.
But quite frankly, I don't care. Michael is gone. I will forever miss him and TII has given me comfort in seeing him doing his thing, even catching him smiling doing it.

I'm going to see it for the 2nd time today, and will see it a third before it comes out on DVD. This is all I have now of his last performance and I treasure it.

Agree 100%
$400 MILLIONS IN DEBT. Those 50 shows HAD to happen + tour + DVDs etc. Get this through your brain people. All debts MJ, AEG, O2 EVERYBODY had to be paid one way or another. That's life. Get over it.

So what if Michael missed rehearsals. He was way ahead of all of them learning their parts. Proof's in the movie when he tries to get the guy to play his song just like the record.

My first husband was a musician. They had to learn three songs a week. Everybody had a tape to learn at home and they get together once a week to put it all together in an hour or two except when this pot head of a guitar player hadn't done his home work and it would take the whole afternoon to rehearse. My husband would come home pissed off that he had to teach the guitar player all his lines for back vocals and his notes in certain songs.

So I don't think MJ missing rehearsal was an issue as far as the progression of the show. He had to get himself in physical shape (looks and endurance) and the rest of them had to learn their notes, their choregraphies and timing to be up to par with Michael just having to step in and do his thing.

As far as Phillips and Ortega, the pressure from AEG corporate had to be enormous and tempers had to fly sometimes but the movie shows Kenny being very respectful and protective of Michael.

They all had another two weeks to rehearse to get the show together and make changes if need be. It's called ADAPT AND CHANGE. JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN.

 

[MissAlxC]

* enters thread, starts reading posts. *

* reads first post, sees

Karen Faye wrote on her facebook

.. however off stage Michael did no look happy, he rarely interacted with the crew, other than Karen Faye and at times with Michael Bush.

* stops reading post, leaves thread. *

 

[KenYeSeeChesss]

And I remember Mrfuture, too. He seems to have the luck of coming across people who had some dealings with MJ and tells interesting stories. I remember the one about the "chalky white hand reaching for muscle magazines left my a hotel courier outside Michael's hotel door." Lawd.

Mrfuture should never be taken seriously. I saw him post again recently and was wondering when we will be treated to his bullsh!t once again. I see it didn't take him long. He adds these little details to make his stories believable and all the gullible fans are fooled. Shame on him for making up a story about MJ and Kenny like this.

 

[KenYeSeeChesss]

Interesting story about the shows from the "inside of Mrfuture's head" ... now that should be this thread's title.

 

[elmari]

Thanks to the OP for the post, but I am going to be honest and say that I find it very strange that someone on the 'inside' would be telling a complete stranger so many details about what was 'really' happening inside the TII rehearsals. I am going to wait for more information to reach my final verdict on everything. Unfortunately, I do believe that we are never going to know the truth, the whole truth about what went on the last four months of Michael's life. . . unless Michael kept a journal/diary. Then we can know his side, which is the most important. I just wanted to address a few points from the original post that I've been thinking about.

I do believe that Michael did not care at all for Randy Phillips. Randy was Michael's manager for like a day back in the 1990s and screwed up some deal for Michael or something like that. So I am surprised that he fought to do these concerts for Michael. Also, as for Randy being arrogant to Michael. . . . umm, it wasn't like Randy was doing a favor for Michael by getting him this gig. Michael had so many opportunities on his plate including the AGE proposal and the Las Vegas proposal (or was that a rumor?). What I am saying is that Michael chose the AEG deal amongst others, it wasn't his only option. But IDK. . . maybe Randy is just an arrogant person. I don't like him at all and totally believe he is hiding so much. Also, his butt was on the line with his boss if these concerts were going to be a bust. . . so more incentive for him to push Michael.

The Kenny/Travis/Michael tension. . . We have to remember that Michael brought in Kenny. Michael was searching for a project that he and Kenny could work on together for at least two years, so it's obvious that Michael wanted to work with Kenny. The same goes for Travis who has worked with Michael since the 'Remember the Time' video. These are long time collaborators of Michael and Michael brought them onto the project because these are two people who he trusted and who know how to work with Michael. Now, it is Kenny's job to direct and if he needed to get Michael on track, then he needed to get him on track. It seems like Michael's creativity was exploding and he wanted to incorporate all his ideas into his show, but that meant more money needing to be spent. Kenny already sort of dropped the ball when he allowed the expenses of the show to almost triple the original budget. I can see a lot of pressure being put on Kenny by AEG to put a leash on Michael, which if it happened, Michael was going to resent. But what I am saying is that Kenny and Travis are people that Michael chose to work with on TII. I am sure both Kenny and Travis wanted Michael to be happy and to put on a successful show because in my heart I fell like they genuinely love him.

Next, the pressure. I do believe that everyone was under immense stress and pressure to put on these shows. I do not doubt that Michael wanted to do these shows, to get back on stage to do what he loved, to give back to the fans who have supported him all his life. I do feel he wanted to give his fans a special gift and he was going to do it with a bang. But yes, there was a lot of pressure on Michael. I can also see Michael being insecure and unsure of himself, which breaks my heart. If there is one thing that Michael had always been confident in, it was his ability to sing, dance and entertain at his best. This poor man had been through hell and back for no valid reason and he wanted to salvage his career that he sacrificed his entire life for. But Michael has always been an insecure man about one thing or another in his life, so I can see that insecurity over his comeback can be haunting him. That's why I think he said he didn't want to do the 50 shows. Not because he couldn't physically do them, but because he was psyching himself out through his insecurities. It just sounded like he was getting scared of all the expectations everyone was putting on him and he wanted out. BUT, that very well could have just been an episode he was having that day, meaning he was just having a bad day.

There is probably a little bit of truth and a lot of lies in all the stories that we've been hearing. In the end, what the TII movie effectively shows is that Michael still had that spirit, that umph, that ability to entertain like no one else on the planet. He still had IT. To me, he looked happy to be back on stage, being creative and creating, and getting back to work. For that I am thankful that he got to do that before he died.

 

[wendy2004]

Thanks to the OP for the post, but I am going to be honest and say that I find it very strange that someone on the 'inside' would be telling a complete stranger so many details about what was 'really' happening inside the TII rehearsals. I am going to wait for more information to reach my final verdict on everything. Unfortunately, I do believe that we are never going to know the truth, the whole truth about what went on the last four months of Michael's life. . . unless Michael kept a journal/diary. Then we can know his side, which is the most important.

However, I do believe that Michael did not care at all for Randy Phillips. Randy was Michael's manager for like a day back in the 1990s and screwed up some deal for Michael or something like that. So I am surprised that he fought to do these concerts for Michael. Also, as for Randy being arrogant to Michael. . . . umm, it wasn't like Randy was doing a favor for Michael by getting him this gig. Michael had so many opportunities on his plate including the AGE proposal and the Las Vegas proposal (or was that a rumor?). What I am saying is that Michael chose the AEG deal amongst others, it wasn't his only option. But IDK. . . maybe Randy is just an arrogant person. I don't like him at all and totally believe he is hiding so much. Also, his butt was on the line with his boss if these concerts were going to be a bust. . . so more incentive for him to push Michael.

The Kenny/Travis/Michael tension. . . We have to remember that Michael brought in Kenny. Michael was searching for a project that he and Kenny could work on together for at least two years, so it's obvious that Michael wanted to work with Kenny. The same goes for Travis who has worked with Michael since the 'Remember the Time' video. These are long time collaborators of Michael and Michael brought them onto the project because these are two people who he trusted and who know how to work with Michael. Now, it is Kenny's job to direct and if he needed to get Michael on track, then he needed to get him on track. It seems like Michael's creativity was exploding and he wanted to incorporate all his ideas into his show, but that meant more money needing to be spent. Kenny already sort of dropped the ball when he allowed the the expenses of the show triple the original budget. I can see a lot of pressure being put on Kenny by AEG to put a leash on Michael, which if it happened, Michael was going to resent. But what I am saying is that Kenny and Travis are people that Michael chose to work with on TII. I am sure both Kenny and Travis wanted Michael to be happy and to put on a successful show because in my heart I fell like they genuinely love him.

Next, the pressure. I do believe that everyone was under immense stress and pressure to put on these shows. I do not doubt that Michael wanted to do these shows, to get back on stage to do what he loved, to give back to the fans who have supported him all his life. I do feel he wanted to give his fans a special gift and he was going to do it with a bang. But yes, there was a lot of pressure on Michael. I can also see Michael being insecure and unsure of himself, which breaks my heart. If there is one thing that Michael had always been confident in, it was his ability to sing, dance and entertain at his best. This poor man had been through hell and back for no valid reason and he wanted to salvage his career that he sacrificed his entire life for. But Michael has always been an insecure man about one thing or another in his life, so I can see that insecurity over his comeback can be haunting him. That's why I think he said he didn't want to do the 50 shows. Not because he couldn't physically do them, but because he was psyching himself out through his insecurities. It just sounded like he was getting scared of all the expectations everyone was putting on him and he wanted out. BUT, that very well could have just been an episode he was having that day, meaning he was just having a bad day.

There is probably a little bit of truth and a lot of lies in all the stories that we've been hearing. In the end, what the TII movie effectively shows is that Michael still had that spirit, that umph, that ability to entertain like no one else on the planet. He still had IT. To me, he looked happy to be back on stage, being creative and creating, and getting back to work. For that I am thankful that he got to do that before he died.

Well said! Great post! :flowers:

 

[shimar]

Exacty!!!! What entertainment production is EVER smooth sailing and without some backstage drama?

Exactly!!

A week before Phantom of the Opera opened, massive chaos happened. The set broke - other massive mishaps happened with the music, everything was falling apart.

All the drama that happens backstage IS A PART of SHOW BUSINESS.

There are supposed to be disagreements, technical snafus, costuming issues, etc., even MINUTES before a show goes on.

And a true professional rolls with the flow. They make sure the show goes on NO MATTER WHAT.

Michael knew this, Kenny knew this, AEG knew this.

I don't see WTF is the big deal about. This happens all the time in show business.

 

[ivy]

- I too find it quite unrealistic that someone from the "inside", who is under contract and should not say something negative would tell this much information to a stranger and additionally will say that it is okay to post it online. It screams fake there.

- How many people on the TII crew had worked with MJ for 20 years? I think this person will be easy to identify as well.

- "he rarely interacted with the crew, other than Karen Faye and at times with Michael Bush". Yeah right of course.. I think this person or source is really Karen Faye or one of her personalities .. I would believe that MJ did not like Randy Phillips but only Faye and Bush is a real stretch imo. I feel like MJ is close to/ friends with Ortega, Payne and Braden as well.

- I watched the movie to me MJ, dancers and the band looked more than ready. The costumes, lights etc could be ready in the time period that they had. These kind of things start slowly in the beginning but then pick the pace up ( what I am trying to say is planning, designing, building could take 2 months - and you would see nothing- but it could be put together in 3 days etc).

- Anything else mentioned is very routine stuff that happens at rehersals. I worked with a band (not related to MJ in anyway) and know the process. In my personal experience with that band it seemed like we were trying to get ready and finish everything till the last minute (and we were), we were still tweaking and adding stuff even though we have already done 3-4 shows and the lead singer of that band almost had a issue with the earpiece every night... So really all the other stuff mentioned looks like normal, routine rehersal stuff to me.

 

[billyblues]

I actually believe this. It's sad and many fans won't accept it, I know, but it makes sense and I can see it being true, at least to a degree.

We may never know the entire truth, but to me it feels like they always have been hiding something... Like if they were trying to make it look like everything was fine and ready but at the same time they were not so sure about what to say to the media and fans...

It's sad.

 

[Samtkaninchen]

- I too find it quite unrealistic that someone from the "inside", who is under contract and should not say something negative would tell this much information to a stranger and additionally will say that it is okay to post it online. It screams fake there.

- How many people on the TII crew had worked with MJ for 20 years? I think this person will be easy to identify as well.

This is the point that stuck me right away.

Do you know how many people worked on the set? AEG will never find out.

On the set there were not many people enough not to find out, I am sure of this.

 

[emmah24]

This is all very possible. I hope others have the decency to come forward and expose the other truth that is being hidden from us.

 

[DJ Spins the sounds]

I kinda agree that Kenny came across very sharp at times and sounded under pressure at times, his tone of voice sometimes when he spoke to MJ, especially when MJ didn't like the inner ear pieces, very patronising. I can't beleive that they were due to fly only 8 days from the 26th June and set up in London? You would think by 24th June they would have had costumes produced etc and at least performed a dress rehearsal.

I'm sure there is a part dress rehearsal from the 25th June, that I don't think has been shown in the film, I guess it was too close to MJ passing to be shown and probably too painful to watch. What I don't get is where did they get the This Is It silhouette from, It looks very recent plus the poster does reveal a glove and hat. I would love to know where those pics have come from?

P.S I would love to see the complete rehearsal when he's wearing the gold glitter pants, he looks really good in those clips, especially from SC, plus he's wearing the hat!

 

[emmah24]

For the most part Kenny didnt actually bother me. Theres nothing wrong with creative differences, he was brought in to direct, and that includes Michael too. A lot is being said about the earpiece thing but it showed that they were trying to work through these things. Maybe slightly condescending towards Michael but the pressure was on all of them, its inevitable.

 

[xthunderx2]

Thank you for this thread..IMHO...I believe that this is the kind of stuff that The FF of TINI are talking about....this only confirms it more for me......I already believed them before....How could any reasonable fan of Michael's doubt all the stuff as it is now coming out even more....Michael was under to much pressure.....and we new Randy Phillips and Kenny ortega were involved in there somewhere....This person in this thread like the TINI folks has absolutely nothing to gain.

 

[claudiomiami]

WE WILL never know for sure... it's hearsay... regadless of good source or not... since they couldn't hear whatever they were saying, it's pure speculation and "mental picture" of what could it be etc... It's because of michael, that all his concerts were sold out, so, how can 1 person can think of pressuring michael in any way? i don't buy it, but that's me. Feel free to believe whatever you want to believe.

 

[emmah24]

Randy Phillips is the one I'm most concerned with. He had to convince at lot of bigwigs at AEG to take a gamble with Michael, he had his professional reputation at stake, he HAD to deliver. So he had reasons for turning a blind eye to the warning signs and continuing to pressure Michael and the team.

Kenny, well he comes across as extremely passionate, enthusiastic and I bet he was also getting it in the neck by Phillips to make sure Michael delivered.

I still think there is LOTS we dont know about.

 

[Phereinice]

What kind of pressure was Murray under to lose his mind and put that insane amount of propofol in Michael? Lets not lose perspective.
Michael was many times under way more stressful situations than this in his life. I don't think he lost weight because of rehearsals pressure or neglijence but Murray's medication.
No one had no interest to stop these concerts happening; of them all it seems that Michael would have been in the smallest trouble if all this didn't happen, credibility or carrierwise. Let's not underestimate him again, I see a man in charge, alert and at the peak of his creativity. Others couldn't keep the rythm with him and thats what stressed them. He was the leader, present or not.
blah am getting upset lol

 

[TomV87]

Everyone was under pressure on TII! When Kenny was being sharp with Michael he was only trying to make sure these shows happened!

Its hard to know what to believe... there is so much conflicting information!

Maybe the truth will come out years from now, from people who really knew what went on.. and cant say at the moment for obvious reasons

 

[qbee]

He said that a lot of pressure was put on Michael, but the truth is that the concerts were not going to be ready not because of him, but because the there was simply not enough time to acocmplish all they had planned.

He said he is sure Michael would have been 100% ready by July 13th, because "he did those songs hundreds of times before during his career, he knew exaclty what to do" but everything else around was not ready.
He also says he personally felt Michael sometimes did not show up because he knew things were moving slowly.

VERY Interesting according to this person who posted and told this story
Michael was in good shape 100 % ready and able to perform but the rest of the production was not ready.
did you over look that part ??

Doesnt mean they would'nt be by the time concert went live

The whole story is actually suspicious and I dont belive it for one minute even though
I do believe Michael was ready willing an able to perform _There is just to much back stabbing
and sordid gossip for this to be from a close MJ insider who worked with MJ _sounds more like a
Karen faye fan with an Agenda

I seen nothing that would cast a bad light on kenny but they were sure trying
to show him in a bad light (didnt work) and karan Fay in a good light and knock every one else.
by saying Karen was the only one Michael would communicate with _ Thats BS and you know it
Hmmmm (This is sooo transparent ) give me a break

That is what shows the True agenda and where this story grew comes from
The person who wrote it is a Karen faye supporter on her face book - IMAGINE THAT

I doubt the originator of this story ever spoke to anyone
It sound like garbage and vicious gossip and personal
attacks - that I doubt someone on the inside would tell
that to a complete stranger to post publically

I find it UNBELIEVABLE for many reasons

 

[MissAlxC]

Whatever. A bunch of people who make accusations on the internet, without having the guts to speak out and tell the world what was really going on (if there was something disturbing going on; I don't think it was, but well).

I'm sick of Karen Faye and her Facebook posts. Go to some detectives, woman, if you really know something that could help the investigation! And it's the same with this "insider".

Please, they are just speculating! And they are doing this on the internet, to get fans on their side, because when it comes to this subject, fans are fervent and sometimes impulsive. They're trying to make them have doubts, argue, fight etc. No one aware of such situation (I mean no one sane) would rather go to the fans and make a scandal, than go to the authorities, to the people investigating this, who are professionals.

In the end, these two will make it look like the fans were the ones making the accusations ;D. Wait and you'll see.
I'll never support some cowards. Both of them were there the whole time, ok? If something was really going on and they just sat there and didn't do anything, they're as guilty as Randy or Kenny or whoever else they accuse.

The day I see Karen Faye and this "insider" speaking out, making all these statements in front of some detectives or a judge, maybe I'll believe them. Until then, they're .. nothing.

 

[crazy4umjackson]

All this story seems like speculation from your source. After having seen the movie twice since now, my opinion is that despite all the rumors the show seemed quite ready. Michael was obviously ready, dancers were ready, the band, the videos, the clothes (even though they didn't yet rehearse in them, zombie costumes were ready and rehearsed though), everything. 2 weeks plus is just enough time for final dress rehearsals and a couple of illusions if you ask me (like the opening 'light man').
As for other stuff this source mentions, glasses and earphones don't mean a thing imo nor did I see any hatred or misbehavior between Michael, Ortega or crew in the film. I choose not to believe these stories cause, in my experience as a fan, when it comes to MJ, no third party could ever portray the truth about him (even some times when they meant well and said nice stuff about him - not even his own family!)

Yea same goes for me. I didnt feel any tension between Mike and Ortega. Do u remember the scene when MJ is hugging everyone, so he hugs the dancers, just a casual hug, but then when he hugs Ortega, he really gives him a HUG. And he had a huge smile on him. Ofcourse there must have been a few tensions between him and Ortega thats inevitable. I am in such dilemma i dont know what to think of all this.

 

[AGB]

I'm not going to sit here and automatically assume that they are lying. Why? because it isn't fair and they are not here in this thread to defend themselves. Also there have been many times where fans have passed information on and they have gotten attacked for it and called all sorts of names etc and then later it turns out it was true but they aren't given any apology. I know some people are basing their responses on the movie footage but let's be honest, the movie has been edited, they wouldn't show moments where there was proper animosity because they were told to make the film as positive as possible and not cast any negative light on things so of course if there was something going on then of course it would not be evident in the film.

I don't know if this story is true or not because I wasn't there, I was not at the rehearsals but I'm keeping an open mind because some of it does sound plausible.

 

[earthlyme]

To tell the truth, I did tear up and cry in some parts of the parts of the movie. But there was Something missing form Michael...I dont know what, but something was verymuch Missing...

The funny thing about Ortega is that in the media he says, Michael was a close friend of his.but if you see the movie, He's sucking up to him...(No offence O.) BUT HE WAS!!!

GOD will get the truth out... and then we'll do something about it!!!