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Live Stream: Michael Jackson - The Celebration of The King of Pop's Birthday (8.29.24)

I went to this in person. It was.... not great. Had I known we were just going to watch low quality social media videos from the fucking Olympics I would have stayed in bed. The stories from Rich and Tone were cool to hear, and I did get to meet Michael Bush... but that was about it for the positives. No special performance from the cast this year because of enhancements to the show they were working on. Prince couldn't be there, nor could the nephews or any other family. Other fans were pretty unhappy, too, from what I heard. I also heard the brunch was not great.

The "party" at 5:30 wasn't that much better either. There were cupcakes and a really huge, cool cake, and Branca was there to meet people. Bush was there again, too. But again... that was it. It lasted like half an hour and then they quietly kicked everyone out so they could let the 7PM show crowd in. No speech from Branca, no singing Happy Birthday or anything like that. I was pretty let down by that, but at least the show itself was great and the crowd was super into it. Like Karen said in the livestream they added enhancements but it's been so long since I've watched the show I couldn't really tell what was new, so like... what did they do that was so significant they couldn't do something unique for the birthday stuff this year?

Don't get me wrong, the show is still excellent, and I'm glad I got to finally watch it again. I'm mainly just disappointed that the birthday stuff didn't live up to the hype I got from previous years.

TL;DR I'm never going to Vegas for Michael's birthday ever again unless it's guaranteed to actually be decent.
 
Amaya said:
I went to this in person. It was.... not great. Had I known we were just going to watch low quality social media videos from the fucking Olympics I would have stayed in bed. The stories from Rich and Tone were cool to hear, and I did get to meet Michael Bush... but that was about it for the positives. No special performance from the cast this year because of enhancements to the show they were working on. Prince couldn't be there, nor could the nephews or any other family. Other fans were pretty unhappy, too, from what I heard. I also heard the brunch was not great.

The "party" at 5:30 wasn't that much better either. There were cupcakes and a really huge, cool cake, and Branca was there to meet people. Bush was there again, too. But again... that was it. It lasted like half an hour and then they quietly kicked everyone out so they could let the 7PM show crowd in. No speech from Branca, no singing Happy Birthday or anything like that. I was pretty let down by that, but at least the show itself was great and the crowd was super into it. Like Karen said in the livestream they added enhancements but it's been so long since I've watched the show I couldn't really tell what was new, so like... what did they do that was so significant they couldn't do something unique for the birthday stuff this year?

Don't get me wrong, the show is still excellent, and I'm glad I got to finally watch it again. I'm mainly just disappointed that the birthday stuff didn't live up to the hype I got from previous years.

TL;DR I'm never going to Vegas for Michael's birthday ever again unless it's guaranteed to actually be decent.
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at least you didn't see a speech from branca.. be positive about that.

But seriously..
why is anyone paying money for estate projects when we all know how disappointing it will be by looking at the past..
 
and why is the estate still doing ANYTHING with the fraudster michael bush??? it blows my mind!!! he faked hundreds of MJ signatures!!!! how can they just simply ignore that??? and the fans as well!!!!???

 
kai said:
at least you didn't see a speech from branca.. be positive about that.

But seriously..
why is anyone paying money for estate projects when we all know how disappointing it will be by looking at the past..
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LOL true. A speech might have been cringe. But it was just... weird how he was there and then gone. Has he always done that at these things?

Although I wouldn't say MJ One is disappointing. Now if I had to pay for the show ticket and then pay like an extra $50 for the birthday stuff, then I would be really pissed and feel super ripped off.
Glanni said:
and why is the estate still doing ANYTHING with the fraudster michael bush??? it blows my mind!!! he faked hundreds of MJ signatures!!!! how can they just simply ignore that??? and the fans as well!!!!???

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Not gonna lie I don't think I knew about this... or I did but forgot. Huh...
 
That really sucks and I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy yourself. You’d think every year they’d go all out but they didn’t…

I saw the live stream and it wasn’t that great either!! I enjoyed the swimmers that did the Smooth Criminal routine and the stories from the guys were good too.

I keep thinking maybe they’ll go all out next year since the film will have already premiered by then

And f*ck branca! He’s a weirdooooo
 
Youwannabestartinsomethin said:
That really sucks and I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy yourself. You’d think every year they’d go all out but they didn’t…

I saw the live stream and it wasn’t that great either!! I enjoyed the swimmers that did the Smooth Criminal routine and the stories from the guys were good too.

I keep thinking maybe they’ll go all out next year since the film will have already premiered by then

And f*ck branca! He’s a weirdooooo
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I wouldn't say I didn't fully enjoy myself. Was just disappointing to finally go and it was... meh. The kids and nephews not being there was a surprise because they always seem to be there, but talking with one of the employees at the show/store for the show, she had heard that it's getting hard for them to come to these events because it's a reminder that Michael isn't here anymore. She had erroneously said it's because the show is in Vegas and he died in Vegas, but he actually died in LA so I dunno where she got that info from. Granted, he did live in Vegas towards the end of his life, and the show likely wouldn't exist if he was still alive... So maybe they just weren't up to it this year cause it was too emotionally taxing this time? Not to mention all of them are grown adults with their own lives/careers and stuff, so I can get them not being here.

Normally I'm not a "look on the bright side" type of person but I'm doing that here because there was some good and gave me some bit of comfort, and I really don't feel like spiraling into a depressive episode lol. Meeting Bush was cool (he did say a revised version of his book would be out next year, so assuming that's true...), the fans were all nice, and the cupcake was good (the decorative pearls were a bit hard, though). I also got compliments on my outfit (fedora, CTE shirt, MJ One t-shirt) so that was fun. Most importantly of all, the show itself was fantastic and people were really into it. Maybe the birthday stuff will be better next year with the movie being out by then, but I dunno if I want to risk it. Not to mention the obvious: Las Vegas is hot as balls in August lol. It's a shame Michael's birthday wasn't in like November or something.

Another cool positive tidbit: I spoke with another employee at the Michael Bush signing who said that, out of all the Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas, MJ One is the most requested one to work at. There's a long waiting list to get in and the only way a spot opens up is if someone gets injured or quits, and no one in the current cast wants to quit. The fact that these performers want to be part of this show so badly says a lot, I think.
 
Amaya said:
I wouldn't say I didn't fully enjoy myself. Was just disappointing to finally go and it was... meh. The kids and nephews not being there was a surprise because they always seem to be there, but talking with one of the employees at the show/store for the show, she had heard that it's getting hard for them to come to these events because it's a reminder that Michael isn't here anymore. She had erroneously said it's because the show is in Vegas and he died in Vegas, but he actually died in LA so I dunno where she got that info from. Granted, he did live in Vegas towards the end of his life, and the show likely wouldn't exist if he was still alive... So maybe they just weren't up to it this year cause it was too emotionally taxing this time? Not to mention all of them are grown adults with their own lives/careers and stuff, so I can get them not being here.

Normally I'm not a "look on the bright side" type of person but I'm doing that here because there was some good and gave me some bit of comfort, and I really don't feel like spiraling into a depressive episode lol. Meeting Bush was cool (he did say a revised version of his book would be out next year, so assuming that's true...), the fans were all nice, and the cupcake was good (the decorative pearls were a bit hard, though). I also got compliments on my outfit (fedora, CTE shirt, MJ One t-shirt) so that was fun. Most importantly of all, the show itself was fantastic and people were really into it. Maybe the birthday stuff will be better next year with the movie being out by then, but I dunno if I want to risk it. Not to mention the obvious: Las Vegas is hot as balls in August lol. It's a shame Michael's birthday wasn't in like November or something.

Another cool positive tidbit: I spoke with another employee at the Michael Bush signing who said that, out of all the Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas, MJ One is the most requested one to work at. There's a long waiting list to get in and the only way a spot opens up is if someone gets injured or quits, and no one in the current cast wants to quit. The fact that these performers want to be part of this show so badly says a lot, I think.
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I completely get you. From the children’s side it must be hard to come every year so I understand that.

Looool not her saying Mike died in Vegas when he didn’t 😂

I’m glad it wasn’t all bad considering the circumstances. I was kinda shocked it wasn’t a packed out crowd I thought it would’ve been sold out or something.
Oooo! Nice! I’m sure you looked very nice ☺️

I’m glad the show was fun thoughhh! That’s excitinggg!

Yeah I really do think his birthday celebrations might be better since the film will be out but fingers crossed 😫😭

Wow!! I didn’t know that regarding cirque du soleil!! I’ve never actually gone to one so to hear that people want to work at the MJ one speaks volumes.

That man really was the nations treasure. I still kinda find it surreal that that man was real because he was just so good! Sucks that he’s gone :(
 
Youwannabestartinsomethin said:
I’m glad it wasn’t all bad considering the circumstances. I was kinda shocked it wasn’t a packed out crowd I thought it would’ve been sold out or something.
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The show itself was sold out from what I could tell (the 7PM one at least). It was definitely packed in there and the crowd was pretty hyped. The short party shortly before the 7PM show had plenty of people too. The Q&A at noon was the tiny crowd; there were maybe 20-30 people there? I actually recognized at least two people from other social media posts (Wendy and... some older guy I saw in German in Venice's videos but I don't remember his name), and Santana Jackson (the MJ tribute artist that also does pro wrestling on the side) was there too but it didn't completely click in my head that it was him when I saw him lol. Had I realized it I would have said hi.
xscape guy 2003 said:
Can anybody enlighten me who is Karen? Is she part of the estate team?
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She's the old white lady you saw on stage in the live stream. Not to be confused with Karen Faye. She was at the previous year's thing too and the ones before that.

I'm back home now... I'm trying to stay positive about the trip but there was so much negative stuff (not just the MJ birthday snafu), including one I just discovered on my way home that really brought me down. I want a do-over but I can't get one because I can't change the past, and it fucking sucks. Oh well.
 
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xscape guy 2003 said:
Can anybody enlighten me who is Karen? Is she part of the estate team?
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Karen Langford has worked for MJ since the 80s. She's credited as "archivist" in the Another Part of Me MTV Bad Tour special.
 
MJbr2 said:
Karen Langford has worked for MJ since the 80s. She's credited as "archivist" in the Another Part of Me MTV Bad Tour special.
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At least we can blame her for not having Bad Tour concerts then
 
Amaya said:
The show itself was sold out from what I could tell (the 7PM one at least). It was definitely packed in there and the crowd was pretty hyped. The short party shortly before the 7PM show had plenty of people too. The Q&A at noon was the tiny crowd; there were maybe 20-30 people there? I actually recognized at least two people from other social media posts (Wendy and... some older guy I saw in German in Venice's videos but I don't remember his name), and Santana Jackson (the MJ tribute artist that also does pro wrestling on the side) was there too but it didn't completely click in my head that it was him when I saw him lol. Had I realized it I would have said hi.
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Ooo!! Fair enough! Seems like more people were going to the show than the Q&A which makes sense. Ooo!!! That's so cool!! I get what you mean! But it still good that you got to see them :)
 
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