Was Michael tricked into "performing" at the WMA 2006?

[MattyJam]

I've never understood what the hell that WATW "performance" was all about. I was wondering if any of you could bring some clarity about what exactly happened that night.

The media and organisers of the show were hyping it up as a comeback performance but when MJ was asked on the red carpet if he was going to be performing he declined and said it was a misunderstanding.

So why did Lindsay Lohan introduce him by saying "... and now performing for the first time in several years..." ??

The whole thing was beyond shambolic. I can't begin to imagine what must've been going through Michael's mind that night.

And of course the media conveniently chose to ignore the fact that MJ denied it was a performance and the British press were reporting about his "disasterous" comeback attempt.

If I were Michael I would've been pretty pissed off with the organisers of the WMA that year.

 

[StaceyMJ]

God Bless him. He so graciously put up with a lot of BS.

 

[adry_mjj]

That whole day was a nightmare and a prime example of how Michael's name was always used by these kind of events to sell tickets and get publicity.

I agree !

 

[Thriller_MJ]

I remember watching GMTV the morning after, and there were fans on who were saying we all wanted MJ to do Thriller and that we were disappointed with WATW, there were headlines and stuff like "He's Bad, Really Really Bad" e.t.c.

 

[Sophielo]

I remember watching GMTV the morning after, and there were fans on who were saying we all wanted MJ to do Thriller and that we were disappointed with WATW, there were headlines and stuff like "He's Bad, Really Really Bad" e.t.c.

The headlines were all complete BS. Some newspaper even tried to say that people booed MJ because he didn't perform Thriller. Like, I was there. There was no booing, in fact I couldn't hear myself for days because of all the screaming. Plus MJ performing Thriller was only a rumour flying around that we hoped was true, nothing was ever confirmed. It was a 'I heard he might be doing Thriller' kinda thing.

 

[PaceMioDolceCuore]

Well, wasn't there some debate about this thing having being disorganized? I thought I heard something about that in connection with Mrs Bain? I thought the whole We Are The World Part looked strange since he didn't really seem to be interested in singing, period. Seemed odd.

I wasn't there but people obviously were screaming their heads off in excitement just to plain see him.

 

[Thriller_MJ]

The headlines were all complete BS. Some newspaper even tried to say that people booed MJ because he didn't perform Thriller. Like, I was there. There was no booing, in fact I couldn't hear myself for days because of all the screaming. Plus MJ performing Thriller was only a rumour flying around that we hoped was true, nothing was ever confirmed. It was a 'I heard he might be doing Thriller' kinda thing.

I know talk about ludicrous! there was not one booo herd in the whole of Earls Court when MJ walked on just show's you what the media will do to try and bring a good man down.

 

[ForeverKOP]

All the headlines say he was boo'ed that night...when I went to go watch the performance, there was no booing, all I heard was cheering! How can they just say that and get away with it? The evidence is right there in black and white, yet they continued to print that lie...0_0

 

[Sophielo]

And I never cared about him not singing much, I was seeing Michael Jackson, that was good enough for me! He could have just sat down on the stage and said nothing, it still would have been one of the best nights of my life!

 

[Rockin.]

On the way in MJ said he was not performing..and he looks like he means it..

[youtube]dFiyoMOPgLI[/youtube]

So maybe he got inside and someone asked him to and he didn't want to let people down.

And yes.. the media said he was booed when he was on stage. Total lie. How do they get away with it?! The clip is on youtube and there is no booing, only cheering.

 

[Ashtanga]

And I never cared about him not singing much, I was seeing Michael Jackson, that was good enough for me! He could have just sat down on the stage and said nothing, it still would have been one of the best nights of my life!

:agree:

Michael just be standing there...... and looking at Michael, would surely be the thing most unforgettable and magical the world. :wild: :wub:

 

[sharon007]

I was there at the WMA in 2006 and to be honest it was badly organised and seemed to be rushed. Maybe Michael wasnt planning to perform and then just came out at the last minute. BTW I remember he threw his jacket out to the crowd and it was ripped by fans some sold parts of it on ebay.

 

[moonstreet]

lets get this straight. The rumors about Michael performing started on the World Music Awards official site when they listed him as a performer not just as an Award recipient. Romain Bain refused to deny or conform this, so the rumors grew and grew. When Michael turned up in London fans asked him about the performance and he kept saying he wasn't performing and was only accepting the award. Even on the red carpet, on the the way into the awards, with Romain beside him, he again denied performing when asked by the media.

The whole WATW shambles occured cos thw organisers basically pushed him onto the stage. I WAS AT THE FRONT ROW AND SAW THIS!! The original plan was for just the childrens choir to sing, but the organisers just couldnt resit the chance of Michael perfoming at their show.

From where I was at the front row, I saw the curtain being pulled aside, a mic being given to Michael and him basically being told just go onstage. He had no clue as to what was going on. By that stage, being Michael, he just went along with it. It wasnt rehearesed or planned, He had no idea when or where to exit the stage. I saw him searching the pit area for the stage manager, and asking "where do I exit", and he follows where the person points to and says "over there, ok" .

Yes there was alot of booing during the show, all from people wanting to see Michael. The worst of the booing happened AFTER Michael had been presented with the award. Rihanna came onstage and began her performance, while Michael was still onstage at the poduim area. Thats why people were booing, cos no one wanted to see Rihanna, everyone wanted to see Michael.

It was after Rihanna, that the WATW fiasco happened.

The whole awards show was a total mess. Everything from the layout of the website, the PR before and after the show, to tickets, to the organisation and planning on the actual day. The host, Lindsey Lohan, couldn't read the auto cue, and disappeared halfway though the show, as she had an accident backstage. There were long pauses between set changes and performances, and thats all before the mess with Michael

 

[Donathan]

I heard a lot of fans were OISSED... They got to see him for like a minute, and then he was gone.... I'm sure that it was a bad publicity stunt, not on his own fault... Damn PR of MJ's!

 

[moonstreet]

I heard a lot of fans were OISSED... They got to see him for like a minute, and then he was gone.... I'm sure that it was a bad publicity stunt, not on his own fault... Damn PR of MJ's!

the only ones who were, were the ones who were not on the forums or at the hotel, as the online fan communites and the hundreds of fans at the hotel all knew that Michael was not performing, and were soo soo happy just to see him smile and speak when he got the award. None of us were expecting him to perform, and it was just the casual fans who were angry and spoke to the media.

 

[Petrarose]

On the way in MJ said he was not performing..and he looks like he means it..

[youtube]dFiyoMOPgLI[/youtube]

So maybe he got inside and someone asked him to and he didn't want to let people down.

And yes.. the media said he was booed when he was on stage. Total lie. How do they get away with it?! The clip is on youtube and there is no booing, only cheering.

I couldn't stand the reporters comments--the person who was giving the commentary even mentioning the price of his hotel and how Michael was shopping in expensive shops. This is what we call news!!! Sorry I listened to this.

 

[PaceMioDolceCuore]

I couldn't stand the reporters comments--the person who was giving the commentary even mentioning the price of his hotel and how Michael was shopping in expensive shops. This is what we call news!!! Sorry I listened to this.

:hysterical::hysterical: "50000 pounds per night",

tell me, are you the Ghost of Jealousy?"

I almost want to fact check if there is a Hotel that charges that much per room/night. I know, I know, just how it came across.

There's a lot of weird wrong stuff in those 5 minutes. "Sony dropped him" (aaaaah, he sure sounded like he wanted to get out) and that nobody wants to sign him. Oh my.

But man, he looked great and was sweet. "I gotta go". He was pretty adamant about not performing though.

 

[144000]

I've never understood what the hell that WATW "performance" was all about. I was wondering if any of you could bring some clarity about what exactly happened that night.

The media and organisers of the show were hyping it up as a comeback performance but when MJ was asked on the red carpet if he was going to be performing he declined and said it was a misunderstanding.

So why did Lindsay Lohan introduce him by saying "... and now performing for the first time in several years..." ??

The whole thing was beyond shambolic. I can't begin to imagine what must've been going through Michael's mind that night.

And of course the media conveniently chose to ignore the fact that MJ denied it was a performance and the British press were reporting about his "disasterous" comeback attempt.

If I were Michael I would've been pretty pissed off with the organisers of the WMA that year.

it really isn't anywhere near as dramatic as you are describing. what i saw, was no big deal..and, his appearance alone caused hysteria. so, whatever the case may be, it all ended up much ado about nothing. it didn't hurt MJ's career, if that was what the media was hoping for(and that was what the media was hoping for, as usual.) i will say that it looks like he didn't want to perform, and God was with him, cus, someone in the media wanted to make a Michael Jackson career destroying mountain out of a molehill. i heard a rumor that Beyonce begged him to perform..

 

[MattyJam]

it really isn't anywhere near as dramatic as you are describing. what i saw, was no big deal..and, his appearance alone caused hysteria. so, whatever the case may be, it all ended up much ado about nothing. it didn't hurt MJ's career, if that was what the media was hoping for(and that was what the media was hoping for, as usual.) i will say that it looks like he didn't want to perform, and God was with him, cus, someone in the media wanted to make a Michael Jackson career destroying mountain out of a molehill. i heard a rumor that Beyonce begged him to perform..

How am I being dramatic? I'm just stating exactly what happened. I was there and witnessed it for myself. Were you?

The way Michael was treated was terrible. I can verify what the other poster said about Rihanna. It was towards the end of the show, Michael had just accepted his award, the lights went down and some people thought that Michael was going to perform. When it turned out to be Rihanna, people started booing. I actually felt very sorry for her - it's not her fault she isn't Michael Jackson. lol.

And then the media reported the next day that Michael was booed and heckled off the stage, which couldn't have been any further from the truth.

The whole event was a PR disaster for Michael. Raymone Bain did a prize job at screwing everything up, by allowing the rumours of him performing to reach fever pitch. Michael is the one who suffered terrible headlines the next day, all because of her inability to do her job and because of the WMA basically lying on their website by listing MJ as a performer.

 

[JMie]

When I watched it on TV I feared that he would fall off the stage because those children were really crowding him.

 

[Pentum]

lets get this straight. The rumors about Michael performing started on the World Music Awards official site when they listed him as a performer not just as an Award recipient. Romain Bain refused to deny or conform this, so the rumors grew and grew. When Michael turned up in London fans asked him about the performance and he kept saying he wasn't performing and was only accepting the award. Even on the red carpet, on the the way into the awards, with Romain beside him, he again denied performing when asked by the media.

The whole WATW shambles occured cos thw organisers basically pushed him onto the stage. I WAS AT THE FRONT ROW AND SAW THIS!! The original plan was for just the childrens choir to sing, but the organisers just couldnt resit the chance of Michael perfoming at their show.

From where I was at the front row, I saw the curtain being pulled aside, a mic being given to Michael and him basically being told just go onstage. He had no clue as to what was going on. By that stage, being Michael, he just went along with it. It wasnt rehearesed or planned, He had no idea when or where to exit the stage. I saw him searching the pit area for the stage manager, and asking "where do I exit", and he follows where the person points to and says "over there, ok" .

Yes there was alot of booing during the show, all from people wanting to see Michael. The worst of the booing happened AFTER Michael had been presented with the award. Rihanna came onstage and began her performance, while Michael was still onstage at the poduim area. Thats why people were booing, cos no one wanted to see Rihanna, everyone wanted to see Michael.

It was after Rihanna, that the WATW fiasco happened.

The whole awards show was a total mess. Everything from the layout of the website, the PR before and after the show, to tickets, to the organisation and planning on the actual day. The host, Lindsey Lohan, couldn't read the auto cue, and disappeared halfway though the show, as she had an accident backstage. There were long pauses between set changes and performances, and thats all before the mess with Michael

Thanks for this, clears up most of it

 

[StaceyMJ]

I shed a tear watching that video of him on the red carpet. OMG.

 

[bluemoonchild]

The headlines were all complete BS. Some newspaper even tried to say that people booed MJ because he didn't perform Thriller. Like, I was there. There was no booing, in fact I couldn't hear myself for days because of all the screaming. Plus MJ performing Thriller was only a rumour flying around that we hoped was true, nothing was ever confirmed. It was a 'I heard he might be doing Thriller' kinda thing.

Yep!!! That's how it was!

i was there too, and i was totally in shock when i read the headlines the next day - it was all lies

 

[swirly]

lets get this straight. The rumors about Michael performing started on the World Music Awards official site when they listed him as a performer not just as an Award recipient. Romain Bain refused to deny or conform this, so the rumors grew and grew. When Michael turned up in London fans asked him about the performance and he kept saying he wasn't performing and was only accepting the award. Even on the red carpet, on the the way into the awards, with Romain beside him, he again denied performing when asked by the media.

The whole WATW shambles occured cos thw organisers basically pushed him onto the stage. I WAS AT THE FRONT ROW AND SAW THIS!! The original plan was for just the childrens choir to sing, but the organisers just couldnt resit the chance of Michael perfoming at their show.

From where I was at the front row, I saw the curtain being pulled aside, a mic being given to Michael and him basically being told just go onstage. He had no clue as to what was going on. By that stage, being Michael, he just went along with it. It wasnt rehearesed or planned, He had no idea when or where to exit the stage. I saw him searching the pit area for the stage manager, and asking "where do I exit", and he follows where the person points to and says "over there, ok" .

Yes there was alot of booing during the show, all from people wanting to see Michael. The worst of the booing happened AFTER Michael had been presented with the award. Rihanna came onstage and began her performance, while Michael was still onstage at the poduim area. Thats why people were booing, cos no one wanted to see Rihanna, everyone wanted to see Michael.

It was after Rihanna, that the WATW fiasco happened.

The whole awards show was a total mess. Everything from the layout of the website, the PR before and after the show, to tickets, to the organisation and planning on the actual day. The host, Lindsey Lohan, couldn't read the auto cue, and disappeared halfway though the show, as she had an accident backstage. There were long pauses between set changes and performances, and thats all before the mess with Michael

I agree with this, I was there too, and there was no boos for Michael at all, throughout the whole evening the entire audience was chanting his name and stamping their feet, and every other famous person who came to collect awards/perform would say "now we KNOW who you're all REALLY here to see!"

The atmosphere was just crazy for Michael the whole night, I did feel sorry for Rhianna because she was booed like mad as at that point we all thought Michael was going to come on stage.

There were also no confirmed reports that he would be performing full stop, stupid Raymone should have cleared them up at the very beginning to avoid PR disaster and disappointed fans.

 

[Rockin.]

I couldn't stand the reporters comments--the person who was giving the commentary even mentioning the price of his hotel and how Michael was shopping in expensive shops. This is what we call news!!! Sorry I listened to this.

Oh sorry I should have warned people about that idiot reporter! I just posted that video to show Michael

 

[blue_gangster]

What i found weird was I remember Michael doing a small dance move just after receiving his award . . but when I watched it on TV they had edited this out . . .

 

[Sophielo]

I shed a tear watching that video of him on the red carpet. OMG.

Me too How can someone so beautiful have been treated so appalingly in life. I just don't understand it

 

[Dutchie]

I heard a lot of fans were OISSED... They got to see him for like a minute, and then he was gone.... I'm sure that it was a bad publicity stunt, not on his own fault... Damn PR of MJ's!

NOT ONE (real) FAN was angry or felt let down by Michael. Fans got to see Michael onstage as well as accepting the award and even though Michael didn't perform we ALL were on could 9 after seeing him.

 

[sharon007]

I think the majority of people who attended were MJ fans. I will never forget how badly we were treated by the staff there. I remember stanidng outside for many hours in the cold waiting to get inside. Although maybe they werent prepared for so many fans to turn up.

 

[144000]

How am I being dramatic? I'm just stating exactly what happened. I was there and witnessed it for myself. Were you?

The way Michael was treated was terrible. I can verify what the other poster said about Rihanna. It was towards the end of the show, Michael had just accepted his award, the lights went down and some people thought that Michael was going to perform. When it turned out to be Rihanna, people started booing. I actually felt very sorry for her - it's not her fault she isn't Michael Jackson. lol.

And then the media reported the next day that Michael was booed and heckled off the stage, which couldn't have been any further from the truth.

The whole event was a PR disaster for Michael. Raymone Bain did a prize job at screwing everything up, by allowing the rumours of him performing to reach fever pitch. Michael is the one who suffered terrible headlines the next day, all because of her inability to do her job and because of the WMA basically lying on their website by listing MJ as a performer.

my point is, did it destroy his career? no. he sold out the o2 a few years later. whatever happened, the ultimate thing is, it can be pared down to the media's attempt to destroy his career, and it failed to destroy his career. my point is, if you brushed your teeth wrong, and you blamed Michael, it would have made the headlines. and his career still would not have been destroyed. that doesn't justify what people did to him. that doesn't justify what the media did to him. that doesn't justify Bain(and this can be used as part of the case against her ever receiving any money). i just make a good habit of concluding that it's always envy of Michael Jackson, by the media. i don't have to have been there, to know the media's agenda. i don't have to have been there to know that the media KNEW that Michael wasn't booed, but they said he was booed, anyway. i know how the media feels about Michael Jackson.