Re: Weekends Daily News Jan 8 - 10
thanks for the news mairemarie :sun:
i found some news today too
:waving:
Michael Jackson’s Death Investigation is Complete
He passed way back in June of 2009, and finally the investigation into
Michael Jackson’s death has been concluded.
According to a report, the King of Pop died as a result of acute Propofol intoxication and his personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray will be charged with his death.
Now that the investigation has been concluded, detectives will be presenting their findings to the Los Angeles County District Attorney for the next step in the process.
And though Dr. Murray didn’t break any laws by administering Propofol to *****, he’ll likely be charged with involuntary manslaughter due to gross negligence.
here is link:
http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/cel...ksons-death-investigation-is-complete-214016/
Michael Jackson - Best Selling Artist 2009
Nielsen SoundScan have released their figures for US music sales in 2009 with Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift and Lady GaGa all featuring high in the charts.
Topping the album chart was Taylor Swift's 'Fearless' which sold 3.2 million copies, while Susan Boyle's 'I Dreamed A Dream' not far behind on 3.1 million copies. In third spot Michael Jackson's 'Number Ones' sold 2.3 million copies and Lady GaGa's debut 'The Fame' came in at Number Four with 2.23 million albums sold.
Michael Jackson was the 2009 best-selling artist, as the singer’s June 25th death led to a massive resurgence of his catalog. In total, the King of Pop sold 23,000,000 albums worldwide in 2009.
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here is link:
http://www.mjportal.com/michael-jac...michael-jackson-best-selling-artist-2009.html
Michael Jackson: His death has been the greatest comeback
I am the coolest aunt in the world; I would even say the coolest adult around town. That, you see, is the perceptions of the kids I was dancing with recently. It was Ashleigh's birthday (my younger cousin /niece) and a posse of four to ten year olds and I were dancing to Michael Jackson's videos. I earned high marks that I was up on the moves. They thought it was pretty amazing that I was moving through Billy Jean, Beat It, Thriller, to name a few, and that all the dance moves that they just learnt, I have known now, for more than half my life. I've laughed to myself at their compliments, thinking I've been doing these moves since I was a teenager. They are the new generation of Michael Jackson fans. One common thread united us in that room, we were fans, albeit from different generations.
A new generation of Michael fan has emerged since his passing. These kids are hip on technology, and, as we researched people and places when doing project back in the days, by reading books , they are youtubing and whatever other internet stuff, to get information. His videos are now the books; each song has its own unique little movie and the kids are loving it. I think the profound loss that was felt when he died and the media frenzy that followed, has served as the platform for his introduction to children and they are enjoying what they have discovered.
The zealousness of these young ladies as we danced and sang matched mine, the light and excitement in their eyes gave me an insight on how my eyes were at that moment. The kind of concentration on their faces as they tried to catch the zombie moves during Thriller reminded me of back in the days when me and my girls were adamant that we were going to learn it so we could use it in one of our dances.
In September, I was in New York, and it was my nephew Naseem's birthday. His mother told me since Michael has passed, both Naseem who is seven and Alanyah, who was then almost two were Michael Jackson's fans. So, for Naseem's birthday, I thought buying a CD for him, would be giving me some Aunty kudos. I bought a double disc that chronicled Michael's music from childhood to Off the Wall. I approached Naseem giving him a grand lecture, that looking back, I chuckle at my desperate attempt of trying too hard. With great ceremony, I announced that Michael was the same age as he is now, when he made some of these songs, and I went on and on. Naseem looked at it and he went straight to his computer and pressed something, and all of Michael Jackson's videos that were on youtube was right on the screen. He could access any one of them with one press on his computer.
His cousin Chance was there, and yes he is a Michael Jackson fan too, he is six. They took me from Michael Jackson as a child with the Jackson five, to everything else in his life that was captured on film, that could be shown on Youtube. It was an incredible experience to see this man through these children's eyes. We had a danceathon, when some of the videos were shown, I had to change in work out clothes as we sweated with each of the children's favorites. Things I failed to see in the videos were seen by these children seeing it with fresh eyes. I've been seeing Remember the time video for so long, and I didn't notice some of the stuff, until Naseem and Chance with enthusiasm pointed out some of the details.
I started seeing from then, the ads for This is it, and I knew no matter where I was, I would be seeing this. I wanted to see if I could figure out what was it about this man that was so compelling, and fascinating to so many different generations. I knew he was talented, but, my respect for his talent increased after his death, especially how the kids with fresher, and keener eyes are seeing him.
This generation is very visual, and I can say, Michael was way ahead of his time, as all his videos have captured the imagination of the children. His dancing, is timeless, his iconic moves for each video, excites these children to a level that no modern act today is doing.
The movie was the piece in the missing puzzle. I saw a master at work, a man in control with every aspect of his performance. He was a perfectionist, and his creativity was out of this realm. I saw that his man was influenced by so many different things artistically, and by life in general, and in him it converged, and merged, becoming one melting pot , that became his uniqueness. As a friend of mine said, who saw the movie, "Genius is hard work".
Michael was disciplined, and dedicated to his craft. He was committed to his purpose, and everyone that was in that production had that kind of commitment. Everyone chosen to do the This is it tour had that little something extra about them. He was mindful of these details, and that made everything I saw at a level of excellence. Everything that appeared effortless , to the audience, were thought out, and rehearsed until it was second nature.
It has reenforced to me, that putting everything in your chosen field, and making excellence, the standard you maintain, will ensure that all boundaries will surpass, even years, as quality speaks. It also reenforced to me, age is but a number, as Michael was up on his dancing, as smooth and agile as the twenty five year olds who were dancing with him
I left the theatre feeling happy, the group of women, that I went with all thought we would be sobbing by the end of the show. We all left pleased , sharing different moments that we enjoyed. I know, I've been very passionate publicly in what I thought were the abuses meted out to Michael. I felt angry at how he was treated. Today, I feel vindicated. His death has been the greatest comeback. Good is definitely stronger than evil.
here is link:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/THIS-IS-IT_7310964
U.S. album sales fall in '09 despite Jackson boost
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. album sales tumbled for the eighth time in nine years as the rate of growth in legal digital downloads slid in a turnaround from recent years, according to industry figures issued on Wednesday.
Music
Total album sales fell 12.7 percent to 373.9 million units during the 52-week period ended January 3, according to retail data collected by tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. Late pop star Michael Jackson was the top-selling artist, and Taylor Swift had the No. 1 album, followed by Susan Boyle.
The decline in total sales follows a 14 percent drop in 2008, and it sets a new low since Nielsen SoundScan began publishing point-of-sales data in 1991. Sales have plummeted 52 percent from the industry's high-water mark of 785.1 million units in 2000, due largely to Internet piracy and competition from other forms of entertainment such as video games.
While recession-weary consumers spent more money on movies and live concerts in 2009 than they did the year before, they drew the line at music purchases. Liquidations of the Virgin Megastore and Circuit City retail chains did not help matters, nor did the reduction in display space at outlets such as books retailer Borders Group Inc.
On the other hand, the death of Michael Jackson in June provided a boost. The pop singer was the best-selling artist of the year, accounting for 8.3 million units. Neither he nor the next two artists, country star Taylor Swift and the Beatles, actually released new albums last year.
Swift was a distant second with 4.6 million units, mostly for her second album "Fearless," the biggest seller of 2009 and the No. 3 seller of 2008; the Beatles sold 3.3 million units of their newly remastered catalog.
DIGITAL DROPS
Digital downloads through online retailers such as Apple Inc's iTunes store, have taken on greater importance to the industry, but the impressive growth of recent years is waning. Digital track sales rose 8.3 percent to a record 1.16 billion in 2009, but that was far less than a 27 percent increase in 2008 and a 45 percent leap in 2007.
Digital album sales rose 16.1 percent to 76.4 million units, also a record, after jumps of 32 percent in 2008 and 53 percent in 2007.
After Swift, the No. 2 album of 2009 was Scottish singer Susan Boyle's debut release "I Dreamed a Dream," which sold 3.1 million copies after just six chart-topping weeks in stores. Jackson's 2003 hits package "Number Ones" was the No. 3 seller with 2.4 million copies.
Rapper Lil Wayne, who had the top album in 2008, might have featured in the top tier of 2009 with his long-awaited follow-up, but he encountered a problem that exemplifies the industry's woes. His new disc "Rebirth" leaked on the Internet last month, six weeks before its scheduled release date. It is not yet known when or if it will come out officially.
Overall music sales, including albums, singles, music video and digital tracks inched up 2.1 percent to a record 1.5 billion units in 2009. But growth slowed from 10.5 percent in 2008 and 14 percent in 2007.
Among the labels, Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group remained dominant with 30.2 percent of total album sales, down from 31.5 percent in 2008. Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment, the home of Jackson and Boyle, followed with 28.6 percent, up from 25.3 percent. Warner Music Group Corp captured 20.6 percent, down from 21.4 percent. Closely held EMI Group Ltd, home of the Beatles, rose to 9.2 percent from 9.0 percent.
Rock remained the top genre, accounting for 124 million albums, a drop of 11 percent. R&B moved up to No. 2 with 70 million (down nine percent), swapping places with third-ranked alternative (68 million, down 16 percent). Country was fourth, suffering only a small drop (46 million, down 3.2 percent).
here is link:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60608720100107?type=musicNews
