Excerpts and pics from an article

He didnt look to be in too bad of shape if he's doing that!!



Jackson told his team he wanted to recreate one of the world’s largest waterfalls — Victoria Falls in southern Africa — on the stage. “I was ready to jump off the balcony of my office,” says Randy Phillips, president of the concert promotion firm AEG Live. “We went and met with Michael, and [director] Kenny [Ortega] said, ‘Michael, you’ve got to stop. We’ve got an incredible show, we don’t need any more vignettes.’ Michael said, ‘But Kenny, God channels this through me at night. I can’t sleep because I’m so supercharged.’ Kenny said, ‘But Michael, we have to finish. Can’t God take a vacation?’ Without missing a beat, Michael said, ‘You don’t understand — if I’m not there to receive these ideas, God might give them to Prince.’ ”

That cracked me up!!>> If he was joking that was classic if he wasnt that was actually kinda sad:( I did hear that he was afraid to sleep and miss Gods gifts.

More..
With a 50-show engagement set for London's 02 arena, Jackson wanted to give his fans the ultimate Michael Jackson concert experience, a career-capping spectacle to end all spectacles. It was right there in the name: "This Is It." But at age 50, Jackson hadn't performed on stage in more than a decade, and as he rehearsed the show at L.A.'s Staples Center, his collaborators sometimes worried that he was pushing himself too hard: not eating enough, not getting enough rest. "Don't worry," Jackson told director Kenny Ortega. "Just put the people all crushed up against the stage. They're my fuel. They're my food. Their love will get me to the end."

For more on the upcoming Michael Jackson movie, including exclusive photos, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, October 16th

That was so sad to read but funny as hell about Prince! I wish he would have told someone how tired he was and that he could not do those shows. Micheal fans would have saved him!

The Prince thing is too funny.
Not only is he The King of Pop, he's also The King of Funny.

Yeah, peoples, what we have to remember is that they are only going to show us the good bits.
If he really was in pain/spaced out at times, they ain't showing it to us in any photos or footage, OK? The film had to show Michael looking good, so don't expect anything else.
Do you really think they will show people waiting around for Michael for 6 hours when he was late for rehearsals?

Well Randy Phillips sure has changed his tune. In the beginning he was all MJ is perfect, healthy, vibrant..now he's all MJ missed rehearsals, was late, was skinny, we argued. No none of that will probably be in the movie, but is that what we want to see anyway? We are going to see that he is skinny, but do we want to see MJ sick, tired, and possibly spaced out? Not me. But who's to say he was any of those things beyond any normal 50 year old? Not that 50 year olds are spaced out lol. I dont want to be sad, though I keep hearing we will be. I want to see MJ being MJ. The great King Of Pop. I've had enough sadness the last 3 months. For this hour and a half, I want that escapism Michael wanted to give us. I want to see his smile, his dance and hear his voice and its all going to make me cry anyway, but I dont want think about cover ups and conspiracys, drugs, and all that crap during that hour and a half. Just Michael and the gift he left us. For whatever reason we have it, conspiracy, hoax or whatever, I'm just glad we have it! And I cant wait for it.

totally agree with you Dareme...

i just want to watch Michael as I remembered him when he was performing, i dont want to think about any theories at all on that time....
What I really want to see is his smile and hear his laughter...
I missed that soo much!!!

I am VERY excited to see the movie! I am a little worried too. Right now more excited though. I tell you what! If when we see this movie and he is as Karen Faye or Latoya Jackson claimed, They better go team up with Dr. Murray and hire body guards and hide their asses cause there will be an AEG burning.

dareme wrote:

But who's to say he was any of those things beyond any normal 50 year old?

Well, actually the follower fans said he was spaced out at times during the rehearsal period. Particularly after visits to Klein, and interestingly AFTER rehearsals (as though he had taken something for pain?). He also told them often that he wasn't feeling well, but the concert juggernaut just kept on rolling anyway. They also mentioned we was incoherent sometimes at rehearsals, but I don't know how true this is. I would be horrified if it was true and the rehearsals were still going on. But it would not surprise me.

No, I didn't want to see him like that in the film either, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. People say 'well he could always have said no to Kenny etc', but I have been thinking about this. Even if he wasn't on drugs (and allegedly he was) long-term stress can have serious effects on you physically and mentally :


Chronic head ache
Mood swings
Anxiety disorder
Substance abuse
Memory disturbances
Heart attack due increased blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol
Stroke due to similar reasons
Weight loss
Exacerbation of allergies including asthma
Irritable Bowel disease
Ischemic Bowel disease like Crohn's disease
Decreased sexual drive
Sleeplessness

Why would he be stressed you ask :

Stress can be self-generated:

Major life changes
Work
Relationship difficulties
Financial problems
Being too busy
Children and family
Do any of these sound familiar? I can see at least 5 that affected Michael in the 6 months running up to 25th June.

I know when I went through severe stress 10 years ago, I couldn't see the effects it was having on me. I lost weight and looked unhappy. I thought I was coping fine! It wasn't until someone who I'd met recently sat me down and had a serious chat, that I realised how bad things were. It was only then that I started to do something about it.

We know that Michael had a strong work ethic, and he would want to 'keep going' rather than give up. Perhaps he didn't realise how bad things were until he received the follower fans letters? They did try to speak to him verbally about his weight loss and their general concerns, but it doesn't sound like he took it seriously at the time. And if he was taking drugs as well, I doubt he would have been in a position to recognise the problems himself. Plus there was no one to tell him! The fans said he was on his own in the Carolwood house. Of course he had staff around him, but they were paid to do what he asked, not comment on his weight and wellbeing.

Please MJ, make some changes in your life and ensure you have a good support network, so this never happens again.

This is what I am hoping for! HE did ask for the letter a fan sent him the day before he died, so MAYBE!!!! I am gonna keep holding on wishing and hoping!!

Having no sleep can make you spacey for sure. But I wasnt saying he wasnt on drugs. I'm just saying maybe he was just tired. And he's been this skinny before, it just looks different when you're older. Michael has been very skinny through out his career, at times healthy looking and at times not. He said himself tours cause him stress, no sleep, not eating right or at all. I really thought Michael was too skinny, and he was, but he's been that thin before.

You are saying what a lot of people are saying dareme - he was always thin. Well yes I know that, I remember him as a skinny teenager you know! But I have been around dancers most of my life. Ballet dancers, who are expected to be underweight and have been since the late 70's at least. I'm used to seeing skinny people, who are mainly bone and muscle. But it also means I recognise the signs when someone is becoming dangerously underweight. My concern is that Michael was teetering on dangerously underweight (IMO) and this was BEFORE the concerts started.

You may not know, but once the body has used up its fat reserves, it starts to break down muscle in order to keep itself alive. And the heart is a muscle. This is why anorexia victims can do permanent damage to themselves. If he had already depleted his body fat to the point where he was losing muscle, then the concerts would have pushed him over the edge for sure. The photo of Michael trying on the costumes shocked and horrified me. Not just his bony chest but his legs in those white drainpipe trousers. They were barely more than bones.

You are right about older people looking worse when they are skinny - I am 50 and I am 10 pounds heavier now because otherwise I'd look scrawny and unhealthy. As a 'dancer watcher' I'd say that Michael was too thin even at the O2 announcements, and as he clearly lost more weight after that AND wasn't eating much in the run-up to a series of strenuous concerts, he wasn't physically in a fit state to continue. Add on the prescription drugs and you have a recipe for disaster.
Then there is the fact that of you are not eating enough, your body goes into starvation mode and you can't think straight, and every movement is an effort. Just getting up in the morning is tiring. To me, the two scenes in TII where Michael was clearly struggling to do his trademark moves were Earth Song and Thriller. I thought he was going to fall over at the end of Thriller, when the stage lifted up, he looked so unsteady on his feet. But he was clearly determined to do it anyway. He was going to keep going until he dropped. And no, it isn't normal for a 50 year old to be like that. A fit 50 year old would be able to do the concerts, and be tired after the show. But Michael was already not sleeping for a week, wasn't eating and was in pain.

Sorry, had to get if off my chest!

Yep, Vbond I agree with you 100%!!! I think that's why with his History tour, he beefed up before it because he knew that he would be missing meals, not sleeping and not eating. Why the hell didn't he do that this time? WTH was feeding him and caring for him back then? That's who he should have had taking care of him this time!

He looked like he lost anywhere from 30-40 lbs on the History tour and he was still a healthy weight at the end of it. He was just way too skinny to keep going like that. Michael was so concerned with being fit that he let himself shrink away. Kai Chase let it happen IMHO! Doesn't he know that you can still have meat on your bones and be as healthy as anyone else?

I really feel that he had an eating disorder and that the people around him should have recognized that and done something about it. If enough people would have stood up to Michael NONE of this would have happened. You cannot tell me that the people around him were not concerned.

Yeah, STFW! They could have lost their jobs.. But I think someones life is more important than a paycheck. I guess they didn't think so.

Well, you vented and I have enough vent in me for everyone. I think I will save it for when I find out more about the trial. Anyway Vbond, good post!

I think my point was completely missed lol. Michael has been this way before. He got very skinny and sickly during the trial. He got grossly skinny at the end of the History tour and I have a pic from Dangerous tour era that wigs me out a bit. I'm saying he has been this way before. I'm not saying its normal for every person to be this way, but it was normal for him to lose weight during times of stress and touring was a major cause of stress for him. And I disagree that he was unfit. He was damn fit for a 50 yr old. Not many 50 yr olds can do what he was doing. Not many 30 yr olds can do it. But he was very tired, obviously we know he wasnt getting sleep, so yeah thats gonna show. But for someone who was tired and underweight, he was still on top of his game. When I compare TII rehearsal with Dangerous rehearsal, its so very similar. And yes it is normal for a 50 year old to get winded faster than they use to and get tired easier than they use to. If you dont then good for you and your fitness level, but it is normal. Michael was not taking great care of himself by using drugs, whatever they were or if he even was to the extent we are being told, but his lack of sleep could be a direct cause for many of the behaviors he exhibited. Spacey, lethargic at times, depressed, changes in speech slurred or otherwise. I mean lack of sleep can jack you up. Plus add on top of that whatever he's trying to take to get some sleep, and then it not working, yeah I would imagine he would seem a little out of it.

Absolutely dareme - he has been this way before under stress. Totally agree. The difference is that
a) during the trial, he wasn't having to sing and dance for hours on top of the stress
b) at the END of a tour it would be normal for him to have lost some weight, and the finish line would be in sight.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that in these circumstances his weight/health seemed to be better managed. But for TII things had got out of control, and he hadn't even left town.

Oh I know, but the stress was worse this time. He had something to prove this time and he was putting himself out there again after all that devastation. He wanted this to be perfect. I believe the preparation for this tour was more stressful than the actual tour would have been. I really do think that. I think that once he stepped on stage and felt all of that love there would have been some relief, but I guess we will never know now