Michael Jackson's "This Is It!" Tour Sells Out - Controversy Looms

For some reason, people in other countries seem to be more concert-going.

All the time, I see bands on YouTube playing stadiums overseas and think there's no way they'd fill a venue like that in the U.S.

 

Precisely correct.

Michael Jackson is viewed as a washed-up child molester here. He's still viewed as a musical artist in England. His last album was considered a giant flop in the US. Something like 80% of its sales were overseas.

By the way, the real fun is going to come when he fails to show up for these concerts. Dude will make Axl Rose look like Cal Ripken.

 

Yup.. have to be delirious to think otherwise.

 

Michael's recent work has sucked. You're telling me people wouldn't pay big bucks to have him sing Thriller, Bad and Dangerous?

You are seriously underestimating the size of his obsessed fan base. Yes, the passing interest fans think he's batshit crazy, but he has a passionate fan base. A very fucking large one.

MJ had two concerts in New York City right before 9/11. It was well-known that he was nucking futs by that point. His image hasn't changed a ton in the last 10 years.

That said, from Wikipedia: The shows sold out in five hours. Ticket prices were pop's most expensive ever; the best seats cost $5,000 and included a dinner with Michael Jackson and a signed poster. The cheapest seats cost $1600, which included just a dinner following the concert. Jackson reportedly earned $7.5 million for each of the two concerts, which is over $150,000 per minute. The show ranked first in black viewers over the decade ending 2008.[1]

 

A quick check of Wikipedia shows those weren't Michael Jackson concerts, those were all-star concerts that included a Jackson 5 reunion.

Using that as a template, Dave Matthews Band is bigger than Michael Jackson because 100,000 people showed up for Bonnaroo the year the band played (never mind the other 20 acts playing that day) and Jackson doesn't draw 100,000 to shows in the USA.

 

Yeah, you're right. They dropped $2,000 to see Lil Romeo and Aaron Carter.

C'mon man. Your comparison is a desperate stretch, and you know it.

 

I was clarifying your assertion about those concerts. Having the other acts makes it a completely different show than just Jackson by hisowndamnself. If you don't understand that, then I have to ask - Is it difficult to type with a sequined glove on one hand?

I'm not saying he should be playing Vegas lounges. (Though wasn't he in talks to take over Celine Dion's act at one point?) But he's no longer the King of Pop. He's no longer a cash register when it comes to album sales. And there's a reason why he isn't staging this 50-concert run in the USA. Ticket sales wouldn't be as strong here as over there.

But I'll tell you what, if Jackson plays a similar run in the USA, I'll concede I was wrong about his popularity here. If he doesn't, I'll expect you to do the same.

 

Deal. Bloggers say he might come to the big U.S. cities in 2010, so we might see.

 

God, who cares about MJ anymore.

He killed his own career, as far as I care about that.

But I don't.

 

This is TOO DEEP even for me. Look, either you like MJ and his music or not but there should be no question that the guy can still draw a crowd be it in Europe or the US.

 

shaggy loves him some child molesters.

 

I think he's a creep. And a brilliant musician.