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Would a Michael Jackson comeback have worked?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by schiezainc, Nov 2, 2009.

  1. kingcreole

    kingcreole Active Member

    I agree with this.

    The whole Creole clan saw "This Is It" yesterday. My kids loved it. My 11-year old has made it her goal to do the moonwalk (she's not half bad at it). I too enjoyed it. MJ still had a good voice and had dance moves that defied gravity. And the set for "Thriller" alone would have made the concert worth the price of admission.

    If MJ was in good health, a comeback in America would have worked, no doubt. But I'm skeptical all 50 London shows would have happened. The guy was as skinny in death as Elvis was fat.
     
  2. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    He had already postponed several of the concerts when he died. Count me among those who are very skeptical that they would have taken place.

    Haven't seen the movie, but the clips make him look pretty impressive. Then again, they were able to cherry-pick from something like 100+ hours of rehearsal footage, so I'm not sure how accurate it is in showing his overall condition.

    He remains insanely big in Europe - I was in Italy a few months ago and heard "Thriller" everywhere, over and over. But here, I suspect he had Vegas in his future... if he could show up regularly, and he probably couldn't.
     
  3. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    He had to die for anyone to care again.

    I don't think he could have even sold out a stadium tour in the US before he died.

    I mean, let's be honest, it was
     
  4. Chef

    Chef Active Member

    No way, Jose.
     
  5. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    There's a bit of a difference between a player choking out his coach (some thought PJ deserved it), a singer having an epic meltdown (sheer entertainment value) or a politician losing a couple of elections (than a singer with a history of bizarre behavior who admitted he shared beds with young boys.

    A Jackson comeback would have drawn a good amount of his diehard fans, but in terms of being a roaring success? No.
     
  6. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    Also, worth noting, Nixon's rehab was largely after his death as well.
     
  7. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Never.
     
  8. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    Is it wrong that I want to go into a theater to see the movie, and, no matter how good it is, yell out, "This is Shit!" just to see what would happen?

    But I digress.

    The comeback was already working.

    50 sold-out shows in London. Which would have led to feelers getting put out for a possible world tour - one last time, see him now, etc. - and he would have been able to finish a triumphant world tour. Look at the London schedule; he would have been able to stay healthy, and it would have taken two-plus years to hit everywhere with that type of spread-out schedule. Two-plus years of positive publicity about how spry he looked onstage.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_It_%28Michael_Jackson_concerts%29

    Nostalgia for quality, entertaining music is all over the place these days. The damn Police got back together. So did old-school Van Halen. Michael Jackson would have sold out multiple nights in the biggest cities, and single nights everywhere else. In arenas, with stadiums under consideration in Europe, and in Los Angeles and New York.

    Absolutely no doubt in my mind.
     
  9. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Well, yeah, unless he abruptly dropped dead or something like that. Everything was looking just terrific.

    If it didn't happen on June 25, it might have happened on July 15.

    Michael Jackson could barely get himself into shape to go sit in a courtroom for several hours without having to be removed on a stretcher; I'm pretty doubtful he could have gotten in shape for a lengthy series of concerts.

    And no, the public was not going to just forget about all the child-molestation charges.
     
  10. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    See, I don't see The Police and Van Halen as being successful.

    Sure, they sold out shows, but watching a 55-year-old man in high def just does erodes at his great status.
     
  11. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    In this economy, if you can sell out a tour, it's successful, period.

    Are the Police as good as they were in 1983? Of course not.

    Is Springsteen anything close to what he was in the late 80s? No way...

    Are the Stones anywhere close to their prime? Please... But if you can still generate enough interest to sell out a tour, I don't see how it can be seen as anything other than successful.
     
  12. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    Ah . . .so you measure "successful" by the fact that their appearance was not pleasing to you?

    The Police and Van Halen sold out shows everywhere, hitting most U.S. markets twice. The very definition of "successful."

    Starman: I guess I just think if they could have gotten him on the stage, they would have been able to keep him upright. I don't know if he physically could have made it through a World Tour without a hitch (cancellations, postponements due to health reasons, etc.), but once they got him to London and had that spotlight? They would have found a way to make sure he took that stage every (other) night.

    Again, no doubt in my mind that the three-month break between shows would have seen a real ratcheting up of World Tour announcements and ticket sales. Fans old enough to remember his prime (sorry, schieza and 93Devil) would make up a huge block of sales, and the curious would fill in the rest.

    Something tells me there would be at least 18,000 people in each city who could forgive an alleged child molester enough to see that tour.
     
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