Michael Jackson - A Place With No Name

Via Stereogum:

A video for Michael Jackson’s “A Place With No Name” from his posthumous album XSCAPE has been released by his estate and label, Epic Records. It premiered on Twitter and was simultaneously broadcast in Times Square in New York. The video was previewed before its release on [last night's] episode of So You Think You Can Dance, which was Jackson-themed. It was directed by Samuel Bayer, who has directed videos for Nirvana and the Rolling Stones and serves as an homage to Jackson’s 1991 video for “In The Closet” and features outtakes and repurposed footage from that video.

Justin Timberlake And Michael Jackson - Love Never Felt So Good

The Hollywood Reporter reviews the clip:

The music video for the Michael Jackson posthumous duet with Justin Timberlake debuted on Wednesday morning, and it's a careful visual tribute of the late pop singer's lasting legacy on future generations. "Love Never Felt So Good" -- the first single off of Xscape -- features archival footage of Jackson's many music videos, including "Beat It," "Bad," "Black or White," "You Rock My World" and more (there's even a quick shot of the singer as a child in the Jackson 5). The cuts are very careful when it comes to the two singers: Clips of Jackson doing a relatively small move (a pose or a hand movement, as opposed to a gravity-defying lean or the moonwalk) are quickly mirrored by Timberlake, but only in silhouette. Throughout the four-minute-plus video, Timberlake himself never tries out Jackson's steps -- a respectful decision that highlights the tribute approach to the video and possibly the entire album.

I was ready to hate this but I do not.

Marching Band Michael Jackson

Watch the Ohio State University marching band create a giant moon-walking Michael Jackson. 2.6M million views already. Start at the 4:00 minute mark.

Tweet It

Weird Al is sobbing....

Neverland, The State Park?

The NAACP is backing a plan to turn Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch into a California state park.

As home to pop legend Michael Jackson, Neverland Ranch housed a working locomotive, a Ferris wheel and other amusement park rides, a 10,000-volume library and a zoo. But could the opulent Santa Barbara County estate become home to California's newest state park? A resolution is in the works to order state parks officials to study converting the roughly 2,600-acre property into a state park. The state NAACP is backing the idea, and a lawmaker has signaled he is on board to carry the legislation. "I think Michael's history is world history and I think it would become the No. 1 attraction for the state parks if we could pull it off," said state NAACP President Alice Huffman, who also serves on the state Parks Commission.

The state would have to pay Jackson's creditors an estimated $100M for the property, a seeming impossibility for a state near bankruptcy. But backers of the state park idea point to Elvis Presley's Graceland estate in Tennessee, which grossed $36M just last year for its private owners. An admission charge to a state-owned Neverland hasn't been discussed, but memorabilia sales alone could be considerable.

Michael Jackson's Billion Dollar Year

Michael Jackson died a year ago today, but his empire rolls on.

In the final years of his life, Jackson's finances were widely reported to be in chaos, with the singer facing foreclosure on his famed Neverland Ranch and struggling with debts of roughly $US500 million. However in the 12 months since Jackson's death on June 25 last year, the King of Pop's empire has witnessed a money-spinning resurgence, generating revenues estimated at more than $US1 billion. Jackson's estate has paid off more than half of the singer's debts and is likely to put his affairs back into the black in the coming year. The financial bonanza began almost immediately, with Jackson selling nearly 4 million records in the six weeks after his death. By June 2010, total album sales had swollen to 9 million in the United States alone, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. Internationally, Jackson has sold 24 million albums.

Jackson's This Is It has grossed more than $300M worldwide, making it the most successful concert movie in history. Even though there was no audience at those concerts.

Beat It With A Real JO-Bro

This Craigslist ad comes via JMG staff photographer Dr. Jeff, who asks: "Real? Not real? Who cares, it's hilarious. Bedazzler!" We concur.

Janet Jackson - Nothing

Could this sound any more like Michael?

(Via - Rod 2.0)

Posthumous Pop: Largest Record Deal In History For Estate Of Michael Jackson

The estate of Michael Jackson has signed the biggest record industry deal in history, one that guarantees at least $200M from Sony Music over the next ten years.

The record-breaking contract through 2017 could be worth up to $250 million if certain conditions are met. One of the albums will be of never-before-released Jackson recordings that will come out in November, the person said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement is expected Tuesday. Future projects may also include a video game, a DVD compilation of videos and a re-release of "Off the Wall," Jackson's fifth studio album, which first came out in 1979, accompanied by some unreleased material. Before his sudden death in June at age 50, the pop star had wanted to re-issue the album, people familiar with the deal said. One of the projects already counted in the contract was the two-disc album that accompanied "This Is It," the film based on footage of concert rehearsals for what was to have been Jackson's comeback at London's O2 arena.

Over 31 million Michael Jackson albums have been sold since his death in June last year.

Harry Connick Jr Schools Aussies On Blackface In America

While judging an Australian talent show, Harry Connick, Jr. was appalled when an act performed in blackface as the "Jackson Jive." Connick gave the group a "zero" score, then came back later to school the audience on how offensive blackface is considered in America, saying he would "definitely not have done the show" had he known about the performance. According to the blog Queer Two Cents, Connick is being criticized in Australia for "over-reacting."

(Via - Pam's House Blend)

Michael Jackson's Death Ruled Homicide

The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled that Michael Jackson's death was a homicide, making it likely that criminal charges against his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murphy, will be forthcoming shortly. Reportedly, Murphy left Jackson unattended after administering a powerful anesthetic. More later on the continuing death of Francisco Franco.

HomoQuotable - Rupert Everett

"I think it was fortuitous that he died... He was supposed to be doing 50 concerts in London. It wouldn’t have mattered how good or bad he was. He wouldn’t have managed to do all of them and the press would have destroyed him. He was a freak. He looked like a character from Shrek. He was a black to white minstrel. He was crucified by that court case when he was accused of child molestation -- that killed him. He personified the pain and anxiety of a black man in a slave country.

"We all watched as he changed from black to white. He was living performance art. You cannot divide the music from the person. I think his life -- and death -- is a great lesson. I think we are going to see the end of celebrity as we know it. Show business is not an honest profession. It’s like the last days of Versailles. I do wonder how much more bullshit people can take about celebrities. We’re living in very strange times. We have Michael Jackson, a black man who has gone white, and we have President Barack Obama, who is a half white man gone black. It’s absolutely fascinating to watch." - Faded actor Rupert Everett, speaking to the UK's Daily Mail.

Death Sells

Michael Jackson sold more albums in the last two weeks than in the last two years. Almost 90% of the sales have been physical albums, as fans want a tangible keepsake. Retailers think sales may actually increase as they replace the depleted stock and widen their offerings of his back catalog. Jackson's Number Ones is the top selling U.S. album for the third week and he owns the entire top ten of the Catalog Albums chart. A friend of mine whose company has the rights to some of Jackson's catalog told me, "I wish he could die every week!"

Auto-Tune The News #6

These just get better and better. Starring Rep. Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin.

Deification, Part 2

More truly bizarre paintings from longtime Free Republic member Faithmouse can be found here. Somebody explain the meaning of the pancakes?

Not What We Expected, Was It?

I went into it expecting spectacular tackiness, but I must say that overall the MJ funeral was muted, dignified, sedate, and (as much as any arena funeral could be)...classy. Yeah, surprised me too. Points off for Al Sharpton's typically bombastic rant, but Brooke Shields in particular immediately redeemed that bit. And so the most widely watched non-sports event in the history of the world ends with the tears of a little girl. Fascinating.

Michael Jackson Funeral Live Stream

Today's funeral for Michael Jackson is expected to be the most widely watched live event in internet history with as many as 1 billion viewers. Nobody knows if teh intrawebs can handle that much streaming video, but let's see if this works.

UPDATE: Live stream concluded.

It Begins

The literal deification of Michael Jackson has begun.

A Stockton family says the image of Michael Jackson appeared on his tree stump the day the King of Pop died. Like the "Virgin Grilled Mary" or "Cheesus," the family thinks they've got an unusual spiritual image staring right at them from their own front yard. Felix Garcia has lived in the house for 22 years, and has never noticed the apparent image in his birch tree stump. "I was standing by that bush, and I looked up and saw that image here," Felix said. Many people in the crowd who gathered to look at the stump Sunday afternoon saw the resemblance, but why would Michael Jackson appear instead of a religious figure -- or even any of the other celebrities who recently passed away? "Because Michael Jackson was an icon to us," said one neighbor. "To Stockton, Michael Jackson meant more to us than Jesus, to some people. I think they're both about even."

In their defense, Jackson and Jesus are equally meaningful to me as well.

Sharpton: No More MJ Pedo Stories

Al Sharpton thinks the media is focusing too much on Michael Jackson's legal woes, rather than his musical accomplishments. He also wants a "national day of mourning" (to be declared by whom?) and for the USPS to immediately issue a commemorative Michael Jackson stamp, something that is not usually done until five years after the death of a celebrity (with the exception of U.S. presidents.) Even though the Elvis stamp yielded $124M in sales, the always cash-strapped Postal Service says they'll still probably wait until 2014.

Predictable

Wanna bet there'll be a few MJ fans that go entirely apeshit on them?

(Via - Good As You)