Michael Jackson Vienna postponed to 2010, moved to London

[Marky]

A lavish Michael Jackson tribute concert organised by the late King of Pop’s brother has been cancelled just two weeks before it was due to take place at a Vienna palace.

Despite claims from Jermaine Jackson that the gig would be headlined by Mary J Blige, Natalie Cole and Chris Brown, it emerged that none of the stars had formally committed to perform at the September 26 event.

Jackson announced today that the concert would instead be staged at London's Wembley stadium in June 2010.

“A little more than five weeks ago I began, together with my partners in Vienna, to work on the Tribute Concert. As you can imagine staging a show of this monumental dimension in less than eight weeks is a daunting challenge,” he said.

“I personally have spoken to many international artists and invited them to attend The Tribute and perform one of Michael’s songs. Several leading artists immediately agreed to participate in this unique tribute show. Many others told me personally that it would be a great honor to be part of this memorial concert for my late brother – an artist who influenced the music world like virtually no other.

“However, due to the short time frame involved it just was not possible for many of them to change their schedule so that they could be on stage in Vienna on September 26th.”

He went on to reveal plans for a UK event: "We have therefore decided, after careful consideration, to reschedule The Tribute concert for my brother to June 2010 and to stage this very special music event at Wembley Stadium in London. Here, over 70,000 fans will have the opportunity to experience the life and music of my beloved late brother. We will hold the concert in the city that he himself chose for his comeback concerts but, due to his tragic death, he was not able to do."

In a dig at Austria's wide-spread disappointment that he failed to secure big-name artists - Madonna, Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder were all initially rumoured to be taking part - Jermaine said: “When artists who have won 8 Grammy Awards and sold millions of records around the world and are able to sell out large stadiums are then called “B-list artists”, are made fun of and generally disrespected, is something I just cannot understand. If these artists are not welcome in Vienna, London is more than happy to have them”.

The announcement came as the event descended into a circus of confusion.

In a packed press conference on Tuesday, Jermaine announced that Mary J Blige, Natalie Cole and Chris Brown would perform for 65,000 Jackson fans in the grounds of Schoenbrunn Palace. But yesterday Blige told an MTV interviewer that she would not be at the tribute.

“There’s a lot going on at that time and I’m really, really sorry that I’m not going to be able to be there.”

Her spokesperson said the singer had never agreed to appear as she had a previous commitment to appear at a Gucci fashion show in Milan.

Cole’s representative dealt another blow to organisers by revealing that the Grammy Award-winner would be attending an event for the Dalai Lama in Tenessee the weekend of the tribute.

Maureen O'Connor said concert organisers had contacted Cole, "but she was never committed to do it".

Meanwhile, Brown, who is on probation for assaulting his former pop singer girlfriend, Rihanna, would have required the approval of a judge to travel from the US to Austria but a Los Angeles court spokeswoman said he had not applied for permission.

In an attempt to halt rumours that the concert was crumbling due to a lack of support from his parents and siblings, Jermaine turned to his mother Katherine.

She recorded a video for the tribute website endorsing the event but only added to the confusion by announcing: “I’m looking forward to being there on the 29th to see the show”. The concert was scheduled for September 26.

Jermaine had planned to perform a duet with Jackson at the concert by employing video and audio recordings and had secured a deal with CNN to broadcast the concert around the globe.

Tickets were on sale for as much as €518 (£543). Ticket holders were advised today to return to the outlet where they made their purchase for a full refund. Organisers have promised to email fans who bought tickets on the internet or from a call centre with details of how to claim a refund.

The concert is the second tribute event to fall over in the past month. AEG, who were due to stage Jackson's comeback residency at London's 02 arena, cancelled two memorial concerts in August after failing to seal deals with artists they had hoped would perform.

Jackson was buried in a private ceremony last week, more than two months after his death in Los Angeles. His death has been ruled a homicide and several doctors who treated Jackson are under investigation.

Tickets for the London event will go on sale by before the end of the year and will be priced from £44.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle6830553.ece

[moreblack]

was the Freddy tribute anywhere near this difficult to get together?

[Spoon87]

Like zint said, "craptastic!"...

Maybe the show in London will reach the dimensions and the quality Freddie's tribute had.

[Zint]

Ticket holders were advised today to return to the outlet where they made their purchase for a full refund.

- Who the hell bought tickets to a concert with no scheduled acts??

[Snake Eyes]

Would've put money on the fact this would happen. Wonder how many poor bastards actually bought tickets.