DarlingDiana said:

What bullshit. Visit the Prince Music and More forum and you'll see that his fans can be objective. This whole idea is fucked up, no matter who it is.

jayaredee said:

I see nothing fucked about fans paying $30 to attend a day of awesome events relating to Michael Jackson. It says "Michael Jackson music videos will play and the DJ's will play some of Michael's favorite music". Who knows? The Michael Jackson music video that they play could be a new one, for a new song. And Michael's favourite music could be his new album. Fan attending this event might be getting a sneak peak at MJ's new album. And even if they don't, it seems like a cool event. Fans meeting up to have some fun. That's seems cool to me.

DarlingDiana said:

you seem to be defending this event high on end to everybody's comments. It's not the fact that the fan appreciation event itself is the problem, it's the MONEY $$$$!!!! I think most of the orgers on the thread isn't having a problem with the event it's how much he is charging. I'm sure it's going to be a great event and all, but $3500???? That's beyond rediculous. No doubt there are rich people who can afford and will pay that price just because it's MJ but I think that's asking a bit much of his fans. Everybody doesn't just have $3500 dollars to waste...and especially if he isn't going to bust out a "he-he" or a "sha-mone". To pay that much just to see "Tribute Performances" or in other words, other artists singing and dancing to his songs is not worth $3500.

What it comes down to is that you have to choose between the Premium ticket for $3500 or the $28 ticket which is like having to decide to either put your house up for sale to get this money so that you can attend ALL of the fan events or just get short changed by purchasing the cheaper ticket that is more affordable. And yes, this is basically dividing his fans by how much is in their piggy banks. The richer fans get the more events than the poor ones, what kind of mess is that?

And sorry, don't think I would be expecting this kind of behavior out of Prince, and if he did attempt to do something as sneaky as this, then I wouldn't go at all.

DarlingDiana said:

the statement that I bolded, I could pretty much do at home for free.

To be fair, I think it's more common in Japan to charge ridiculous amounts of money for "special events". Meals, social gatherings, escort services and so on. Let's not forget for example how much just the basic luxury of having a steak at a restaurant costs there. Maybe there are indeed a couple of hundred fans in Japan who have the assets to attend the event.

It's just that... c'mon Michael. Even if you didn't come up with the idea of this thing yourself, and it could have been put forward by your management team or whatever, you must admit even yourself it's a very dubious. If there is some half-witted fan who has always wanted to speak to Jackson personally would think "here's the chance" and somehow managing to come up with that money, you are exploiting that persons fandom no matter what. It's very unethical and against the ideals he used to speak about in the past decades.

And "fan appreciation", please.

I think I´ve read somewhere that there´s only about 30 tickets for the 3500. Whatever, if anyone is willing to pay that money, that´s their business.

Well okay, 30 tickets times 3500$ is not going to generate that much money in total.

dag said:

His fingernails always look like he has doo-doo on them

unkemptpueblo said:

maybe he is trying to make up for it by wearing the new shade of pink lipstick by MACcosmetics from the "Barbie" line....

sallysassalot said:

I think it's disgusting too. He's so desperate these days, it's sickening. He's become such a loser to me. It's very sad because I was just listening to Dangerous the other day and it's an awesome album, but MJ is just to far gone for me now.

you all know I love mj but I think this whole idea is pathetic and screams desperation. He should just put out music and let that speak for itself instead of holding events to make himself appear holier than thou, he's really embarassing himself.

Empress said:

Same here, and I used to be a big MJ fan back in the day. Not any more. Like Elvis, he's nothing but a joke, a parody of himself. Pathetic.

I think this proves that Michael is the ultimate diva

unkemptpueblo said:

Can't bleach underneath the nails I guess.

One again, I must stress this. The general tickets cost $30. The platinum tickets cost $3500.

For the people who have opinions about this being wrong and Michael is to blame, why do you give a damn? If his fans what to spend that kind of money to see him, then that's on them, not on him. I'm a fan myself, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend that kind of money, even if it's in the Bay Area where I live.

CinisterCee said:

It's pretty pathetic when people think that this event is for money and will fix MJ's so-called "financial probllems". VIP business men are paying $3,500 to have Michael appear at an event. There won't be much money left after the promoters get their cut, money is paid for food and entertainment. Therefore, what is all the talk about MJ being "paid"? Does anyone actually that a few hundred thousand is going to "help" him? The fans only have to pay a small amount for the meet and greet with food and entertainment. No one is forcing anyone to attend either event. If you want to go, GO. If you don't, then just don't go and stop criticizing people who can afford to go.

I don't get it...does he need money that badly? I know he is supposedly in debt, but how much money can an event like that even bring in? I'm no big MJ fan but he was great in the 80s...truly talented and put out a couple of great albums (not hard to guess which ones). It's sad he went so crazy. Maybe he'll tour again and put some effort into it and it will be worth hearing, but probably not.

I don't think it's about money. He might make a bit of money, but it's mostly just a chance for the fans to see him. Just a meet and greet type of thing to build a good relationship with his fan base and stuff.

I'm a big MJ fan but even I can see this is a bit cheap.

If he's so concerned about "fan relations" why can't he do a meet and greet for free? Tori Amos spends half an hour before each concert doing meet and greets and doesn't charge a penny.

Now I know from experience that things can get pretty ugly and competitive when fans are in MJ's presence... but still, charging that amount is pretty low.

I'm disappointed in Mike. Stop wasting your time with ego-stroking BS like this and get back to the studio.

The whole thing is incredibly tacky but hey...he's gotta make money someway.He's too lazy to tour,and he doesn't release new music very often.He's gotta pay the bills someway.

What I think is even more pathetic is that MJ diehards keep making up excuses for this event instead of just admitting that the whole thing is just plain tacky. Of course this is about Michael getting paid! Do you really think he would fly all the way overseas just to show his mug at some "event" and shake some hands and have some pictures taken for very little or no momey? Homeboy needs cash! Hey, I dont hate him for it. A cash-strapped guy's gotta do what a cash-strapped guy's gotta do right? Guess he's gotta pay off all those bills and lawsuits against him somehow...

Just to keep up all updated, the $3500 fan event was held yesterday (or today, depending on where you live) and the $30 fan event will be held today (or tomorrow, depending on where you live). There were a fair few people at the $3500 event. They all did get to meet Michael for 30 seconds and have their photo taken with him. A few photos that were taken at today's event...



lol, crazy mofo

DarlingDiana said:

OK..The first lady looks happy and sweet and like you said the second one is just...umm crazy mofo LOL

My problem with Michael is..what the heck is he wearing? Those look like PJs but velvet. Ick. If I paid that much money to meet Michael, I'd be like, "Michael, I paid near $4,000 to meet you. Go put on a glove and white fedora and come back downstairs and meet me. I don't wanna meet you in no PJ velvelt shit ass outfit." Seriously. Thumbs down on the outfit MJ.

JasonStar said:

Fuck! My eyes...

What the hell is he wearing? My God... I love his craziness but... THAT?

lol, I know. What was he thinking with that suit? Lions? It's a bit of a crazy pattern. But it still looks pretty flash, and kinda cool (in its own way).

Imagine if you got your photo taken with him, That's definately not the most photogenic suit I've ever seen. He could've picked a more plain suit for the sack of the photos. After all, that was one of the main events of the day. The fans getting individual photos taken with him.
[Edited 3/9/07 3:25am]

I wish he'd take his sunglasses off for once. As the great Larry David said, "There are only two types of people who wear sunglasses indoors; blind people and assholes."

pjh1972 said:

lol

I read somewhere, perhaps it was in his auto-biography (or maybe an interview), in which he explained that he rarely goes out without sunglasses because without them he feels vulnerable. He said that everywhere he goes, paparazzi try to take shots of him, and as long as he can keep a part of himself hidden from them (by wearing sunglasses) he is safe. But as soon as he takes them of, he is exposing himself to them. He is becoming vulnerable to their attacks. I kind of get what he is saying. I feel that way sometimes. If I want to go somewhere and avoid people, and sort of keep myself hidden, I wear sunglasses. Obviously I am not hiding myself in a physical sense, but I an hiding a part of myself. The eyes are the windows to your soul. If you don't want people to get that close to you, to your soul, then close those windows (wear sunglasses). That how I think Mike feels, and I feel the same way.

He looks much better today

Jackson's bodyguard hands him this week's subpoenas...