Looks like Sony BMG are really pushing this!

Jan: Launch of myspace and facebook profiles.

Jan 14: The Girl Is Mine '08 (feat. will.i.am) is released online.

Feb 1: Massive press, TV, radio, online and outdoor advertising campaign is officially launched.

Feb 3: Super Bowl XLII TV spot.

Feb 4: The Girl Is Mine '08 (feat. will.i.am) is released in stores except in the U.S. where Wanna Be Startin' Something (feat. Akon) will be released.

Feb 10: Grammy Tribute featuring will.i.am, Akon and Fergie.

Feb 11: Thriller 25 is released worldwide.

There are also rumours of MJ doing in-person promotion in France and the UK, which will probably include TV appearance and maybe appearances at award shows.
[Edited 1/21/08 20:30pm]

they gotta schedule their myspace and facebook pages?


and the rest is just pathetic and somebody probably got paid 100k for all that work.

DarlingDiana said:

DarlingDiana said:

Oh hell naw @ Feb 10.

I hope the strike stops this JUST FOR THAT!

Cinnie said:

They mean officially. As in purchasable from online music stores.

When is Mike gonna complete and promote something he's doing NOW? Talk about living in the past...

PapaSmurf said:

Talk about double standards. If someone else did it it'd be called a celebration of a history album, but when Mike does it he's living in the past. Thriller's the biggest selling album in history. He's more than just entitled to mark the occasion of its 25th anniversary. Mike does what he wants so screw you.

DarlingDiana said:

ohhhhh

Cool.

What is the difference between the Thriller 25 (US edition) and Thriller 25 (import)?

Also, I know one can order the Girl is Mine single from amazon.com. What is the difference between the regular and import versions?

Where can I buy the Wanna Be Startin' Something single?

Thanks.
[Edited 1/22/08 0:17am]
[Edited 1/22/08 0:19am]

I can't wait for the 2012 Thriller special 30s!

Rodya24 said:

The imported version of Thriller 25 has "Got The Hots" on it. No idea what's different about the imported version of TGIM08. WBSS will be sold exclusivesly in the US, anywhere that sells music CDs. It'll probably also be on Amazon.com and iTunes for those of us outside the US.
[Edited 1/22/08 0:53am]

Oooh.

Exciting stuff. (:

I hope he'd only sing ONE song live on stage, at the Grammy's or something. I'm dying to see something new. He hasn't been in the news for weeks, or performed for years.

Feb 4: The Girl Is Mine '08 (feat. will.i.am) is released in stores except in the U.S. where Wanna Be Startin' Something (feat. Akon) will be released.

I can only imagine these to be as good as 1999 the remasters.

Timmy84 said:

This is why i was saying cancel that damn show, since its the 50th anniversary of the show they are planning tributes, HOW ABOUT get the real thing!! I dont wanna hear will/akon/fergie do Michael Jackson songs, get him on there, I can only imagine the other nightmare tributes.....Beyonce and her sister doing Tina Turner and Diana Ross, maroon 5 doing a stevie wonder medley, Rihanna singing "like a virgin" so she can be the "black madonna" or better yet Chris Brown and Ciara pretending to be Michael and Janet, someone cancel this show, please writers get violent and hit people crossing the picket line!!

lastdecember said:

Oh yeah they do need to cancel it. FUCK the Grammys!

Mike... if it's come down to pimpin' out your GREATEST artistic legacy, to a bunch of half-talents and no-talents, then why bother at all? I feel like I'm going to throw up in my mouth.

funksterr said:

Don't you mean "regurgitate"?

I try and try to avoid my anger towards MJ fans.

But. you keep testing me! LOL

Who Cares about MJ anymore. Thriller was a brilliant album by a troubled soul who has been revealed to be very disturbed.

In addition his business of entertaining has declined steadily in revenue and quality for many years now.

but...You guys keep hanging on. The remix's are done by less than stellar people who are not even on MJ's level now, let alone his 80's level.

MJ has run into the same path as Prince in the sense that they choose to try to tap into the 'hot" producers or singers to stay relevant. When if they continued to push the envelope they would have greater importance.

I don't think MJ is on Prince's level as a musician or songwriter, but as a pop persona he was a force.

Not even getting into his personal issues, MJ's output since Dangerous has been sub par to even the most bland pop around.

and don't get me started on Janet threads.....

aalloca said:

Interesting.

While you think his output post-Dangerous is bland, others have the right to disagree.

And who cares about MJ? In addition to the numerous fans he still has (in addition to those in online communities), the classical music community still cares. I have to take these damn history of modern popular music classes and my professors talk about MJ all the time.

As for Janet Jackson, you have to take up your anger with her fans.

Rodya24 said:

That's a reflection of his success, not his musical worth. It's quite likely that your teachers don't know much about pop music, so they reach for MJ as the easiest example of what it's all about. I've noticed Abba are often used for the same purpose.
[Edited 1/22/08 11:04am]

midnightmover said:

We talk about his music, the composition and production, as well as his vocal abilities (especially his vocal abilities). We have discussed Prince and James Brown too. Several of my professors are popular music aficionados, so they do teach us more than its commercial aspects.

aalloca said:

Let me explain a little bit.

I often feel like MJ was a bit like Motown. A tremendous amount of talented vocalist's mixed with brilliant songwriters, played in the studio by monster session players. He was a pop phenom, never a musician's darling. Although he did employ some great studio cats.

But I truly feel and some will disagree that the brilliance of a MJ song stopped after Dangerous.

And believe me I gave him a 2nd chance after the Oprah interview.

But I just don't see that brilliance anymore.

In his rare appearances I have not heard him sing, I have seen him dance the same old moves he used in 83.

I feel he went back to the well one too many times.

Then add in my negative feelings towards his personal life and it makes the whole experience not even worth it.

I am able to avoid him all together except for this board which sometimes over credits artists like Janet, MJ, and Mariah who are shadows of their pasts in the pop world. Their peak is light years better than today's Akon's and etc, but still not pushing any new boundaries.
Then take into account the songs are not as good, with fading skills in the vocal range, and I prefer to avoid them.

Sorry I will be skipping this album, like I have skipped everything since History, that I got caught up in the hype for.

superspaceboy said:

What I meant by Prince following is not the producer or people who guest on the album, but the overall vision of the album. With the exception of The Rainbow Children, the past few have been highlighted by very uneven songs that owe more to classic soul and today's pop r&b, then the guy who made 1999 or dirty mind that was pushing boundaries

and for the record as a longtime Prince Fan...

I will tell you his quality has been steadily declining for a long time too, but as a guitar player and musician he can always play a live show that makes you forget the so so albums.

DarlingDiana said:

DO you know why they picked FEB. 11... as the released date... cause MICHAEL JACKSON KNOWS IT MY BIRTHDAY

i can't believe im turning 22... my 25 year old friend told me im getting old... so i was upset cause he will be turning 26... but when we go out people think we are just in highschool or middle school....

anyways... michael knows about my birthday and wants to celebrate...

aalloca said:

I agree with almost all of that, especially the bolded bit. Being interested in MJ's latest activities is like lusting after a corpse. He is a figure from the past. This whole tacky Thriller 25 project underlines that.
[Edited 1/22/08 13:49pm]

TotalAlisa said:

No way, Feb 11th is MY BIRTHDAY TOO!! We're birthday buddies

Militant said:

yeaaaaa

how old are you turning young man