Didn't she use "production constraints" as an excuse for an earlier cancelled date? "Production constraints", "scheduling conflicts", "waldrobe malfunctions". I just feel sorry for the poor guy who has to dream up all these vague excuses. I never hear this shit from any other artist.

I lost a lot of money on Prince earlier this year with travel and hotel expenses - not everyone who buys a concert ticket has the venue on their doorstep

sextonseven said:

This wasnt the article i read but just search online and u know sales have been poor. I should also get real box office numbers soon( maybe next week) i will post them for ur satisfaction


Janet Jackson Career Chaos

Has Janet Jackson straightened out her career chaos at last?

Last night she performed in Houston, her first show in a couple of weeks since canceling and rescheduling a bunch of them including Madison Square Garden.

Janet — who is to the Jacksons what Marilyn was to the Munsters, aka the Normal One, announced finally that a bout of vertigo did her in.

But Jackson watchers speculated that she’d picked up an old trick from brother Michael. When ticket sales are off, or you just feel blue, claim illness. Michael has made more unnecessary hospital visits than any other celebrity besides his own mentor, Liz Taylor.

Still, it seemed so unlike Janet. She’s always had a strong work ethic, and always seemed above her family’s shenanigans.
Related

But the truth is, tickets were not moving. Yesterday afternoon you could have bought 8 floor seats for the show at Houston’s Toyota Center.

Even with Janet back on the road, her biggest problems are not resolved.

For one thing, she’s left her record label, Island Def Jam, after one release, the disappointing "Discipline," which followed two flops in a row: "Damita Jo" and "20 YO." Her departure from Island/DefJam could cause a problem in her personal life since longtime fiancée Jermaine Dupri heads up the R&B part of the label and was responsible for Discipline being so, well, undisciplined.

But Dupri didn’t get it. He cast Janet as her 30-year-old self and not a mature 40-year-old woman who should be handling different kinds of material, not more bump and grind.

Sources say Dupri may be next at the end of Janet’s big broom, which could also sweep away manager Johnny Wright and others whom she may blame for this latest debacle.

But pr goddess Patti Webster, recovering from surgery, insists no one’s going anywhere. At least, for now.

Janet’s next big issue is trying for the fourth time to re-start her recording career before there’s really nothing left to it. There aren’t so many choices left. She can cross off the Universal Music Group and EMI, where she lodged for many years with Virgin. That really leaves just Sony/Columbia, where she might convince Clive Davis to work his magic. Of course, she could go to Warner M. Group’s Atlantic Records, where Davis protégé Pete Ganbarg has just taken over artist relation duties.

VoicesCarry said:

Hmm, well... probably due to the fact that the whole 400 section was empty!?

I do not really think that she faked her illness, but I'm pretty sure that (even) low(er) ticket sales might have contributed to her deciscion to not reschedule!

I mean, 14 of the 16 shows she did had disappointing (by her standards) attending figures... why play more shows to a third empty arenas? That said though, I think she should have done those shows... the fans who bought tickets deserved it and she still did pull in about 700.000 dollars per show, so she certainly didn't have to pay out of her own pocket for the shows!

The whole tour was handled very poorly by everyone involved!

Sorry... my bad... then it was the 300 section.... it was empty, all around... and not only behind the stage!

PatrickS77 said:

I really don't know what you mean. I was there. The 300 section was mostly filled. There's a photo of MSG where you can see the 300 section isn't empty in this thread: http://prince.org/msg/8/287778

sextonseven said:

Well, I was there too and whatever that section is called the one level with turqouise seats, I think under the overhanging level, was completely empty... it seemed like they moved all the people down to make the arena look fuller! I was on the floor, so I could see it was not only on one side but all around!

It's not the top level... so it has to be the 300 level!

I should have known it was doomed when I first saw that faux hawk. Speculation will continue until an official statement comes out or is leaked. Other than that, we may never really know. The Discipline era is over. On to the next chapter.

PatrickS77 said:

That IS the top level. I had 400 section seats for Madonna a few weeks before and that's where I sat. There are no seats above that section, only more VIP boxes.

sextonseven said:

It was not the top level that was empty... so it's not the 400s but the 300s... since according to your map the top level is the 400s!

Geez.. there are 2 rows.... one almost on the level of the light rig and one above... the one almost on the level of the light rig was empty... so that has to be the 300 one!

Right. Whatever... one complete level was empty and it was not the top level!

PatrickS77 said:

I know Madison Square Garden. I've been going there for decades. I've sat in the 400 sections and 300 sections multiple times. The empty seats that night were in the 400 section. The photo you posted matches the seating chart. I don't know how else to explain it to you.

sextonseven said:

u forget the point that MSG is one huge market so i would expect it to do relatively well

midnightmover said:

Yes, she did... for the Detroit show, but a new date was announced immediatly and she did make up the show... so maybe there indeed was, gasp, production constraints!

The point here is that Patrick doesn't know which sections are which in MSG.

sextonseven said:

I never said I did... I originally said it's the 400 section (which it turns out to be) and that it wasn't the top section (which indeed it isn't)!

Here are some of my pix... the section with the red line was the empty one... in nature it kinda looks different than on the seating map though, it looks like it's much more seats! I found a different seating map with seatnumbers though.... it looks like there are about 1600 seats up there! So she probably did better as it looked!








[Edited 11/5/08 14:52pm]

I called the 400 area the top section because that's the highest with seats made available to the general public. Above that are privately owned boxes for celebrities and executives only.

PatrickS77 said:

Bottom line. Your girl is S-H-A-D-Y! Big time. I don't see how anyone can have any respect for this woman. She is weak, dishonest and sly.

I think the problem with the Jacksons is that they've really had to put up with so much crap, on one hand it's admirable that they can shake it off and not let it get to them. On the other hand, there ARE times when responsibility has to be taken. Even if you're sick, you're disappointing fans and that's unfortunate, so just stand up and be honest without trying to create some weird media hoopla about everything.

People ARE losing money. I lost a lot of money on Prince earlier this year with travel and hotel expenses - not everyone who buys a concert ticket has the venue on their doorstep and I'm sure some Janet fans had paid for non refundable travel and hotels too. Sooner or later you'll only be left with the fanatics who would take a bullet for you, and that lot may keep your bodyguards busy but they aren't going to fill arenas.

To give an example, I really enjoy Amy Winehouses's music, but I'd never buy a concert ticket because I'd know there'd probably be a 60% chance of cancellation and it's just not worth the bother. Touring is all that Janet has got since the albums have been flopping. Being honest with your core audience AND promising to re-schedule whether it's in a year's time or even later, is the very least you can do.

Ellie said:

I agree with U