He looks very much like the Dangerous era...
[Edited 5/31/09 6:14am]

And that's a good thing.

Mike's looking good.

Someone posted from another board

DarlingDiana said:

Michael looks sooooo much better with the curls! I'm glad he's back to this style. It suits him so much better than the straight wig.

Deep pockets behind Michael Jackson
09:56 AM PT, May 30 2009
This is a longer web exclusive version of a story that will appear in The Times' Sunday (May 31) edition.

Others have tried to revive the onetime pop star's performing career. Tom Barrack is convinced he's the 'caretaker' to do it.

Tom Barrack, a Westside financier who made billions buying and selling distressed properties, flew to Las Vegas in March 2008 to check out a troubled asset. But his target was not a struggling hotel chair or failed bank.

It was Michael Jackson. The world's bestselling male pop artist was hunkered down with his three children in a dumpy housing compound in an older section of town. At 49, he was awash in nearly $400 million of debt and so frail that he greeted visitors in a wheelchair. The rich international friends who offered Jackson refuge after his 2005 acquittal on molestation charges had fallen away. His Santa Barbara ranch, Neverland, was about to be sold at public auction.

In Jackson, Barrack saw the sort of undervalued asset his private equity firm, Colony Capital, had succeeded with in the past. He wrote a check to save the ranch and placed a call to a friend, the conservative business magnate Philip Anschutz, whose holdings include the concert production firm AEG Live.

Fifteen months later, Jackson is living in a Bel-Air mansion and rehearsing for a series of 50 sold-out shows in London's O2 Arena. The intervention of two billionaires with more experience in the board room than the recording studio seems on course to accomplish what a parade of others over the last dozen years could not: getting Jackson back on stage.

His backers envision the shows at AEG's O2 as an audition for a career rebirth that could ultimately encompass a three-year world tour, a new album, movies, a Graceland-like museum, musical revues in Las Vegas and Macau, and even a "Thriller" casino. Such a rebound could wipe out Jackson's massive debt.

"You are talking about a guy who could make $500 million a year if he puts his mind to it," Barrack said recently. "There are very few individual artists who are multibillion-dollar businesses. And he is one."

Others have tried to resurrect Jackson's career, but previous attempts have failed, associates say, because of managerial chaos, backbiting within his inner circle and the singer's legendary flakiness.

Even as Jackson's deep-pocketed benefactors assemble an all-star team -- "High School Musical's" Kenny Ortega is directing the London concerts -- there are hints of discord. Last week, two different men identified themselves as the singer's manager and a month before, a respected accountant who had been handling Jackson's books was abruptly fired in a phone call from an assistant.

But his backers downplay the problems. "He is very focused. He is not going to let anybody down. Not himself. Not his fans. Not his family," said Frank DiLeo, his current manager and a friend of three decades.

Jackson needs a comeback to reverse the damage done by years of excessive spending and little work. He has not toured since 1997 or released a new album since 2001, but has continued to live like a megastar.

THE MICHAEL JACKSON 'PARADOX'

To finance his opulent lifestyle, he borrowed heavily against his three main assets -- his ranch, his music catalog and a second catalog that includes the music of the Beatles that he co-owns with Sony Corp. By the time of his 2005 criminal trial, he was nearly $300 million in debt and, according to testimony, spending $30 million more annually than he was taking in.

Compounding his money difficulties are a revolving door of litigious advisors and hangers on. Jackson has run through 11 managers since 1990, according to DiLeo.

At least 19 people -- financial advisors, managers, lawyers, a pornography producer and even a Bahraini sheik -- have taken Jackson to court for allegedly failing to pay bills or backing out of deals. He settled many of the suits. Currently, he is facing civil claims by a former publicist, a concert promoter and the writer-director of his "Thriller" video, John Landis.

John Branca, an entertainment lawyer who represented Jackson for more than 20 years, blamed the singer's financial straits partly on his past habit of surrounding himself with "yes men." Branca advised Jackson to buy half of the Beatles catalog in 1985 for $47.5 million. The catalog is now estimated to be worth billions and the purchase is considered his smartest business decision.

"The paradox is that Michael is one of the brightest and most talented people I've ever known. At the same time, he has made some of the worst choices in advisors in the history of music," said Branca, who represents Santana, Nickelback and Aerosmith, among others. He said he finally split with the singer because Jackson invited into his inner circle "people who really didn't have his best interests at heart."



The singer's financial predicament reached a crisis point in March 2008 when he defaulted on a $24.5-million loan and Neverland went into foreclosure. Jackson's brother Jermaine enlisted the help of Dr. Tohme Tohme, an orthopedic surgeon-turned-businessman who had previously worked with Colony Capital.

Tohme reached out to Barrack, who said he was initially reluctant to get involved because Jackson had already sought advice from fellow billionaire Ron Burkle, an old friend.

"I said, 'My God, if Ron can't figure it out, I can't figure it out,' " Barrack said.

But he was drawn to the deal. He owns a ranch five miles from Neverland, and his sons were among local children Jackson invited over for field days at the ranch. The financier retains close ties to the developer who built Neverland and is friendly with Wesley Edens, the chairman of the property's debt-holder, Fortress Investment Group.

With the auction of Jackson's home and possessions just days away, Barrack made the singer a proposition.

"I sat down with him and said, 'Look . . . we can buy the note and restructure your financial empire,' " Barrack said. But, he told him, "what you need is a new caretaker. A new podium. A new engine."

Tohme, who acted as Jackson's manager until recently, recalled the urgency of the situation. "If he didn't move fast, he would have lost the ranch," Tohme said. "That would have been humiliating for Michael."

Jackson and Barrack reached an agreement within seven days. Colony paid $22.5 million and Neverland averted foreclosure.

FROM NEVERLAND TO LONDON

Jackson has not spoken publicly since a March news conference and his representatives declined to make him available for an interview.

Barrack said his position outside the music industry seemed to endear him to Jackson. "He looks at me like 'the suit.' I have credibility because I don't live in that world. I'm not interested in hanging around him. I'm not interested in girls. I'm not interested in boys. I'm not interested in drugs," Barrack said.

After buying Neverland, Barrack called his friend Anschutz. Barrack said the prospect of helping Jackson, given his recent criminal case, gave Anschutz, a devout Christian, pause. (Anschutz declined to be interviewed.)

Barrack had spent significant time with Jackson and praised him as "a genius" and devoted father. Ultimately, Anschutz agreed to put Jackson in touch with Randy Phillips, the CEO of his concert subsidiary.

As the head of AEG Live, Phillips oversees a division that grossed more than $1 billion last year and has negotiated such lucrative bookings as Celine Dion's four-year, $400-million run in Las Vegas and Prince's 21 sold-out dates at the O2 Arena in 2007.

Phillips had his eye on Jackson for some time. In 2007, Phillips approached the singer with a deal for a comeback, but Jackson, who was working with different advisors, turned him down. "He wasn't ready," Phillips recalled.

This time, however, Jackson was receptive. He needed the money, and he has a second, more personal reason: His children -- sons Prince Michael, 7, and Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12, and daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11 -- have never seen him perform live.

"They are old enough to appreciate and understand what I do and I am still young enough to do it," Phillips quoted Jackson as saying.

Jackson stands to earn $50 million for the O2 shows, "This Is It" -- $1 million per performance not including revenue from merchandise sales and broadcast rights. Jackson is considering options including pay-per-view and a feature film. But the real money would kick in after his final curtain call in London.

A PROPOSED TOUR

AEG has proposed a three-year tour starting in Europe, then traveling to Asia and finally returning to the United States. Although Jackson has only committed to the O2 engagement thus far, Phillips estimates ticket sales for the global concerts would exceed $450 million.

"One would hope he would end up netting around 50% of that," Phillips said.

Barrack, the man who set Jackson's comeback in motion, has seen his net worth drop with the financial crisis of the last year. Forbes estimated his wealth at $2.3 billion around the time he met Jackson, but he is now merely a multimillionaire. He said that the economic downturn makes Jackson even more attractive as an investment because his value has been overlooked: In times like this, he said, "finding little pieces of information that others don't have" is more important than ever.

His company isn't exposed to any risk by working with Jackson. All the money Colony has put up is backed by the value of Neverland and related assets, he said. If Jackson regains firm financial footing, Barrack's company could be a partner in future deals. "When he looks back and says, 'Who took the risk? Who was there?' I mean, he gets it. So that's my hope," Barrack said.

It all depends on what happens July 13 when the lights go down in the O2 Arena. Doubts about Jackson's reliability are widespread because of his long concert hiatus. Those concerns were heightened earlier this month when the show's opening night was pushed back five days. Phillips and Ortega, the director, blamed production problems and said Jackson was ready to perform.

Fans demonstrated their faith in Jackson months ago when they snapped up 750,000 tickets for shows through March 2010 in less than four hours. "We could have done 200 shows if he were willing to live in London for two years," Phillips said.

Amid the high stakes, Phillips has taken a hands-on approach more reminiscent of his early days as a talent manager for acts including Guns N' Roses and Lionel Richie than as the company's chief executive.

A REPUTATION, A DO-OR-DIE MOMENT

In addition to the more than $20 million AEG is paying to produce the shows, the company is putting its reputation on the line for a performer with a track record of missed performances and canceled dates. In a video news conference earlier this month, Phillips acknowledged that the company has only been able to insure 23 of the 50 "This Is It" performances."In this business, if you don't take risks, you don't achieve greatness," Phillips said.

Phillips said he speaks with Jackson regularly and has closely monitored rehearsals in a Burbank soundstage. In response to questions about his physical condition, especially in light of his previous addiction to prescription painkillers, Phillips said that Jackson passed a rigorous medical examination. Associates also say he adheres to a strict vegetarian diet and works out with a personal trainer.

But the problems that have bedeviled Jackson in the past -- infighting, disorganization and questionable advisors -- persist.

In an interview last week, Tohme identified himself as the singer's "manager, spokesman, everything" and spoke about the benefits of dealing with business titans Barrack and Anschutz rather than their "sleazy" predecessors. "Michael Jackson is an institution. He needs to be run like an institution," Tohme said.

The next day, however, longtime Jackson associate DiLeo claimed he was Jackson's manager and said Tohme had been fired a month and a half earlier. Tohme denied being fired but declined further comment.

In April, Jackson fired the accounting firm, Cannon & Co., that had worked for him for a year, according to an accountant who worked on his finances. Jeff Cannon of Cannon & Co. said he received a phone call from an assistant of Jackson who said the singer no longer required his services.

Then there is Arfaq Hussain. A British man who met Jackson in the late 1990s, Hussain designed clothing for the performer -- including an air-conditioned jacket, a pair of self-adjusting, rhodium-plated shoes and the "Crystal Miracle," a jacket covered with 275,000 rock crystals -- and tried to launch a business selling $75,000 bottles of perfume by trading on Jackson's name.

In 2002, Hussain was jailed for four months in Britain for charges related to business fraud. Hussain and Jackson recently became reacquainted and the singer hired him as an assistant, DiLeo said.

The woman who was Jackson's public face during his criminal trial, former manager and spokeswoman Raymone Bain, is pressing a federal breach of contract suit against the singer. Bain claims that Jackson cheated her out of her 10% cut of several business deals, including the AEG concerts. Bain is to ask a judge in Washington, D.C., next month to seize the portion she alleges is hers, citing Jackson's history of evading creditors.

In his corner office high above Century City, Barrack is sanguine about reports of disharmony.

"You have the same thousand parasites that start to float back in and take advantage of the situation and that has happened a little at the edges," he said. But, he added, he had confidence in AEG's ability to keep Jackson focused.

The concerts, Phillips acknowledged, are a do-or-die moment for Jackson.

"If it doesn't happen, it would be a major problem for him career-wise in a way that it hasn't been in the past," he said.

--Chris Lee and Harriet Ryan

source: http://www.latimes.com/en...full.story

^That was an interesting article to read. Thanks for posting it.

Its good he's back with Frank Dileo. Frank was there for him during the Trials.

Tohme probably got kicked out because of the whole auction mess.
[Edited 5/31/09 17:41pm]

Interesting article about the LA Times article, lol...


Jacko: L.A. Times Gets It Wrong

Sunday, May 31, 2009
Celebrity, Music / By Roger Friedman


Today’s article in The Los Angeles Times about Michael Jackson contained some of the worst reporting I’ve ever seen.
It was if the reporters just refused to do any research. Instead, they muddled a bunch of disparate facts. Let’s not let this story stand as the record for anything, OK?
I don’t know how they could have screwed up so much about Colony Capital LLC’s involvement with Jackson.

For one thing, Colony Capital and its chief, Thomas Barrack, only have the note on Neverland. They never had anything to do with Jackson’s main loans against his 50% ownership in Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Those loans were sold by Fortress Investment Group to a consortium of Barclays, HSBC, and Sony Music in 2007.

I don’t know if Barrack ever called his “old friend”Philip Anschutz about Jackson. But the truth is: AEG Live’s Randy Phillips tried to get Jackson to agree to perform at the O2 Arena in London as early as December 2007, when I reported it. That was at least a year before Colony and Barrack had anything to do with Jackson.

Barrack makes it sound like Jackson was living in a hovel in Las Vegas when he arrived and “saved” him. Jackson was living in an expensive rental home at the time. He could have moved at any time back to Neverland, or to his parents’ home in Encino, if he didn’t like it.
The L.A. Times reporters obviously have done no research about Jackson’s newly former manager, Tohme Tohme. He is not a doctor. There is no record anywhere of him having been one. He told me directly that he is not “currently” a licensed physician.

The L.A. Times reporters deftly stepped around Tohme’s assertion, on his website, that he’s an ambassador at large to the country of Senegal. The Senegalese U.S. embassy said to this reporter that they have no knowledge of him whatsoever.

There’s more about Tohme: Jackson blames him for the Julien’s Auctions debacle of this past winter, in which all of the Neverland possessions including its front gates were going to be sold to strangers. In the end, Jackson and Tohme were going to lose a court case with Julien’s.
Tohme came in with enough money at the 11th hour to stop the auction. But where he got the money remains a mystery, and who now has the key to the storage spaces is also up in the air.

Colony Capital’s interest in Jackson remains solely about Neverland, and the money they’ve paid to finance it. They hold the note. That’s it. They have simply nothing to do with Jackson’s concerts in London. In 2008, when Fortress called the note on Neverland, it was almost sold at auction. Colony Capital stepped in at that time. They advanced Jackson several million dollars at the time as part of the refinancing.

The L.A. Times reporters seem to think that John Branca helped Michael to buy a 50% stake in the Beatles catalog. In fact: Branca and Jackson bought ATV Music, which contained the Beatles catalog. They merged it with Sony’s music publishing division a few years later because Jackson needed cash. The new deal gave him $90 million and a half-ownership in the new entity, called Sony ATV Music Publishing. Jackson now has loans nearing $400 million secured by his position in that company.

What the L.A. Times doesn’t seem to get: Jackson currently has no official manager or entertainment lawyer. Tohme has been cut off from access to the pop star. Also apparently out is Peter Lopez, the lawyer who did deals for Jackson for the last year. Arfaq Hussain, who the article notes was jailed for four months, is simply assisting the production in London. Jackson, as of now, still has no home rented for his stay. Nothing has met with his approval.

The L.A. Times took a turn at trying to sort out a lot of material that I’ve reported on extensively. What they didn’t grasp is that the yawning gap between Jackson and solvency grows every day, that the only thing that keeps him afloat is that 50% ownership in Sony ATV, and that no matter what he makes from the O2 shows, whether he does one, two, 50, or 100, he is capable of spending as fast as it comes in.

http://www.showbiz411.com...g#more-466

What's gotten into Roger Friedman lately - its like he knows quite a bit what going on with MJ. He's like become MJ biggest defender now.

He even was right a few weeks ago the O2 concerts being cancelled.

Are Mj's people feeding him information- and have they reconcilled any differences earlier
[Edited 5/31/09 19:20pm]
[Edited 5/31/09 19:25pm]

dag said:[quote]

Evvy said:

sorry but i don't see it she just looks average to me

suga10 said:

akon doesn't know anything that michael is doing. michael did one little song with with him and now akon thinks he is mjs right hand man he is just running his mouth to get attention

Swa said:

just out of curiosity i would like to see a list of these canceled performances. Does anyone have one? How many has he canceled that didn't have a good reason( for instance cancelling because princess diana died, i find that respectful)

it seems to like people say michael has canceled many performances and i just have never seen the evidence and i want to know how he got that reputation cause it seems to me michael always gets branded with certain qualities when there really isn't any proof to back it up and someone just says it and people believe it without looking it up for themselves