Morning:
8°c
Stars come out for Jacko's This Is It premiere
London LiteUpdated 13:10pm on 28 Oct 2009
This was it — the film featuring Michael Jackson rehearsing for his live shows was given an international premiere in 19 cities this morning.
Jackson tribute: Peter Andre, Abbey Clancy and Keisha Buchanan
In Leicester Square, hundreds of fans flocked to see the two-hour film, shown at 1am to fit in with simultaneous screenings around the world.
The guest list for the London screening included Leona Lewis, Abbey Clancy, Keisha Buchanan, Estelle and Peter Andre — not to mention a clutch of Jacko lookalikes.
Gallery: This Is It London premiere
Peter even revealed he plans to work with La Toya Jackson on a possible live tribute to the king of pop. He said: “We may do a TV tribute or maybe a live show and have loads of different artists involved. But this is going to take time, this time next year maybe.”
Gallery: This Is It LA premiere
Filming for the movie began in March when Jackson announced the live performances — his first for more than two years — which he said would be his “curtain call”.
He died on 25 June after suffering a suspected heart attack. Hundreds of hours of rehearsal footage was edited down to a manageable 120 minutes, and was probably destined to be an extra on a live concert DVD.
But, in light of Jackson's death and the circumstances surrounding it, we're left with an emotional moving portrait of a man who didn't seem ready to stop performing — and, by the way, it is well worth seeing.
