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Michael Jackson O2 birthday show possible
Ben Bailey14.07.09
The man behind Michael Jackson's London shows said today he was hoping to finalise a one-off London show featuring the late star's brothers and sister Janet.
Promoter Randy Phillips, chief executive of AEG, said he was "confident" he would make a decision this week about whether a show to mark what would have been Jackson's birthday on August 29 should go ahead.
The singer - who died in Los Angeles last month as he prepared for a mammoth series of This Is It comeback shows - had been due to kick off his run last night at the 02 Arena in east London.
Phillips told BBC 6 Music: "The number one item I'm discussing is presenting This Is It the production, hopefully with the Jacksons and maybe Janet, and other artists."
"We have to make some hard decisions this week otherwise it will be too late to even contemplate doing anything on 29th."
He said he was in discussions with Kenny Ortega, the director of hit movie High School Musical, who was also directing Jackson's concerts.
"What we're thinking about is one massive tribute that's broadcast around the globe. We've opted to go to broadcast television, either cable/satellite, or traditional broadcast."
Of the 50 dates Jackson was due to play at the venue, 27 were scheduled for this year. Phillips admitted the majority of those slots would now go unfilled.
"It's going to be hard, unless we do something with the Michael tribute, to fill those dates in now - if not impossible."
Phillips said he hoped to print extra copies of a brochure prepared for the Michael Jackson memorial in LA last week for fans who chose not to take a ticket refund.
"We're getting a huge demand for this beautiful memorial book. They're going for 400 or 500-dollar bids for the few books that are on the internet," he said.
