Michael Jackson is dead.

[Kitosdad]

Michael Jackson, surely the most talented public entertainer of all time. His music and dancing brought joy to millions of his fans, and his generosity toward children was unparalleled. But behind the veil of the glitz and glamour was a man tortured by self-doubt and self-worth. Michael Jackson had so many demands placed upon him that, to me, it is a miracle that he didn't give it all up many years ago.

People think it must be wonderful to have millions of fans clamouring for your attention.
It is anything but. To have your every movement and word analysed by people who have no idea just how sad your life really is.

Michael was a "meal-ticket" to hundreds of hanger-ons, and now they will move on to the next carrier.

Rest in peace Michael. You were a super-star without parallel, and you will never be forgotten by your legions of fans, but you will soon be forgotten by those who drove you.

Kitos.
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Keep it simple ... Keep it interesting.

[Jamie (K)]

Michael Jackson's career essentially ended when his pedophile behavior became known to the public and started to disgust people. He successfully silenced one of his victims by paying his family over $20 million, but more accusations and arrests kept coming, and it was becoming clear from the children's testimony that there had to be some truth to the accusations. He was a classic case of a rich man who could afford good lawyers and stay out of prison on legal technicalities.

[The French]

[Kitosdad]

Would any sensible parent have allowed their child to be alone with MJ?

The people who did this were only interested in using the rumour to feather their nests.
No-one has been able to prove that the offences took place. Just because he paid this family a sum of money doesn't necessarily mean that he was guilty.
To call him a paedophile without proof, is not on, in my opinion.
He was a rich sad guy. Of that there is little doubt, and perhaps a lot of his sadness was brought about by the way in which his family had mis-used him over the years. He was a cash-cow, and everyone was milking him dry.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson.
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Keep it simple ... Keep it interesting.

[Jamie (K)]

If he was a kind, innocent man, any naïve parent who thought they'd gotten to know him a bit might allow their child to sleep at his house. After all, he had spent millions of dollars on creating the image of himself as a childlike man who was pure of heart. Some people believe things like that, and pedophiles work hard at gaining the confidence of the victim and of the victim's family.

Paying $20 million in hush money to a middle-class family is tantamount to an admission of guilt, because with his lawyers the case would have been much cheaper to fight in court, had he been innocent, and they could have smeared the family in a sympathetic media.

The local police knew such activity had been going on, but they couldn't get the right witnesses who hadn't been paid off or in some other way intimidated. Keep in mind that everyone knew that Al Capone ran a huge smuggling, racketeering and extortion enterprise that did not hesitate to murder its competition, but he was so well organized, and his lawyers were so crafty, that authorities could never make any of the accusations stick. They finally had to use tax evasion charges to get him locked up. As for pedophile superstars it's often hard to convict pedophiles and serial rapists because many victims are too ashamed to testify, especially if there is a lot of media coverage that names names.

I don't deny that a lot of people abused him and wanted a piece of him, but it doesn't mean he was an innocent bunny himself.

[The French]

I have the same opinion like Mr.Kitos, I prefer the good stories but I believe we will not never know the true.

Sure Jamie, the things are not black or white but perhaps grey, it's the middle way, but I prefer have a little hope on the innocent of this great singer (we are ok about one thing it's the quality of her songs).

oh! the comparaison between Al Capone and Jackson is hard, I think alcohol kill more people that Michael, but it's another story.

Have a nice day and stay positive Jamie.
:)
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Do not hesitate to correct me.

[Skrej]

[Kitosdad]

So now that Michael is gone, who is there to replace him?

I am not going to labour the "ifs and buts"of his accusers opinions.Whatever he did or didn't do has been resolved to the accusers satisfaction, and cleared in a court of law. He was declared innocent!
At least he was sensitive enough not to proclaim his sexual leanings (if it was true)which when contrasted against the open confessions of people like Elton John and Angelina Jolie makes a mockery of family values, and sets an objectionable example to impressionable youngsters.
These people have opened the door to all manner of public disclosures.They have proudly disclosed their sexual leanings. Does this make them acceptable to us all?
Their deviant behaviour makes my stomach turn.
Would you leave your child in the care of either of these two, and others who have been "brave" enough to come out of the cupboard?

Kitos.
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Keep it simple ... Keep it interesting.

[Prezbucky]

RIP, MJ.

He was certainly weird but sleeping in the same bed with a child is not the same as sexually assaulting that child. He may have done the former -- strange/creepy I suppose -- but he was acquitted of the latter. So to me, it's mildly slanderous to call him a pedophile. Who knows what really happened? We can't rely on gold-diggers who mounted what were likely (at least somewhat) bogus charges just to extort money out of him. He likely settled to avoid a possibly lengthy civil trial that would have taken a great deal out of him and during which he'd have been libelled increasingly.

A similar extortion scheme was tried on Kobe Bryant a few years back.

His musical career ranks among the finest since Sinatra. To me, the King of Pop belongs in rare company, with other icons like the Beatles, Elvis, the Rolling Stones.. and maybe Sinatra, Aretha and James Brown -- the biggest pop stars of the modern era.
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Prezbucky]

I was too young to listen to Michael's earliest solo ventures, but I remember plenty. I grew up with Thriller and Bad, which sold about 100,000,000 albums between them:

Thriller:
Billie Jean (IMO his best song)
Thriller
Beat It
Wanna Be Starting Something
PYT
Human Nature
The Girl Is Mine (with Paul McCartney)

Bad:
Bad
Smooth Criminal
Man In The Mirror
Dirty Diana
The Way You Make Me Feel
...and three other hits which escape my immediate recollection.

Between "Thriller" -- probably the best album of the '80s -- and "Bad", he did a couple of good songs:

"Say, Say, Say" (again with Paul McCartney)

and

"We Are The World", which was recorded after the American Music Awards presentation in 1985 or so. Michael (and Lionel Richie) wrote the song and invited some stars to sing it with him. Again, this was recorded when most of them would otherwise have been partying, and Lord knows how many such plans were broken in its production. This list tells us all we need to know of how highly the music world thought of Michael Jackson:

Stevie Wonder
Ray Charles
Willie Nelson
Bob Dylan
Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkle)
Tina Turner
Billy Joel
Diana Ross
Bruce Springsteen
Kenny Rogers
Waylon Jennings
Smokey Robinson
Lionel Richie
James Ingram
Dionne Warwick
Huey Lewis (Huey Lewis & The News)
Cyndi Lauper
Steve Perry (Journey)
Darryl Hall (Hall & Oates)
Bette Midler
Kenny Loggins
Al Jarreau
The Pointer Sisters
Kim Carnes
Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac)

...and other notables.

The man was revered by other superstars.

He was great.

Go to youtube.com and search for it -- We Are The World. Can you guess who the soloists are?
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Samatha]

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[Prezbucky]

Samatha,

Namaste.

What is "mnc"?

Thanks!
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Alaidi2304]

ok I know

[Hannahpierre]

MJ will somehow be remembered as a pedophile but for millions of fans that touched his songs will always be remembered an icon, a superstar , a well known artist that live. I salute for all his works to touch ratial discrimination, a living legacy that will be in our hearts forever. An icon who just want to heal the world by his singing.

[Political Lurker]

Crikey - This is up to 47 million now :-)


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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.