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This Is It (concert residency)

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80-628: This Is It was a planned concert residency by American singer Michael Jackson , scheduled to take place at the O2 Arena in London, England, between July 13, 2009, and March 6, 2010. However, the concerts were cancelled following Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, eighteen days before the first slated performance. Jackson announced This Is It at a press conference at the O2 Arena, and said it would be his final series of concerts in London. AEG Live ,

160-407: A documentary film , Michael Jackson's This Is It , accompanied by a soundtrack album . Jackson announced This Is It at a press conference at the O2 Arena in London on March 5, 2009. The conference was attended by fans from several countries and 350 journalists. He told the crowd: "This is it. When I say this is it, it really means this is it. This is the final curtain call." Immediately after

240-547: A loss leader event – famous artists playing in small showrooms just to draw in the gambling crowds." In the music world, Las Vegas was known as the place where singers went to "die"—if their careers hadn't suffered already—and where they could earn a comparatively meager wage in their "twilight" years, entertaining tourists on the Strip alongside magicians like David Copperfield , illusionists and Siegfried & Roy 's tigers. Music journalist Jim Farber stated, "There used to be

320-964: A 13-show residency at the same venue, from July 21 to August 6, 2017. Bruce Springsteen held his 2017–18 residency, Springsteen on Broadway , at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City. In August and September 2007, the O2 Arena in London held 21 concert series titled 21 Nights in London: The Earth Tour by Prince . From January to March 2009, Luis Miguel played a run of 25 shows at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City. Michael Jackson had scheduled 50 concerts series titled This Is It from July 2009 to March 2010 at The O2 Arena in London, but they were cancelled due to his death . Mexican rock band Maná signed

400-461: A certain element of cheesiness to playing in Vegas. I talked to Cher about that, and she referred to it as an ' elephant graveyard where talent goes to die' — and she was speaking of herself." Celine Dion revitalized residencies in the 21st century, with the resounding success of her A New Day... residency between 2003 and 2007. In 2011, she would begin another successful run at Caesars Palace, with

480-542: A contract through 2019. Her residencies introduced a new form of theatrical entertainment; with a fusion of song, choral ensemble, orchestral accompaniment, performance art, innovative stage craft, state-of-the-art technology, and even a tribute to her friend and idol, Michael Jackson , Dion managed to popularize the Las Vegas residency as a desirable way for top artists to essentially tour in place, letting their most dedicated fans come to them. Kurth Meline explained, "Céline

560-542: A daily to weekly print publication as it was unprofitable. The newspaper had dropped from about 70 to 30 pages in the preceding decade. The change was made by Lebedev under pressure by Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel, who has owned a 30% stake in the Evening Standard ' s parent company since 2018. On 14 June 2024, the newspaper announced it would eliminate 150 jobs. The redundancies included 70 editorial workers (out of 120), 40 office workers and 45 workers from

640-411: A high-profile campaign that backfired. In the 1960s, the paper was upstaged by The Evening News , which sold more than 1 million copies nightly. During the decade, the paper also began to publish the comic strip Modesty Blaise , which bolstered its sales throughout the 1970s. The Evening Standard ceased publishing on Saturdays on 30 November 1974, when it still produced six editions daily. In

720-545: A jug of corn liquor at a champagne party," wrote a critic for Newsweek . Nevertheless, between 1969 and 1976, Presley would perform 837 consecutive sold-out shows at the (formerly) Hilton Las Vegas, which has since been renamed the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino . In previous decades, many artists in high demand would perform multiple-show runs in various cities, such as the British pop group

800-509: A record-breaking 750,000 tickets in four hours on March 13, 2009 for his 2009–2010 This Is It residency at the O2 Arena , London, which was ultimately cancelled due to his death. Evening Standard The London Standard , formerly the Evening Standard (1904–2024) and originally The Standard (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London , England. It

880-522: A residency called U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere , which grossed $ 244.5 million from just 40 shows; Billboard described it as the "fastest grossing residency in Boxscore history". Outside of Las Vegas, Bruce Springsteen grossed over $ 113 million with 236 shows of his New York residency Springsteen on Broadway . Billy Joel grossed $ 266.8 million with his monthly residency at Madison Square Garden since 2014. Michael Jackson sold

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960-600: A residency tour at the LA Forum in Los Angeles , CA. "Maná: LA Residencia", exclusively at the venue starting March 2022 and will continue until the end of the year or until ticket sales drop. One of the most successful residencies in history was Elvis Presley 's 636 consecutive shows at the International and Las Vegas Hilton from July 1969 through December 1976. However, the box-office data for his residency

1040-570: A result. There were often considerable changes between editions in the front-page lead and the following news pages, including the Londoner's Diary , though features and reviews stayed the same. In January 2010, circulation was increased to 900,000. In May 2009, the newspaper launched a series of poster ads, each of which prominently featured the word "Sorry" in the paper's then-masthead font. These ads offered various apologies for past editorial approaches, such as "Sorry for losing touch". None of

1120-411: A rise in circulation. By the end of the 19th century, the evening edition eclipsed its morning counterpart. Both The Standard and the Evening Standard were acquired by C. Arthur Pearson in 1904. In May 1915, Edward Hulton purchased the Evening Standard from Davison Dalziel . Dalziel had purchased both papers in 1910, and closed The Standard , the morning paper, in 1916. Hulton introduced

1200-426: A series of arena shows", "The fastest ticket sales in history". Randy Phillips acknowledged that Jackson could have sold out even more dates, but this would have conflicted with other career plans. On March 13, the other 50% of seats for dates 1–45 and all the seats for dates 46–50 went on sale to the general public. Within four hours, all 50 dates had sold out. At this stage, the sales of King of Pop were up 400% and

1280-412: A spoken word poem entitled "Planet Earth" and a 36-page commemorative booklet with "exclusive photos of Michael from his last rehearsal". The 50 concerts for This Is It were scheduled to start on July 13, 2009, and end on March 6, 2010. The concert series was originally going to be 10 shows starting on July 8, 2009 but it was expanded on March 12, 2009 to 50 shows. Four concerts were postponed, including

1360-429: A tenth of Forbes Celebrity 100 had signed a residency contract in Las Vegas. For decades, Las Vegas has been the central destination for concert residencies. New York City has also grown as a residency destination, beginning with Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden in 2014. In 2022 Harry Styles performed 15 nights at Madison Square Garden from August 20 to September 21. American rock band Phish also performed

1440-497: A three-month break, before resuming in the new year with 23 more shows between January 7 and March 6, 2010. Some fans petitioned for the reversal of AEG Live's decision. On June 24, 2009, several hundred seats for each show went on sale. These seats were held back until production logistics were finalized. It was suggested that after the London concerts, Jackson might head to Australia , Europe , India , China , Hong Kong and Japan before moving on to North America. Randy Phillips,

1520-412: A total of 750,000 people would have been attended all 50 shows. New York designer Zaldy was head costumer. Jay Ruckel of La Crasia Gloves recreated Jackson's iconic single glove. The costumes were encrusted with 300,000 Swarovski crystals . From April 13–15, 2009, more than 700 dancers auditioned for Jackson, who helped select the 11 finalists. Kenny Ortega , who had collaborated with Jackson previously,

1600-462: A tradition of providing arts coverage. Its best known former art critic, Brian Sewell , was known for his acerbic view of conceptual art , Britart and the Turner Prize and his views attracted controversy and criticism in the art world. He has been described as "Britain's most famous and controversial art critic". During the 2008 London mayoral election , the newspaper – and particularly

1680-532: A week, until his death from AIDS-related complications in 1987. Liberace's 1944 debut was followed by Frank Sinatra with the Rat Pack , as well as Elvis Presley . In April 1956, Presley began a two-week concert residency at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino , following the release of his self-titled debut album . His shows were poorly-received by the conservative, middle-aged hotel guests —"like

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1760-482: Is a series of concerts , similar to a concert tour , but only performed at one location. Pollstar Awards defined residency as a run of 10 or more shows at a single venue. An artist who performs on a concert residency is called a resident performer . Concert residencies have been the staple of the Las Vegas Strip for decades, pioneered by singer-pianist Liberace in the 1940s and Frank Sinatra with

1840-631: Is further recognized as the "Queen of Las Vegas". The concept of a concert residency was established by pianist and singer Liberace with a 1944 debut in Las Vegas . Nearly ten years later, Liberace had his own show at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, which reportedly earned "Mr. Showtime" around $ 50,000 per week. After years of pursuing other projects in Los Angeles, he returned to his Vegas residency and earned around $ 300,000

1920-400: Is printed in tabloid format , and also has an online edition. In October 2009, after being purchased by Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev , the paper ended a 180-year history of paid circulation and multiple editions every day, and became a free newspaper publishing a single print edition every weekday, doubling its circulation as part of a change in its business plan. On 29 May 2024,

2000-455: Is unavailable. Celine Dion's A New Day... is the most successful concert residency of all time, grossing $ 385.1 million and drawing nearly three million people to 717 shows. Her second residency, Celine , is the second most successful one, generating $ 296 million from a total of 427 shows between 2011 and 2019. These two residencies made Dion the highest-grossing resident performer of all time. Following Celine Dion, Elton John has become

2080-509: The 2024 London mayoral election , the Evening Standard endorsed Labour candidate Sadiq Khan for Mayor of London. The Evening Standard later endorsed the Labour Party in the 2024 United Kingdom general election . On 14 December 2004, Associated Newspapers launched a Monday–Friday freesheet edition of the Evening Standard called Standard Lite to help boost circulation. This edition had 48 pages, compared with about 80 in

2160-679: The Association of Secondary Ticket Agents warned were fake. Jackson's website allowed fans to register early for a "pre-sale" draw. The website was not able to deal with the number of registrations—reportedly up to 16,000 applications a second. In the space of 24 hours, nearly a million people from around the world registered for pre-sale tickets, enough to fill the venue 50 times over. Tickets that had not even been printed were selling on auction website eBay for £300. The two-day pre-sale began on March 11, and 40 extra dates were added to meet high demand; five dates were reserved in their entirety for

2240-675: The Conservatives in the general election , saying that "the Conservatives are ready for power: they look like a government in waiting". On 5 May 2015, an editorial stated that the newspaper would again be supporting David Cameron and the Conservatives in the 2015 General Election , saying that the Conservatives have "shown themselves to be good for London". The newspaper also said "there may be good tactical reasons to vote Liberal Democrat". The Media Reform Coalition (MRC) and Goldsmiths, University of London considered that in

2320-487: The Evening Standard announced job cuts. By the end of 2019, the company reported a pre-tax loss of £13.6 million. In August 2020, the paper announced a further 115 job cuts in order to save the company. Before the COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020, the Evening Standard' s daily circulation was about 800,000. By mid-2024, it had dropped below 300,000. On 29 May 2024, the newspaper announced that it would go from

2400-631: The Evening Standard endorsed the Conservative Party. During the 2019 Conservative leadership election , the Evening Standard endorsed Boris Johnson . During the 2020 Labour leadership election , the Evening Standard endorsed Keir Starmer to become Labour leader and consequently Leader of the Opposition . The Evening Standard endorsed Liz Truss in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election . For

2480-476: The Rat Pack in the 1950s. Celine Dion 's A New Day... , from 2003 to 2007, is the most successful concert residency of all time, grossing over US$ 385 million ($ 565.73 million in 2023 dollars) and drawing nearly three million people to 717 shows. This commercial success was credited with changing and revitalizing Las Vegas residencies, which previously had the negative perception of something that performers resorted to when their careers were in decline. Dion

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2560-710: The Spice Girls ; as part of their Spiceworld Tour , the group played to over 100,000 people over the course of eight sold-out shows at London's Wembley Arena between 14 April and 26 April 1998, with an additional two concerts—each one accommodating 55,000 fans—at the much larger Wembley Stadium . After their successful run in London, the group did a "mini-residency" of six performances at the Birmingham NEC Arena, from 28 April to 6 May 1998. Kurt Melien, vice president of entertainment at Caesars Palace , explained that "Historically, Vegas residencies were more

2640-580: The Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles . On June 23, 2009, Jackson rehearsed nearly the entire show, and performed many of his songs for the last time. On June 24, 2009, Jackson met with the production team to finalize some visual elements of the show. Afterwards, he attended a meeting about a planned television special that was scheduled to air on October 31, 2009, on CBS, featuring footage of " Thriller " and " Threatened " from

2720-574: The "Media Brand of the Year" and the "Grand Prix Gold" awards at the Media Week awards in October 2010. The judges said: "[ The Standard has] quite simply ... stunned the market. Not just for the act of going free, but because editorial quality has been maintained, circulation has almost trebled and advertisers have responded favourably. Here is a media brand restored to health." The Standard also won

2800-580: The 1960s, the paper's political editor Robert Carvel was granted a morning briefing by prime minister Harold Wilson and it had its own correspondents in Paris and Washington . In 1980, Express Newspapers merged the Standard with Associated Newspapers ' Evening News in a Joint Operating Agreement . The new paper was known as the New Standard until 1985, when Associated Newspapers bought out

2880-521: The 2010s, many other major performers have followed suit and accepted residency offers. This includes a variety of top acts, such as EDM DJs Tiesto and Calvin Harris , pop and R&B performers (including Adele , Jennifer Lopez , Diana Ross , Katy Perry , Usher , and Mariah Carey ), and rock bands (such as Def Leppard and Aerosmith ). Towards the end of the decade, there were even shows by hip hop acts such as Drake and Cardi B . By 2017,

2960-529: The 2016 elections , the Evening Standard favoured the Conservative Party, according to MRC chair Justin Schlosberg. There were almost twice as many positive headlines about the Conservative candidate, Zac Goldsmith , as for his Labour rival, Sadiq Khan , with stories exhibiting the strongest bias against Khan also being the most prominent. In the 2017 and 2019 United Kingdom general elections ,

3040-743: The CEO of AEG Live , told the LA Times that Australia was part of Michael Jackson's international tour plans. Rehearsals took place six days per week at three locations in California from April to June 2009. Jackson did not attend every rehearsal. From mid-April through May 29, 2009, rehearsals took place at Center Staging in Burbank . From June 1–20, 2009, rehearsals took place at The Forum in Inglewood . From June 22–25, 2009, rehearsals took place at

3120-517: The Russian businessman and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny Lebedev , who in 2010 went on to own The Independent , agreed to acquire control of the Evening Standard for £1 for 64 per cent ownership. A few years earlier, 12 per cent of the paper had been sold to Justin Shaw and Geordie Greig . Associated Newspapers retained the remaining 24 per cent. In November 2009, it

3200-471: The This Is It concerts; the case was dismissed. After Jackson's death, AEG Live offered either refunds to ticket holders or a special "souvenir" ticket designed by Jackson. The cancelled shows, record-breaking ticket sales and potential for a world tour led to This Is It being described as "the greatest concert[s] that never happened". Columbia Pictures acquired the footage of the rehearsals and released

3280-594: The central area, but later became available in the evening from its street distributors. With the sale of the Evening Standard , but not the London Lite , to Alexander Lebedev on 21 January 2009, the ownership links between the Standard and the Lite were broken. On Fridays, the newspaper includes a free glossy lifestyle magazine, ES (launched as the Evening Standard Magazine in 2009, ) and

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3360-623: The circulation was increased to 350,000 in September 2014. This has moved from more general articles to concentrate on glamour, with features on the rich, powerful and famous. On Wednesdays, some areas offer a free copy of the Homes & Property supplement, edited by Janice Morley, which includes London property listings and articles from lifestyle journalists including Barbara Chandler, Katie Law, and Alison Cork . A free entertainment guide supplement Metro Life , previously called Hot Tickets ,

3440-512: The concert promoter, the alleged contractual agreement prevented Jackson from performing elsewhere before the reunion concert and for a three-month period after it. Thus, agreeing to a 50 date residency at the O2 Arena was an alleged breach of the Allgood Entertainment contract. The filing company stated that AEG Live knew of the alleged agreement with Jackson and used their dominance in the industry to coerce Jackson into agreeing to

3520-426: The concert promoters, released a promotional video that used an entire commercial break on ITV , setting an ITV record. Initially, only 10 concerts were announced, but 40 more were added following public demand. Ticket sales broke several records and Jackson's album sales increased following the announcement. More than 1.5 million fans caused two sites offering pre-sale tickets to crash within minutes of going online. In

3600-494: The conference, a statement confirmed that Jackson would play 10 shows at the London O2 Arena, "performing in London for the last time". The statement promised "an explosive return with a band of the highest calibre, a state-of-the-art stage show and incredible surprise support acts". Jackson had not toured since the 1996–1997 HIStory World Tour . In 2005, he was acquitted of child sexual abuse charges , and kept out of

3680-432: The correspondent Andrew Gilligan – published articles in support of the Conservative candidate, Boris Johnson , including frequent front-page headlines condemning Labour opponent Ken Livingstone . This included the headline "Suicide bomb backer runs Ken's campaign". On 5 May 2010, the newspaper stated in an editorial that, having supported Labour under Tony Blair , the newspaper would be supporting David Cameron and

3760-684: The daily newspaper of the year award at the London Press Club Awards in May 2011. The Evening Standard launched a mobile app with US app developer Handmark in May 2010. The range of apps was updated in 2015. In March 2018, editor George Osborne initiated a redesign of the paper, which included dropping the "London" from its title in a signal of the paper's ambition to have greater national and international influence. The paper also introduced more colourful "signposting" for different sections such as news, comment, and business, as it

3840-415: The deal was the "showbiz coup of the decade" for AEG Live, while The Independent remarked that the finalized 50 concerts would provide London with a "much-needed" economic boost. Joe Cohen, chief executive of Seatwave , told BBC 6 Music that the shows would generate £1 billion for the economy. Sales of Jackson's albums increased following the press conference. Some websites offered early tickets, which

3920-474: The first slated This Is It performance, Jackson died after suffering a cardiac arrest caused by an overdose of propofol and benzodiazepines . AEG Live, who persuaded Jackson to sign up for the shows, faced a liability of up to £300 million and an empty venue for the next nine months. The O2 Arena stated that full refunds, including all ticket service charges, would be available to those who purchased tickets through authorized agents, and that fans would also have

4000-527: The gossip column Londoner's Diary , originally billed as "a column written by gentlemen for gentlemen". In 1923, Lord Beaverbrook , owner of the Daily Express , bought Hulton's newspapers, although he sold them shortly thereafter to the Daily Mail ' s owner Lord Rothermere , with the exception of the Standard . It became a staunchly Conservative paper, harshly attacking Labour in 1945 in

4080-450: The live performance. The film was released on October 28, 2009. An accompanying album to the film was also released. Titled This Is It , the compilation was distributed internationally on October 26, and to North America the following day. The two-disc album features music "inspired from the documentary of the same name". Of the album, Sony said, "Disc one will feature the original album masters of some of Michael's biggest hits arranged in

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4160-409: The main paper, which also had a supplement on most days. In August 2006, the freesheet was relaunched as London Lite . It was designed to be especially attractive to younger female readers and featured a wide range of lifestyle articles, but less news and business news than the main paper. It was initially available only between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at Evening Standard vendors and in

4240-552: The new name of "The London Standard". From July 2020 to October 2021, the newspaper's editor was Emily Sheffield , sister of Samantha Cameron , who took over from the former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne , who became editor-in-chief. As editor he had replaced Sarah Sands who, in turn, had replaced Geordie Greig following his departure to The Mail on Sunday in March 2012. Veronica Wadley

4320-423: The newspaper announced that it would reduce print publication to once weekly, after nearly 200 years of daily publication, as it had become unprofitable. Daily publication ended on 19 September 2024. The first weekly edition was published on 26 September 2024 under the new name of The London Standard . The newspaper was founded by barrister Stanley Lees Giffard on 21 May 1827 as The Standard . The early owner of

4400-426: The occasion by giving away 650,000 free copies on the day, and refreshed its sports coverage. After a long history of paid circulation, on 12 October 2009, the Standard became a free newspaper, with free circulation of 700,000, limited to central London. In February 2010, a paid-for circulation version became available in suburban areas of London for 20p (although many places sell it for 50p). The newspaper won

4480-404: The opening show which was rescheduled to July 13, 2009. Each of the shows would have been performed at the O2 Arena to approximately 15,000 people per show; approximately 750,000 people would have attended all 50 shows. Musicians Dancers Production and other personnel Concert residency A concert residency (also known as musical residency or simply residency )

4560-515: The option to receive the tickets as souvenirs instead of a refund. Fans who bought their tickets from private sellers potentially faced problems. eBay recommended that purchasers contact their sellers for refunds and stated that those who used PayPal could get refunds if the purchase was made during the last 45 days. PayPal later announced that all ticket buyers would receive a full refund. Following Jackson's death, AEG stated that they had "more than 100 hours of footage of preparations and rehearsals for

4640-622: The paper was Charles Baldwin. Under the ownership of James Johnstone , The Standard became a morning paper from 29 June 1857. The Evening Standard was published from 11 June 1859. The Standard gained eminence for its detailed foreign news, notably its reporting of events of the American Civil War (1861–1865), the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, all contributing to

4720-405: The paper's printing and distribution operations at Broxbourne . Lebedev proposed to make statutory minimum payments plus £1,000, capped at £21,000, to those made redundant . On 29 July 2024, the last Friday and Monday editions had been printed, and on Thursday 19 September 2024 the last daily format edition was printed. The weekly edition was published on Thursdays from 26 September 2024 under

4800-476: The posters mentioned the Evening Standard by name, although they featured the paper's Eros logo. Ex-editor Veronica Wadley criticised the " Pravda -style" campaign saying it humiliated the paper's staff and insulted its readers. The campaign was designed by McCann Erickson . Also in May 2009, the paper relaunched as the London Evening Standard with a new layout and masthead, marking

4880-539: The press conference, promotional posters for the residency were displayed around London. Further promotion took up an entire commercial break period on ITV London during Dancing on Ice , the first time this has ever happened for a musical artist. The advert, which cost £1 million to air, was viewed by 11 million people. The shows, Jackson's first significant concert events since the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration in 2001, had been deemed one of

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4960-401: The profits and that AEG Live will get the remaining 10% from the film's revenue. The film was directed by Kenny Ortega who was also the director of the live concert. It was compiled mostly from footage that was shot as reference for production discussions and was never meant to be shown publicly. Some of the music and vocals in the film were added from previous recordings, though most were from

5040-460: The public eye in the years following. Reports circulated that he was facing financial problems; he had closed his Neverland Ranch residence and auctioned more than 2,000 possessions. The Independent reported that "for a man who has been absent for 10 years from the stage, after a messy court battle to shake off the paedophilia charges, a reputed cash crisis and the loss of his ranch, Michael Jackson looked surprisingly rehabilitated". Hours before

5120-410: The public sale. More than 1.5 million fans caused two sites offering pre-sale tickets to crash within minutes of going online. In the space of four hours, 750,000 tickets were sold. Two million people tried to buy pre-sale tickets in the space of 18 hours. Veronica Schmidt of The Times said that "Michael Jackson has floored his critics", while organizers proclaimed it a "cultural phenomenon". Jackson

5200-474: The remaining stake, turning it into The Standard . In 1987 the Evening News was briefly revived to compete with Robert Maxwell 's London Daily News , but was reabsorbed into The Standard later that year, after the collapse of Maxwell's paper. In 1988 the Evening Standard included the by-line "Incorporating the 'Evening News ' ", which remained until the paper's sale in 2009. On 21 January 2009,

5280-408: The residency. In August 2010, the judge dismissed the case, stating that there was no evidence of a binding agreement, no contracts were signed. The case was in limbo as of 2013. The 50-concert run was originally slated to start on July 8, 2009 and conclude on February 24, 2010. Each of the shows would have been performed at the O2 Arena in London, to approximately 15,000 people per show; approximately

5360-416: The sales of Thriller were up 200%. Tickets appeared on eBay for as much as £10,000. In June 2009, concert promoter Allgood Entertainment, represented by Ira Meyerowitz and Jon Kekielek of MJlawfirm, sued Jackson for $ 40 million. He claimed that Jackson, through his manager Frank DiLeo , had agreed to a single and a $ 30 million reunion concert with The Jackson 5 and his sister Janet Jackson . According to

5440-459: The same sequence as they appear in the film" and stated that "the disc ends with two versions of the 'never-released' ' This Is It ' [...] This song is featured in the film's closing sequence and includes backing vocals by Michael's brothers, The Jacksons and Alvin Chea of Take 6." Sony added that the second disc will feature previously unreleased versions from Jackson's "catalogue of hits", along with

5520-482: The second-most successful concert resident performer; his Red Piano residency grossed a reported $ 169 million between 2004 and 2009, and his Million Dollar Piano residency grossed $ 131 million between 2011 and 2018. Another top-selling residency was Britney Spears's Britney: Piece of Me , which began in December 2013 and ended in December 2017, grossing $ 137.7 million. From 2023 to 2024, U2 staged

5600-482: The shows". On August 10, 2009, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff approved a deal between film distributor Columbia Pictures and AEG Live for the former company to purchase and distribute rehearsal footage of Jackson for a film entitled Michael Jackson's This Is It . According to court documents, Columbia paid $ 60 million (£35 million) for rights to the rehearsal footage. The papers filed in court had reportedly stated that Jackson's estate will get 90% of

5680-436: The shows. Jackson and Ferrigno had previously worked together. On May 20, 2009, it was announced that the first concert would have been postponed from five days to July 13, and three other July 2009 dates would also being postponed to March 2010. AEG Live said that the delay was necessary because more time was needed for dress rehearsals. The revised schedule called for 27 shows between July 13 and September 29, 2009, followed by

5760-523: The shows. Later, Jackson rehearsed three songs: "Thriller", "Threatened", and " Earth Song ". Jackson's performance of "Earth Song" was ultimately his final performance on stage before his death the next morning. Prior to Jackson's death, production rehearsals were scheduled to continue at the Staples Center through July 2, 2009. Rehearsals were scheduled to resume at the O2 Arena in London from July 7–12, 2009. On June 25, 2009, eighteen days before

5840-557: The space of four hours, 750,000 tickets were sold. Two million people tried to buy pre-sale tickets in the space of 18 hours. AEG Live estimated that the first 10 concerts would have earned Jackson approximately £50 million. In preparation for the concert series, Jackson had collaborated with figures including fashion designer Christian Audigier , choreographer Kenny Ortega and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno . Prior to his death, Allgood Entertainment sued him for $ 40 million, claiming that he had breached an exclusivity agreement by agreeing to

5920-434: The year's most important musical events. Randy Phillips, president and chief executive of AEG Live , stated that the first 10 dates would earn Jackson approximately £50 million (about US$ 80.1 million). The Guardian characterized the concerts as an "astonishing comeback for a man who in recent years has been dogged by controversy", adding that Jackson still had "enormous commercial clout". The Evening Standard stated that

6000-460: Was a pioneer without question. Twenty years ago, we couldn't have got someone the stature of Britney Spears to appear in Vegas. Stars like her would never have considered it if Céline hadn't paved the way. She changed the face of modern Vegas." Dion's second residency, Celine , saw her perform a record-breaking 1,000th show at The Colosseum on October 8, 2016, which she dedicated to the memory of her late husband and manager, Rene Angelil . Since

6080-427: Was announced that the London Evening Standard would drop its morning "News Extra" edition from 4 January 2010. From then on, the first edition was the "West End Final", available from 2 pm. One edition of 600,000 copies would be printed starting at 12:30 pm, ending 5.30 am starts for journalists and the previous deadline of 7 am for the first edition. Twenty people were expected to lose their jobs as

6160-423: Was noted by Osborne that it had not been "easy" to find them inside the paper previously. The masthead was also redesigned with a new font, and emojis were added to the paper's five-day weather forecast. In May 2018, James Cusick of openDemocracy alleged the newspaper had been providing favourable news coverage to companies, including Uber and Google , in exchange for financial sponsorship. In June 2019,

6240-403: Was set to break the record for number of shows performed by an artist at a single venue, which had been set by Prince , who hosted a residency at the same arena for his 21 Nights in London: The Earth Tour concerts. According to Jackson's website, the following records were or would have been broken: "The biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city", "The greatest number of people to attend

6320-621: Was the newspaper's editor between 2002 and 2009. Max Hastings was editor from 1996 until he retired in 2002. The Evening Standard , a regional newspaper, emphasises London-centred news (especially in its features pages), covering building developments, property prices, traffic schemes, politics, the congestion charge and, in the Londoner's Diary page, gossip on the social scene, and also covers significant national and international news. It also occasionally runs campaigns on London issues that national newspapers do not cover in detail. It has

6400-476: Was to work on the overall design and direction of concerts. Ortega said that the final product would have been a "theatrical musical experience". According to Randy Phillips, $ 20 million was to be spent on producing the concerts, which would have included 18–22 songs and 22 different sets. There also would have been aerial dancing similar to routines by Cirque du Soleil . Carla Ferrigno told Reuters that her husband Lou had been helping Jackson train in advance of

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