King Phillip II

It's well known that Michael was a huge fan of art. Apparently Neverland Ranch had tons of painted portraits of him in it. This one, called "Equestrian Portrait of King Phillip II," was completed after his death and recently auctioned for $175,000.

It's definitely a little eccentric, but still cool at the same time. I mean, he is the king of pop, so he might as well have regal portraits of himself, right?

There Really is an App for Everything

So I was at work today, bored as ever, and I decided to pull out my handy dandy iPhone. It's the second one I've had in five months, costing me a cool $400 (another story for another time), and I figured I better start using it as much as humanly possible to get my money's worth.

I looked for Michael Jackson apps, and to my surprise, there were quite a few in the app store. I bought a free one called "This Aint It." It's basically a trivia game that asks you questions about MJ's life and career. It's pretty decent for a random, free MJ app.

There really is an app for everything, even Michael Jackson trivia.

The AMAs

Last Sunday, the American Music Awards aired live on ABC. Janet opened the show with a medley of her greatest hits and then her newest song "Make Me." There were other lackluster performances from Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Eminem and 50 Cent, and Adam Lambert. Whitney Houston won a special international artist award for her worldwide success and performed, too.

I think the biggest shocker was the fact that Taylor Swift, of all people, won the 2009 Artist of the Year award. She's a big star in her own right, yes, but artist of the year? That's a stretch. And let's be honest...would she really be getting that award if Kanye hadn't have interrupted her speech at the VMAs? I highly doubt it.

Oh well. Michael set the record for the most AMAs won by a single artist (23). I don't think Artist of the Year doesn't suit him anyway. He's more like...the Artist of the Century.

Accuser's Father Commits Suicide

Almost two weeks ago, Evan Chandler, the father of the supposed victim of child molestation in the 1993 case, was found dead in his home after shooting himself in the head.



Chandler reportedly received a $20 million settlement from MJ in 1993, so why was he so depressed? Some people are claiming that he was bipolar and had some type of medical condition, others say it was because he was estranged from all of his children and family, but I personally think there's probably more to it than that.



Money definitely can't buy happiness, especially if the money is coming from sexual molestation accusations.

The Importance of the Message - "Keep the Faith"

The first MJ album that I really got into was Dangerous. In middle school, I used to listen to that album over and over again. I knew (and still know) every song and every word. I personally think it's the best out of Michael's four classic albums (Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous).




Song 12 on the album is called "Keep the Faith." It has some typical MJ characteristics in it - catchy chorus, MJ's pop vocals, and a heartfelt message - but it's something you really never expected from him at the same time. The song is basically an anthem for perseverance and having faith in your ability to be successful in whatever you choose. A choir sings the backup vocals in the song, too, something that's extremely rare for a Michael Jackson song. But it's Michael's own version of a gospel song, and it works.



Take a listen here. It's one of those songs that has a funny way of picking you up when you're feeling down.

MJ Blogs

I'm sorry for being so late on this, but there are tons of Michael Jackson blogs out there and I wanted to make sure I picked some quality ones before I posted them on here:

http://www.mjfanclub.net/home/index.php
http://michaeljacksonbeat.blogspot.com/
http://www.allmichaeljackson.com/blog/index.html

All three provide important newsworthy information, but more importantly, they celebrate the life and music of MJ.

Take a peek. Their layouts are pretty awesome, especially the first one.

Exploitation Ctd.

Who needs the iPhone when you can have this?

I wonder if this will ever stop...

Doubt it.

He did it again...

This Is It made $101 million in the first five days. That makes it the highest grossing concert movie of all time.

It's truly deserved...

This Is It

I went to see This Is It Thursday night with my friend Tiffany. There were about 20 people in the theater for the 10:00 p.m. showing. The showing before that at 9:20 was completely sold out. With slurpee and popcorn in hand, I watched the last rehearsals of Michael Jackson's life.

The movie opened with newly hired dancers describing how much it meant to them to become a part of MJ's concert staff. Some were ecstatic, some were overwhelmed, some were just shocked. Then, the movie jumped into the concert rehearsals and the music.

The movie displayed footage of the MJ classics, including killer new 3D concert simulations for "Smooth Criminal" and "Thriller." The best part about the movie was watching MJ at work, though. For the first time, the public really got to see how this guy worked. He was so meticulous, so specific in what he wanted. But when he corrected his band and the directors, he'd always do it in love and say "God bless you" afterwards. Probably the nicest person ever when it comes to rehearsals.

MJ's band was AMAZING to say the least. Being the huge fan that I am, I noticed that a lot of the band members were the same from previous concert tours. It was cool to see them at work with younger bandmates too, and to see two generations merging over one person's music was pretty awesome.

Overall, I thought it was a great movie for people who enjoy MJ and his music, or people who enjoy great music in general. It never really hits you that Michael is gone until the end, strictly because of the finality of never seeing the fruit of his labors. The movie just...ends, just like his life ended. But the music the man left behind is priceless, and that alone makes this movie worth seeing.

T-Minus 3 Days...

"This Is It" hits theatres at midnight on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

Get your tickets! It's only out for two weeks, and it's going to be amazing...

"Back In The Day"

Joel told me about this MJ article in GQ. I decided to pass it on to you all.

Simply put, it's a great article. The thing I enjoyed the most about it? Its honesty.

Sullivan doesn't put Michael on an untouchable pedestal, but he doesn't ridicule him unnecessarily either. He portrays the ups and downs, postives and negatives of a human being, a human being who just happened to be the biggest pop star in the world.

I think the most striking lines in the piece are the first three paragraphs:

How do you talk about Michael Jackson unless you begin with Prince Screws? Prince Screws was an Alabama cotton-plantation slave who became a tenant farmer after the Civil War, likely on his old master's land. His son, Prince Screws Jr., bought a small farm. And that man's son, Prince Screws III, left home for Indiana, where he found work as a Pullman porter, part of the exodus of southern blacks to the northern industrial cities.

There came a disruption in the line. This last Prince Screws, the one who went north, would have no sons. He had two daughters, Kattie and Hattie. Kattie gave birth to ten children, the eighth a boy, Michael—who would name his sons Prince, to honor his mother, whom he adored, and to signal a restoration. So the ridiculous moniker given by a white man to his black slave, the way you might name a dog, was bestowed by a black king upon his pale-skinned sons and heirs.

We took the name for an affectation and mocked it.

And with that, I encourage you to keep reading...

Warhol and MJ

On November 10, this portait of Michael Jackson will be going on the auction block in New York. The portrait was created in 1984 during the whole Thriller phenomenon. Apparently a similar portrait sold for over $1 million in August.

I don't know about you, but if I was rich, I would buy it.

What's Really in a Name...or 19?

According to The Business Insider, MJ had 19, I repeat, 19 different names that he bought prescription drugs under.

Wow, I don't even know what to say about this. The fact that this was even possible is despicable.

Want some burnt hair?

Today in London rich obsessive fans can bid on a clump of Elvis' hair from 1958 as well as 12 strands of MJ's burnt hair from the 1984 Pepsi commercial.

Nevermind that there is burnt hair remaining from an incident that happened 25 years ago. The bigger question is why does this producer named Ralph Cohen have this hair?! You picked up MJ's hair off of the ground to keep it in hopes of one day selling it?

Michael only received $1.5 million from Pepsi. Imagine if he had known that the producer was collecting his hair at that moment. The settlement would've been bonkers.

I guess this is just another case of exploitation. Sad to see but true to form...

"This Is It" Clip

One of the most exciting aspects of this upcoming movie is the ultimate backstage pass that the viewers will be getting. For once, all of MJ's fans and admirers will get to see the method behind the madness, something the average fan has never had the chance to experience. This clip is just a taste of what the movie will show, but even in this 1:48, we can see Michael Jackson's perfectionist tendencies emerge.

Watch his body language. He knows every beat, every hit, every note.

This guy is a genius.

"This is It"

MJ's newest single "This is It" was released on his official website today at midnight. Apparently the song was just his voice and the piano chords at the start, but producers added other instruments and his brothers' backup vocals.

The song is pretty good. Michael would have done it better, but listening to his strong vocals, you can tell that he's still got it.

RIP MJ.

Thrill the World

This is pretty cool but pretty pointless at the same time. Apparently there's a group of people who sign up to perform the "Thriller" dance simultaneously in different locations all over the world.

All I can say is that it really is amazing to see what issues people will get behind these days. A significantly large group of Michael fans, from all different walks of life, can agree to come together and learn some dance moves, so why can't people come together on important, life-changing issues?

Makes you wonder...

The Importance of the Message - "Black or White"

One of the reasons I love Michael Jackson is because of the message behind his music. Sure, he, like everyone else, had songs that were pretty irrelevant to issues concerning the world, but a lot of his stuff has meaning to it. If you didn't pick up on the meaning from the song itself, you could definitely find it in his music videos. Whether you agree or disagree with his status as the King of Pop, you can't deny that he was the King of the Music Video.

One of my earliest childhood memories was watching a Michael Jackson video with my parents. Weird I know, but it's stuck with me all these years. I was 3 years old and was watching the "Black or White" video on my parents' bed. You have to understand - this was back in the day when MJ videos made people stop in their tracks. It was a world premiere, the first single released from the Dangerous album, and my parents and I were watching right along with the rest of the world.

The morphing faces towards the end of the song had the biggest impact on me. That was something no one had ever seen before on television, especially not at that precision and quality. But the message behind the faces stuck out to me, too.

I'm a biracial kid. My mother is white and my father is black. They're an interracial couple, and have been for nearly 35 years. The ridicule they've faced, especially living in Indiana, is unbelievable. Bringing a child into the world didn't exactly make things easier.

But when the three of us watched that music video, something happened inside of us. To see someone of Michael Jackson's caliber and fame saying that it really doesn't matter what you look like or what color you are was huge to us. I was only 3 years old, but even then I knew the importance of watching someone on tv say that my family was okay, even if we were two different colors. We already knew that it was true, but to have somebody of that stature in the world verify was made us feel good. Really good.

I can remember my dad saying, "Did you see that? Just watch. Now everybody's going to have commercials and stuff with people's faces morphing." But looking back, I can honestly say the smile on his and my mom's face said so much more.

It was a good day in Cheatham household.

P.s. Check out the end of the video when MJ's crashing windows and stuff. I didn't remember this part of the video, but the message still carries through. In the words of MJ, "prejudice is ignorance."

What the...?

I'm sure most of you saw this video on the Daily Dish a few days ago.

Just wanted to repost this craziness. Get on down lady!

Uh Oh.....

So some details on MJ's autopsy report were finally released yesterday.

Guess what? The man was in relatively good shape for 50-year-old.

And guess what else? There were no other drugs in his systems besides the propofol and other sedatives Dr. Conrad Murray administered to him the night before.

This is starting to sound like a really real homicide. Someone's in BIG trouble...

"Working Stiffs?"

Explotation has undoubtedly been a major repercussion of Michael Jackson's death. It seems like everybody has something to say, some tidbit of mostly worthless information about MJ that they need to capitalize on. In the past three days, I've seen two news specials dealing with this, one particularly devoted to MJ and one that touches on the explotation of dead stars in general.

The first was a Dateline special called "The Michael Jackson Tapes." One of Michael's "friends," Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, discussed their friendship and personal conversations that he and MJ had had over the years. The man played parts of these recorded yet private conversations during the special. I couldn't believe it, but at the same time, I wasn't really surprised.

The second was a story on 60 Minutes. Here's a preview called "Working Stiffs." An agent in my hometown of Indianapolis basically described how lucrative it is to represent the entertainment industry's deceased.

The 60 Minutes special didn't bother me so much because apparently this agent was responsible for setting up some laws/rules allowing a star's estate can be protected and profitable after they're dead. I can appreciate that...to an extent.

But the rabbi? I don't know about that one. Why in the world would you expose this man's personal conversations about his inner demons that he chose to share with you? What a friend. I don't understand how that can be beneficial to this dead man, or to his kids, or to his philanthropic efforts, or to his estate. Why would you do that, unless you wanted to create some type of advantage for yourself? And the worst part? This man is supposed to be a man of God. As a Christian, I have a tremendous fear of the Lord...and I know God doesn't approve of people taking advantage of others. I know Rabbi Shmuley knows that, too.

The rabbi isn't alone, though. LaToya seems to be making quite the comeback recently. Seems like family members are always the worst. Figures.

Keep your eyes peeled. I'm sure we'll all be seeing and hearing more and more useless information about Michael in the weeks and months to come. That is really unfortunate.

Tickets! Tickets!

Tickets for MJ's movie "This Is It" went on sale today. The movie is only running for two weeks, so you should buy them as soon as possible if you're interested. Clearly, some devoted fans in L.A. were very interested. If I was in L.A., I probably would've been right there with them.

T-Minus 37 Days

Fasten your seatbelts. You're about to get a taste of pure entertainment ecstacy.

"You can't take it with you..."

Not even ferris wheels. RIP Michael.

In Honor of the Last Day of Summer...

Why, of all things, Michael Jackson?

I've always been interested in music. My dad played music. I play music. It's in my blood...

That being said, I've always respected "the greats," those musical artists whose work is timeless, who still influence everything that we listen to today. James Brown, Sly and The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire. The list goes on and on.

And who better to represent those greats than Michael Jackson?

He was eccentric, yes. A little crazy? Definitely. Plagued by child molestation rumors and constantly ridiculed? Undisputably. But regardless of what you think about him, you can't argue that he is arguably the greatest artist of all time.

This blog is a tribute to his influence, his legacy, and his music...music that continues to be and will always remain TIMELESS.