Comments from the director of the Michael Jackson memorial concert in Wales
You know that on October 8 in Wales, a concert will be held to commemorate Michael Jackson. Some members of the Jackson family—Jannet, Jermaine, and Randy—are against it because the concert coincides with the trial of Conrad Murray, accused of murdering their brother. A while back, one of the officials of the company organizing the concert, Global Live Events, and Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, appeared on CNN and provided details about the concert. One of those details was the performance by the band KISS and its singer, Gene Simmons.
Gene Simmons had previously made insulting remarks about Michael. Michael’s fans strongly objected to inviting KISS, and 35 online fan communities, in a open letter, called for the concert to be canceled.
Now Andy Pichta, the director of the concert, has contacted fan websites and provided explanations, which we read below:
Inviting KISS and Gene Simmons
Pichta says that the other members of the Jackson family were not aware of the invitation to KISS. Moreover, they had not done any research or searches about Gene Simmons on the internet and didn’t know anything about his insulting comments. But they are happy that, after learning about this, they withdrew their invitation and crossed out Gene Simmons and KISS from the list of performers for this concert.
Pichta says the reason they decided to invite KISS to take part in the concert was that Michael was a fan of the band. Of course, Michael isn’t here to tell us his opinion on this, but as Michael’s fans we know he never directed criticism in the media at people. He respected everyone, even Eminem, who had disrespected him in his own video. He expressed his love for everyone without conditions, and he praised all artists (and even anti-artists: in the case of Gene Simmons) big and small for their achievements and for their good or bad music.
Why is the company now thinking about contacting fan communities?
Pichta says that until now they have done many concerts and programs for different artists, and fans are always taken into account, but very rarely. That’s because fans of other artists don’t get so involved in these matters. But with Michael Jackson it’s completely different, and they hadn’t been aware of this. In other words, they didn’t know Michael Jackson’s fans.
Pichta says that if they had known, they would have consulted fan communities first, before anything else.
He adds at the end that they simply thought holding a memorial concert would be a good idea.
A scheduling crisis
Why wasn’t the concert planned for June 25 (the date of death) or August 29 (birthday)?
Pichta says they had such an intention, but because the singers were not available on those days, they abandoned that decision.
Why October 8?
Why should this concert be held in the middle of the trial of the man accused of murdering Michael?
Pichta says October 8 is one day after the anniversary of the first release of Michael Jackson’s first solo single. “Got To Be There” was released on October 7, 1971, and it marked the beginning of Michael’s solo career. Before that, he had released all his songs with The Jackson Five and The Jacksons. The October 8 concert in Wales marks four decades since the start of Michael Jackson’s solo career.
Ticket prices
Pichta says that high prices for an event like this in the UK are normal.
Charity
Pichta says his company has signed contracts with two charity foundations: Aids LA and Prince’s Trust. In 1988, Michael held a charity concert for Prince’s Trust. These two charities share in the profits from ticket sales and the television broadcast of the event.
Guarantee of the performance
Pichta says that if it’s said that, for example, Ne-Yo will perform at the ceremony and someone buys a ticket because of that and then doesn’t see Ne-Yo’s performance, UK law allows him to get back all the money he paid. So there’s no need for the company to provide any guarantee.
The Michael Jackson Foundation
The trustees of the Michael Jackson Foundation are chosen by Michael himself. For fan communities, it’s very important that the foundation be involved as the first line of protection for Michael Jackson’s legacy in any decision-making, even for a memorial concert of this kind and size. But why didn’t the company contact the foundation before making the decision and announcing the concert, and even after that?
Pichta says they respect the foundation, but according to UK rules, they are allowed to perform any song by any artist as long as they pay the rights to use it. An organization in the UK receives 25% of ticket sales revenue for legal processing.
He also says he doesn’t think they are working against the foundation; rather, they are working alongside it.
The Jackson family
Pichta says that 13 members of the Jackson family will be among the performers and/or the audience of this concert.
In response to the invitation to perform, Janet Jackson, Michael’s younger sister, had said that because it coincides with the trial of Conrad Murray, it isn’t right for her to attend this concert.
Source: eMJey.com / Global Live Events