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Old 07-06-2009, 09:45 PM   #1  
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Default A "THRILLER" Of A Funeral

Seriously....I am so confussed about all the attention given to Michael Jackson's death. Of course I know it is "worthy" of news...I admit he was an icon. I just don't get it!...the attention that is.

Doesn't Stevie Wonder have way more #1's than MJ? Weren't they both about the same age when they started in the biz.

I certainly would give the "Moon Walk" award to Neil Armstrong

I seriously doubt either of these guys would get the attention for their funeral the way MJ is.

The city just north of me paid millions to prosecute him years ago and now will spend millions to bury him.

People paying thousands just to come here...to be in the city! Tickets for the funeral going off on e-bay for 10's of thousands....

Sure, he was an interesting entertainer...but hearing people say today that he saved their lives....I could not live unless I was here to say good-bye....it is history....

We had troops die today that won't get any attention outside of friends and family....

MJ seems to be a "god" world wide....

What I want to know is....

WHY?
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Old 07-06-2009, 10:00 PM   #2  
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Looks like no one's touching this with a 10-foot pole EZ!!!
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Old 07-06-2009, 10:42 PM   #3  
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I tried, but my post wouldn't "post." I'll try again.

I think it is all relative. People who grew up listening to his music and dancing the dances and wearing the styles identify deeply. Although I haven't been a fan of his for many years, I remember listening to MJ and the Jackson 5 when I was a child. He became someone who was bigger than life, and had all the tabloid drama that goes along with that kind of fame. Think of all the news coverage of the death of NASCAR's Dale Earnhart- I'm not a racing fan but it seemed to go on forever. The coverage of Princess Diana's death and life made my poor husband groan, "the womans dead, won't they ever let her rest in peace?" while I (a huge fan since my teen years) sat crying and glued to the screen for days. Think of John Lennon, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, etc. etc. The fact that these icons died young and unexpectedly greatly increases the interest. There's also the underlying fear "if this could happen to them without warning, even with all their money and fame, what about me?"

Personally, I've always felt sorry for Michael. He seemed to be a person in deep emotional distress and in his quest to become good enough and perfect enough to please his father, he became a caricature of himself in the last years of his life, the butt of many jokes. I've always hoped that he was not guilty of the crimes he was accused of, but rather the victim of money hungry maniacs who would sell their children for the right amount of cash. But only he, God, and the children know for sure. I can only hope that Michael wil finally rest in peace.

Pooh
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Old 07-06-2009, 10:47 PM   #4  
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Quote:
Doesn't Stevie Wonder have way more #1's than MJ? Weren't they both about the same age when they started in the biz.
In a word, no. I'm not a huge MJ fan in terms of his personal life (clearly), but his music was record-breaking and set the bar for musical success.

Musical Accomplishments:

Jackson had nine platinum singles in the United States, trailing only Elvis Presley (27) and Mariah Carey (10). Rihanna also has 9 platinum singles, which are only calculated by the RIAA for a fee, upon request.

Jackson had 16 gold singles in the United States, behind only Elvis Presley (54), Madonna (26), The Beatles (24), Mariah Carey (23), Janet Jackson (21), Whitney Houston (18), Elton John (17) and The Temptations (17).

Jackson's Thriller remained at number one for thirty-seven weeks, the longest-ever stay by a non-soundtrack album and second only to West Side Story.[1]

"Thriller" is the best-selling album in U.S. history, at 50 million.

Jackson was the first artist to have seven Top 10 singles from one album (Thriller), a feat matched only by his sister Janet and Bruce Springsteen.

Jackson jointly holds the record for most Grammy Awards won in a single year. He won eight awards at the 1984 ceremony. This was equaled by Carlos Santana at the 2001 ceremony.

Jackson jointly holds the record for most American Music Awards won in a single year, winning eight awards at the 1984 ceremony. This was equaled by Whitney Houston at the 1994 ceremony.

Jackson jointly holds the record for the most World Music Awards won in a single year, with five awards at the 1996 ceremony (tied with Whitney Houston from the 1994 ceremony).

Jackson holds the record for winning more Billboard awards than any other male artist, having 26.

Jackson holds the record for winning more Billboard awards than any other artist in one year, grabbing 13 in 1983.

Jackson and Presley are the only two artists with 2 sets of at least 5 consecutive number one hits (Jackson's first set was during the Jackson 5 Motown years).

Jackson had nine number one singles in the 1980s, more than any other artist during the decade

Jackson's "Bad World Tour" (1987–1989) was the highest-grossing tour ever at the time, with over $125 million earned. This record was later broken by the "Dangerous World Tour" (1992-1993) and later broken again by the "HIStory World Tour" (1996-1997), which is still the biggest tour ever in terms of international attendance (4.4 million tickets outside of USA).

Jackson has more music awards than any other artist in the history of music.

And on a personal level (not that anything would make up for the allegations of molestation, were they true), Jackson has supported more charities than any other pop singer - 39 charitable organizations either with monetary donations through sponsorships of their projects or the participation in their activities. The charities involved include AIDS Project L.A., American Cancer Society, BMI Foundation, Inc., Childhelp USA, United Negro College Fund, YMCA - 28th Street/Crenshaw, The Sickle Cell Research Fund and Volunteers of America[7].
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Old 07-06-2009, 11:19 PM   #5  
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Impressive numbers there Amanda....but if his music is really "all that and a bag of chips"...why wasn't it selling like hot cakes before he died...why is his music not being played on mainstream radio? I haven't heard him mentioned much at all since the trials...not his music anyway. All money received for worthy charities is good news.

Pooh, I seriously don't feel his death was unexpected. It seems those close to him have seen it coming for quite some time. I feel his living this long was unexpected. I feel sorry for him too, have for years.
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Old 07-06-2009, 11:27 PM   #6  
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Well, he clearly had SOME draw.

From Wikipedia, regarding his "This is It" tour, the tour scheduled for 2009-2010 that was cancelled due to his death:

Quote:
Jackson's official website allowed fans to register early for a "pre-sale" draw. The website could not deal with the large number of registrations—reportedly up to 16,000 applications a second—some fans had difficulty applying. A spokeswoman for the singer said that they were investigating the reported problems.[18] In the space of 24 hours, nearly a million people registered for pre-sale tickets, enough to fill the venue 50 times over.[19] Fans from over 200 countries registered for the pre-sale draw.[20] Tickets that had not even been printed were selling on eBay for £300.[13] Sales of Jackson's albums increased following the press conference. Overnight, sales of Off the Wall rose 200%, Bad rose 110%, Dangerous rose 165% and Thriller 25 rose 155%.[21]

The two day pre-sale began on March 11, and 40 extra dates were added to meet high demand—five of these dates were reserved in their entirety for the public sale.[22] More than 1.5  million fans caused two sites offering pre-sale tickets to crash within minutes of going online.[23] In the space of two hours, 190,000 tickets were sold.[24] Two million people tried to buy pre-sale tickets in the space of 18 hours.[25] Veronica Schmidt of The Times, stated of the reception, "Michael Jackson has floored his critics",[26] while organizers proclaimed it was a "cultural phenomenon".[27] Jackson broke the previous record, for the number of shows performed by an artist at a single venue, which was set by Prince, who hosted a 21-date residency at the same arena. According to Jackson's website, the following records were broken: "The biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city", "The most amount of people to attend a series of arena shows", "The fastest ticket sales in history".[22] Randy Phillips acknowledged that Jackson could have sold out even more dates, but this would have conflicted with other career plans the singer has.[28] 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 a few hours, all 50 dates had sold out.[29] At this stage, sales of King of Pop were up 400% and sales of Thriller were up 200%.[30] Tickets appeared on eBay for as much as £10,000.[31]
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Old 07-06-2009, 11:28 PM   #7  
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I'm hear ya EZ! Farrah Fawcett's death got so little attention with all the MJ hoopla, she was deserve worthy of more than her 5 minutes of fame in death and she sure got the shaft dying in the same time frame as MJ.
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Old 07-06-2009, 11:50 PM   #8  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mandalinn82 View Post
Well, he clearly had SOME draw.

From Wikipedia, regarding his "This is It" tour, the tour scheduled for 2009-2010 that was cancelled due to his death:
Hey...have you ever tried to get a Neil Diamond ticket?

Quote:
Originally Posted by evilwomaniamshe View Post
I'm hear ya EZ! Farrah Fawcett's death got so little attention with all the MJ hoopla, she was deserve worthy of more than her 5 minutes of fame in death and she sure got the shaft dying in the same time frame as MJ.
I agree EVIL....and she wasn't even my favorite Angel!
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Old 07-07-2009, 12:34 AM   #9  
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No offense, but Farrah was not the icon that Michael was. Farrah also lead a troubled life with Ryan O'Neal. Their son was nothing but trouble from his teen years and beyond that. She hasn't really done anything recently (before her illness, I'm talking about, not during obviously) herself that has stood out for her fans or others as worthy of discussion or media hype. Don't get me wrong, I like Farrah and her work on "The Burning Bed" was phenomenal, but her popularity was due to her looks mostly and who she was married to or had a child with.

Michael, since childhood, has entertained us. Brought fresh music to dance to, wowed us with dance moves not many could imitate, and could get a crowd to their feet by merely singing a song. Farrah is well known to the male population for her Sports Illustrated red bathing suit pin up, where as Michael was loved and adored by males and females alike. People could relate to his music. His music made you feel something when he sang- whether it was the fast paced lyric "beat it!" to which felt good when you sang it with him as you imagined telling someone to "beat it!" in anger, or the song "I'll be there" would remind you of someone special that was always there for you- maybe someone you miss that's no longer with you, or a special friend from the past to which you wonder how they're doing. See where I am going with this? No offense to Farrah, but she didn't have that impact on people like Michael did with his music.

As Amanda also listed above, he did a lot for charities, too. I'm sure Farrah did something in her lifetime, but I honestly can't not name one thing that I recall her doing. Not saying she wasn't a caring or compassionate person- she seems like she had a sweetness to her that was genuine, just looking at her in pictures makes me think she probably did something good for others that I'm not aware of, but as I said above, I just can't recall anything off the top of my head. He is well known for many of those charities, one most notable was co-writing and organinzing all the stars for the "We Are The World" song.

I'm not going to lie, as a fan of his, his death has devastated me. Much like Elvis' death did to my aunts and older cousins. Some people just really relate to him, for various reasons, and he left a trail of devastated fans behind who felt that he had much, much, much more music to make and more dance moves to choreograph before he died. The news of his death rocked me. Just rocked me. So, count me in as one of the fans who will be watching the memorial tomorrow, who will enjoy his music til the day I die, and will always wonder "what if......... had he lived, could he have done another album like Thriller again?"

Rest in Peace, Michael and Farrah. Both important to both of their fans, a huge part of my 70's and 80's past like many others in the world.

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Old 07-07-2009, 12:55 AM   #10  
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You can't tell people to NOT be upset over MJ's death. I wouldn't tell you not to be upset to someone who was an important part of your past and possible present.

Seriously? Just announce that he is not someone you wish to rest in peace and let people grieve on their own. I wasn't his biggest fan, but his music MADE a genre. Have you had as many accomplishments?

I am always little saddened by your rather cynical posts. Please keep it friendly on the forums? I love 3FC and you kind of ruin it for me sometimes.
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Old 07-07-2009, 08:13 AM   #11  
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Again allow me to remind you ~

I have never said I didn't like MJ's music

Never said I didn't think he had talent

Never told anyone they should not be upset about his death

Never accused him of anything

I just find it ....I'll use the word odd....that we will be able to "twitter" where his body is all day today.

But hey, I see things different than others sometimes!
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Old 07-07-2009, 08:17 AM   #12  
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Have you SEEN the Thriller video?

it is amazing.
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Old 07-07-2009, 08:30 AM   #13  
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IMHO - there is no explaining the public's fascination with celebrity. Sometimes when I hear of famous people dying, there is a fleeting moment of sadness for the "nevermore / what might have been" factor. But one thing's for sure, I will never feel the same sort of deep grief that I would for the passing of a dear friend or relative.

The most ridiculous thing I see is all these people who are paying MJ "tribute" who 3 weeks ago, probably would not have been so quick to associate with him due to all the controversy surrounding him the last few years.
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Old 07-07-2009, 08:54 AM   #14  
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living people can still make mistakes and get in trouble with the law, while dead people are preserved in our memories. therefore, when people die (when ANYONE dies), people have the tendency to only remember the good bits, since it seems like a dick move to go, "oh hey, Michael Jackson died. remember when he touched those kids?"
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Old 07-07-2009, 09:26 AM   #15  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by happy2bme View Post
IMHO - there is no explaining the public's fascination with celebrity. Sometimes when I hear of famous people dying, there is a fleeting moment of sadness for the "nevermore / what might have been" factor. But one thing's for sure, I will never feel the same sort of deep grief that I would for the passing of a dear friend or relative.

The most ridiculous thing I see is all these people who are paying MJ "tribute" who 3 weeks ago, probably would not have been so quick to associate with him due to all the controversy surrounding him the last few years.
i feel the same way. there are more important things to cover in the news. yes announce it but do not spend weeks on it. i personally am getting tired of hearing it every time i turn the news on.
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