Popstar Michael Jackson maintained a low profile Sunday during a weekend visit to the German port city of Hamburg where he was reported to be staying at the suburban home of a friend.

An attempt to go out Saturday night came to nothing, apparently because the 47-year-old King of Pop was put off by crowds of fans and reporters staking out the house in a quiet, snow-covered district on the city’s outskirts.

Police used several patrol cars to form a road block that would enable a quick getaway, but Jackson failed to emerge.

The mass-circulation daily Bild reported Saturday that Jackson was the guest of a 23-year-old man, his sister and parents. The acquaintance reportedly dates back to a Jackson TV appearance in Germany in 1995 when his host was 12.

A photo in Bild suggested Jackson was not displeased by the rumpus: a scrawled sheet of paper had been briefly held up in the window of the house in the direction of fans, saying, ‘I’m proud to be back in Hamburg. You make me so happy. I love you. Michael.’

Bild said it was unclear if Jackson or one of his hosts had been standing behind the flower-pattern curtains to hold up the sign.

Police in force patrolled the street, where nothing more exciting than dogs being walked ever usually happens.

City police spokesman Ralf Meyer said Sunday, ‘It’s probable that he’ll only be staying over the weekend.’ Jackson arrived Thursday.

Although German police do bill celebrities and sports promoters for extra security, Meyer said the city would not charge Jackson or the host family. ‘They didn’t encourage the public to come,’ he said.

Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Michael Jackson flew to Hamburg, Germany, on Thursday with his children, nannies and security.

He’s staying at the home of Wolfgang Schleiter, an executive of Sony BMG Music. Jackson has long been obsessed with Schleiter’s children, particularly his son Anton, who used to dress like Jackson. Anton is now about 20 years old. Jackson wrote a song on his “Invincible” album called “Speechless” about the Schleiter children.

Now pictures have turned up on the Radio Hamburg Web site of the modest Schleiter home, including one of Mrs. Schleiter taking out the garbage. Wolfgang Schleiter may not live in the house anymore, as sources have told me the couple is now separated.

Even that news is interesting. Two years ago, when Jackson was first accused of child molestation, I asked Wolfgang Schleiter if he would defend Jackson. He declined.

Jackson’s typical situation with surrogate families is to divide and conquer. In time, the father is usually usurped by Jackson, who showers the family with gifts. At Christmas, Jackson flew the Schleiters to Bahrain and did just that.

According to the Radio Hamburg Web site, Jackson flew to Hamburg on a commercial Lufthansa flight from Bahrain via Frankfurt.

Source: Roger Friedman

Michael Jackson’s long-awaited charity single wasn’t written by him. In fact, the lyrics were commissioned for a contest that was won by a songwriter who was subsequently kicked to the curb rather than rewarded for his work.

Ric Kipp, who describes himself as being in his mid-40s, is a veteran Nashville musician who works in a local wine store for $9 an hour. In 2002, he entered a songwriting competition sponsored by AOL on behalf of writers-producers David Foster and Carole Bayer-Sager for their now defunct music company, Tonos (their other partner was Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds).

The contest promised the winner that Jackson would record their song and possibly place it on an album. The song would be used for charitable purposes. Jackson was advertised as the composer of the instrumental part of the song.

But now the song, called “I Have This Dream,” could be part of an interesting authorship dispute. Kipp won the contest with his lyrics. Kipp tells me that when he was brought to a Los Angeles studio for the prize recording, Foster told him he was excited about the lyrics and wanted to use his work. But the award-winning Bayer-Sager, Kipp says, was intent on using her own lyrics.

Unfortunately, this would completely contradict the press release Tonos, Jackson and AOL released on May 10, 2002, which included this wordage:

“The contest gives AOL members the opportunity to co-write a song with the BMI-affiliated “King of Pop,” as well as with Foster and Bayer-Sager. The winning submission will be recorded by Jackson himself and may be released as part of an upcoming album. All proceeds from the song will be donated to children’s charities around the world.”

Kipp tells me that after he won the contest he was brought out to Los Angeles. Tonos and AOL gave him $1,500 for expenses, did not put him up at a hotel and kept him waiting in the studio for Jackson for several days before giving up the ghost.

Jackson was simply not coming. He never did show for the promised recording session.

Kipp says he not only wrote the lyrics but composed a musical “bridge” for Foster, who recorded the finished product with one of Faith Hill’s female back-up singers.

Kipp says that Foster’s son-in-law, Simon Gillies, even videotaped the writing sessions for a possible documentary about the contest. In the end, Kipp says he went home and “I never heard from any of these people again.”

Gillies, who ran the A&R department for Tonos, confirmed for me that he did tape the writing sessions. He also revealed that that Foster, his father-in-law and not Michael Jackson, wrote the music for the song with one of his associates.

“Jackson had nothing to do with it,” he said.

Cut to the other day, when a friend told Kipp he’d read about Jackson’s new charity single called “I Have This Dream.” If it’s ever released, the single is intended to help the people of the Gulf Coast, even though the hurricane is now almost five months in the past and other artists have already put out their own singles.

Ironies abound here: Kipp told me when I spoke to him that he’s originally from New Orleans and that his family home was wiped out by Katrina, so his relatives might benefit from any money raised by charity singles.

Unfortunately for Kipp, the “dream” in the title has become a nightmare. At first he thought winning the contest would be a breakthrough for him in the music industry. Back in 2002, when he won the contest, he thought he’d made it at last. Instead, the roller coaster ride that ensued more or less undid him.

“Rich people don’t realize what something like this does to you,” he told me. “It was like the boy who cried wolf. We thought everything was going to come from this.”

Alas, things turned out quite differently. “We were promised everything and got nothing,” he said.

Now, of course, there’s a problem. Jackson’s publicist Raymone K. Bain told me: “Kipp won the contest but his lyrics weren’t deemed worthy of a song sung by Michael Jackson. Carole told me she rewrote them.”

Bayer-Sager says that Kipp’s lyrics were simply not good enough, and that in the end she, Foster and Jackson rewrote them.

“It was always understood that Michael wouldn’t record the song if it wasn’t up to our standards,” she said.

That this philosophy undermines the whole reason for having a contest and selecting a winner was a subject she didn’t broach.

What does seem to have happened, from reading over lyric sheets that Kipp sent me, is that he won with one set of lyrics, then Foster and Bayer-Sager began massaging them. Eventually, a finished song was produced, with a combination of lyrics. But in the intervening time, Kipp’s contribution was cut to nil, and now nearly nothing remains of his work.

Bayer-Sager, Foster and AOL are all part of the Time Warner family. Bayer-Sager has had a long association with the company; she is the wife of former longtime Warner Bros. co-chairman Robert Daly.

Foster has produced and recorded exclusively for the Warner Music Group since long before it was sold to a group of investors. And AOL was famously merged into Time Warner several years ago.

Source: Roger Friedman

The 60 or so remaining employees at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch have
not been paid for their work since Dec. 23, 2005.

That’s five weeks without pay, without being able to pay for their groceries
or rent or utilities. Things are so bad that ranch manager Joe Marcus, who
testified for Jackson in his child molestation trial, has picked up and
moved to Arizona.

“Every employee of Michael Jackson in California is in trouble,” one of the
staffers told me yesterday.

And yet Jackson does not seem to care one way or another.

Yesterday, he globe-trotted from the Mideast island of Bahrain to Hamburg,
Germany, with his three kids, nannies and security.

Jackson is said to be visiting his friend Anton Schleiter, a 20-year-old,
and Schleiter’s family. Schleiter’s father, Wolfgang, works for Sony BMG
music in Hamburg.

Jackson’s next stops are said to be Munich and then Venice, Italy. How he’s
paying for all this is anyone’s guess, since he’s technically in default on
a huge loan, with threat of foreclosure on all his assets, including the
home in which his parents and siblings live.

The situation at Neverland is said to be dire. Back on Dec. 23, four weeks
had passed before those paychecks were delivered. Now five more weeks have
passed, and the word at the ranch is that there’s no date set for a
resolution.

Marcus, I am told, comes and goes at this point, making infrequent visits.

He hasn’t actually told anyone that he’s moved houses from nearby Santa
Maria, but his staff has noted that Marcus has to be picked up at the
airport in Los Angeles when he comes to work - a sure hint his commute is
longer than usual.

Jackson, meanwhile, has not seen his ranch or its loyal staff since the end
of June 2005. And according to my sources, he hasn’t bothered to pick up a
phone and call anyone who works for him in the United States in at least two
months.

At the same time, a Hamburg newspaper yesterday put a bounty on Jackson’s
head, offering thousands of euros to anyone who could get a picture of the
former King of Pop while he was in town.

Source: FOX News

Michael Jackson and his two eldest children, Prince & Paris, are in Hamburg, Germany.

The local police have confirmed reports to a daily publication Bild that Michael is staying in the area visiting a friend that he has known since a 1995 television appearance in Germany, according to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Police have had to erect barricades around the residence to prevent fans from just walking onto the property.

It has also been reported that there are further flights in Michael’s name to Munich, Venice and Paris before a final flight back to Bahrain on February 10th.

In Recognition of 10 Years in Entertainment Business

ORLANDO, FL — Grammy-nominated super-producer, Rodney Jerkins, widely
renowned as one of the greatest music producers of the last two decades at
the mere age of 28, was presented with a special commemorative plaque in
recognition of ten years in the entertainment industry, which has culminated
with more than 140 million records sold.

Jerkins, who is Grammy nominated for “Cater 2 U” by Destiny’s Child in the
Best R&B Song category, is on an exclusive, short “go to” list of top notch
producers whom A-list artists such as Alicia Keys, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez,
Madonna, Mary J.Blige, Destiny’s Child, Michael Jackson and Patti Labelle
seek out when their looking for a major hit.

The plaque presentation was made to Jerkins during a special toy drive he
hosted to benefit Toys for Tots in his hometown of Orlando, Florida.
Jerkins is currently producing an All-star, Hurricane Katrina benefit CD
double single with a remake of the classic Sister Sledge hit “We Are
Family,” due out in the second quarter of 2006.

Source: EURWEB.com

The Michael Jackson sampled track “Say Say Say” has entered the official UK Singles Charts at No.8.

Source: Yahoo

A federal judge today asked for more information before considering a motion from Michael Jackson’s attorney to dismiss a Louisiana man’s suit claiming he was molested by the pop star more than 20 years ago.

Jackson’s lawyer, Charles F- Gay Junior, asked U-S District Judge Eldon Fallon to dismiss the suit by Joseph Bartucci Junior, because the alleged incident happened more than 20 years ago.

Bartucci claims he was lured into Jackson’s limousine in 1984 and held for nine days during which he was both sexually and physically assaulted.

There is a one-year statue of limitations on the crime for adults.

Bartucci, who was 18 in 1984, argues the statue applies only from when he recovered a repressed memory of the event.

In court papers seeking to have the suit dismissed, Jackson’s attorney categorized Bartucci’s claim as a fantastic tale.

Source: U.S.

You heard it here first.

“I’ve not talked to anybody else in the media at all,” said veterinarian Dr. Martin Dinnes, the real life Dr. Doolittle who manages Michael Jackson’s menagerie at the sprawling 2,676-acre Neverland Valley Ranch. “The animals are fine. Our dispute is all settled.”

“Through all of this, all the principals, and Neverland, and MJJ, and all of Michael’s entities knew that even if I didn’t get paid,” he added, “I was going to take care of those animals.”

Dr. Dinnes, who for 20 years has helped Jackson assemble and maintain his exotic zoo, was just the latest in a long line of creditors to trundle a wheelbarrow full of unpaid bills to the county courthouse when he dunned the expatriate prince of pop for $91,602.05 on Dec. 27.

Contractors, antique dealers, jewelers, vendors, ex-wives, promoters, managers, bankers, and employees have discovered to their discomfort that Michael Jackson is a slow pay.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it had investigated a complaint from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that animals at Neverland were being mistreated. Agency veterinarians visited and found the animals in good condition.

“Attacking the health and welfare of those animals is a direct attack on me, and my credentials are impeccable,” said Dr. Dinnes. “We really have nothing to hide. Our doors are open, to the right people. You could eat off the ground on that property.”

As is his wont, Jackson went first class in assembling his menagerie.

The animals have architecturally-designed, custom-built homes. Dr. Dinnes has a sterling reputation among his peers. A colleague of his told me, “Marty is great. The best.”

UC Davis awarded Dr. Dinnes, a 1966 alumnus, its highest honor in 2000.

“Martin R. Dinnes, a diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine and first veterinarian to completely devote a practice to non-domestic animals, received the 2000 Alumni Achievement Award for his accomplishments in the profession of veterinary medicine, specifically in creating novel protocols benefiting the health and well-being of zoological animals,” according to UC Davis.

“Michael and I are very close,” Dr. Dinnes said. “We’ve been close for 20 years. My dispute was not with Michael. It was with his business people. Through everything that Michael went through, their mind wasn’t on a lot of things. I’ve been there with him before, through times when I failed to get a check on time, but they never, ever stuck me, and I was assured they never would again. Something triggered me to file, but it’s all settled.”

“I’m not paid, pending a signature, but suffice it to say, it’s settled,” said Dr. Dinnes. “We got a clean bill of health from the USDA, and I have that in writing. I talked to Pete Miller at Santa Barbara County Animal Services. He’s an investigator. I have a long history with them. Pete said, ‘Marty, I believe whatever you say. I just had to call you because we hear what we consider rumors.’ ”

“Contrary to what people are saying in all these looney-toon reports, the animals are fine,” said Dr. Dinnes. “I go up there once a week. The animals are well-fed. They’re in good condition. It’s just not like what’s reported.

“My attorney asked the Enquirer, ‘Where’d you get the information?’ They said, PETA. ‘Where’d you get the pictures that you took?’ They said, ‘From a helicopter.’

“You know how you can doctor pictures; I’m just surmising. They did take a picture of the elephants being walked, and they conveniently had a clump of elephant poop around them. They took a picture of the giraffes in the yard, and claimed that there was a dark spot on the ground that they said was blood. Under my watch, that can never happen,” said Dr. Dinnes.

PETA had waded into the fray with some heavy-duty scolding, but admit they don’t have any privileged info.

“We have heard pretty much the same thing everyone else has: the accusations in the media from employees and former employees that the animals have essentially been abandoned, and that Michael Jackson’s veterinarian is now apparently suing him for not paying his vet bill,” said PETA spokesperson Lisa Wathne. “We don’t have any inside scoop, unfortunately. Because Neverland is not open to the public, it’s a very difficult place to get any information about.”

Source: News Press

By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief

Manama: Steadily easing into his new Bahrain life, King of Pop Michael
Jackson has attended a wedding ceremony at the Gulf Hotel and is temporarily
moving into a new mansion, sources close to the star told Gulf News
yesterday.

“Michael was invited by the Al Gosaibi family to their celebrations ten days
ago, and he surprised everyone by showing up at the marriage ceremony,” the
sources said.

Jackson, 47, watched the traditional Arabic wedding from the sidelines after
politely declining to take a seat near the stage where the newly-weds were
sitting and the musicians performing.

Guests were, however, urged not to take pictures of the superstar whose
appearances at public gatherings are increasing as he feels closer to the
people who have welcomed him graciously after his acquittal of child
molestation charges last June.

“Only Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alama who was one of the lead singers at the
ceremony had his picture taken with Jackson.”

Jackson who lived in a palace on his arrival has now moved into a mansion in
Sanad, about 10km south of Manama. He reportedly paid $8 million (Dh29.44
million) for the “impressive home that belonged to an elected member of
parliament and which took him many years to build”.

However, the superstar is planning to move later to another mansion and to
keep the Sanad home for visiting relatives and friends. “He wants his
mansion to be by the sea, something that the Sanad residence does not
offer.”

According to the sources, Michael wants to lead a normal life and does not
want to be hounded by the media. “He does not want to be misquoted or
falsely portrayed, and he wants to make sure that his children are not under
public pressure.

“Last week, he went to a local hospital to have his tooth extracted. The
visit lasted about 30 minutes. However, his brother Jermaine called Bahrain
the next day to enquire about the terrible abdomen pains that Michael,
according to US media, was having. It was way too much,” the sources said.

Jackson, who recently told his entourage that he was feeling increasingly
Bahraini, will be the consultant for AAJ Holdings, the company owned by
businessman Ahmad Abu Bakr Janahi. It has plans to set up an amusement park
and an entertainment academy in Oman’s $20 billion Blue City.

Source: GULF News