The King Of Spin, Michael Jackson, dominates the UK Charts this week with three singles all within the top 100.

This weeks chart positions:

No.11 Billie Jean
No.53 Rock With You
No.71 Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough

Source: Gallup

The animal activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called Friday for Jackson’s menagerie to be removed from the ranch and placed in sanctuaries.

“Mr. Jackson is universally known for his love of animals. We hope that he will accept PETA’s offer to help ensure that none of the animals at Neverland end up at shabby roadside zoos or exotic-animal auctions or in the hands of exotic animal brokers, breeders, or dealers,” PETA said in a letter faxed to Bain.

County animal officials said the zoo apparently is doing fine.

“At this point it appears that they’re still taking responsibility for the animals,” said Jan Glick, director of Santa Barbara County Animal Services. “Mr. Jackson’s business office is telling us there is still staff on the ranch, and they are intending to get the workers’ compensation back in effect by … Monday.”

Source: Associated Press

The King Of Spin’s former civil attorney, Brent Ayscough, who resigned in January has filed a breach of contract suit against the singer in Torrance, Calif., as of Feb. 21, 2006.

Source: Fox News

Visionary - The Video Singles has been released across the globe, and it’s
now time we gave you some chart positions from outside the U.K.

- Spain: Thriller rewrites HIStory and enters the charts at No.1! Backed by
a national TV campaign this is the best start you can wish for and should
help to set up the 20 week campaign - Don’t Stop will be released next week
and we are looking forward to a successful chart debut of Single Two in
Spain soon…

- Italy: Thriller & Don’t Stop both enter the charts within the Top 10 at a
fantastic No.5 and No.6 respectively! A strong press and radio campaign
helped to create this fantastic launch result and TV plus weekly contests
for fans will help to keep it going for the weeks to come. The next three
singles (Rock With You, Billie Jean and Beat It) were scheduled for a March
10th release in Italy.

- In the UK the box (incl. Thriller) is not chart eligible, but Don’t Stop
debuted in the Top 20 at No.17, Rock With You finished two places higher and
Billie Jean charted yesterday at No.11. Beat It has been released today.

- Ireland supported the project with a coop campaign with the largest local
retailer and the first three singles all charted around the Top 20: No.20
(Thriller), No.21 (Don’t Stop) and a midweek No.18 (Rock With You).

- In the Netherlands all first three singles enter the midweek charts in the
Top 40 backed by press, online and retail support. Don’t Stop currently
holds No.38 and Thriller No.39. Rock With You enters at No.26!

- In Switzerland Thriller entered the Top 50 at No.43 and we will see Don’t
Stop debut next week.

- The project also makes an impact on the other side of the globe: in
Australia both first singles charted as well. Thriller is at No.55 and Don’t
Stop at No.76.

- Belgium also enjoys chart entries of both singles. Thriller is at No.56
and Rock With You at No.59.

- Germany used a very creative photo contest to excite the fans (dress up as
a zombie and take a picture when you buy the box to win exclusive prizes) as
well as press, online, ringtone and radio coops to run through the complete
campaign. Even without the online sales (which count towards competitive
releases) both launch titles debut in the Top 100 at No.70 and No.77.

- Hong Kong is just starting to release the singles and is doing extensive
press campaigns with local magazines and newspapers.

- Sweden postponed the release due to the Winter Olympics but has now
started shipping the first singles and we are looking forward to first
results next week.

- France will start the campaign March 20th backed by a strong radio coop
and TV support - as one of the key markets for this project we are looking
forward to French results end of the month…

Source: MJNI

By TARIQ KHONJI

BAHRAIN: Pop star Michael Jackson yesterday dismissed reports that he plans
to quit Bahrain for a country estate in Britain.

He was reported in a British newspaper to have been making inquiries about
buying a stately home in the countryside.

Jackson and his three children have been staying on and off at Cliveden, in
Berkshire, southern England, for the past month, said the Mail on Sunday.

But a Bahrain source close to the star said yesterday that the report was
untrue.

He said Jackson was still living in Bahrain and had just returned from the
UK, but had no plans to purchase any property there.

“The place he had been staying at was a very exclusive rented premises, like
a hotel and was never for sale anyway,” said the source.

Mr Jackson first came to Bahrain on June 29 as a guest of Southern Governor
Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa and has since made it his legal home.

Source: Gul Daily News

US pop singer Michael Jackson may be thinking about moving to Britain after
he made enquiries about purchasing a stately home in the country, a British
newspaper says.

The former megastar and his three children have been staying on and off at
Cliveden, a magnificent dwelling in Berkshire, southern England, for the
past month, the Mail on Sunday reported.

The weekly said “it was understood” that Jackson, 47, had asked whether the
mansion was up for sale, only to be told it belonged to The National Trust
and was leased to a hotel group.

The star’s official spokesman, however, told the newspaper: “It would
surprise no one if Michael ended up staying in Britain.”

Cliveden, one of Britain’s grandest stately homes, has a colourful past that
adds to its allure.

A swimming pool in the grounds was where John Profumo, a former minister
caught up in a Cold War sex and spy tangle, first met the ravishing young
call girl Christine Keeler who ended his career. Profumo died on Friday aged
91.

Jackson, for his part, has other housing problems at present.

California authorities have closed his Neverland ranch after workers
complained they have not been paid since December.

The pop star has spent most of his time in Bahrain since he was acquitted
last June of sexual molestation charges by a California jury.

During his trip to Britain, Jackson, using the pseudonym Mr Tucker, has also
stayed at a hotel in the Cotswolds, southwest England, and visited Scotland,
according to Mail on Sunday.

Source: Yahoo! News

In the USA charts Michael Jackson recent sales estimate is at 13,131 units.
“Number Ones” DVD has marked it’s 100th week in the Billboard Comprehensive
Music Video Chart.The 4x platinum DVD is showing signs of spending another
week in the TOP 20. The album and DVD are still holding on in the charts
shifting to about 3,OOO units a week.

1. Number Ones: 2,995 (+2%)
2. Number Ones (DVD/Video): 2,918 (-3%) (Holds at #15 on the Billboard
Comprehensive Music Video Chart, Week 100)
3. The Essential (2 CD): 2,000 (Sales Estimate)
4. Live In Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour (DVD): 1,500 (Sales Estimate)
(Moves up 38-32 on the Billboard Comprehensive Music Video Chart, Week 22)
3. Thriller: 1,234 (-14.6%)
4. Greatest Hits: HIStory Vol. 1: 726 (-5%)
5. Off the Wall: 537 (-3.7%)
6. Greatest Hits: HIStory (Video): 295 (-12%)
7. Bad: 239 (-)
8. HIStory on Film- Vol. 2: 218 (-13%)
9. Dangerous: 197 (+13.2%)
10. Invincible: 167 (+15%)
11. HIStory (2-CD): 73 (-9%)
12. Blood on the Dance Floor: 32 (+3%)

Here is how the Number Ones DVD has performed throught the weeks of 95-100.

Number Ones (DVD) - Billboard Comprehensive Music Videos Chart
Week #95 (11/02/06): #16
Week #96 (18/02/06): #14
Week #97 (25/02/06): #19
Week #98 (04/03/06): #23
Week #99 (11/03/06): #15
Week #100 (18/03/06): #15

“Live In Bucharest-The Dangerouse Tour” is still doing very well in the USA.

Live In Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour (DVD) - Billboard Comprehensive Music
Videos Chart
Week #21 (11/03/06): #38
Week #22 (18/03/06): #32

In the UK the “Number Ones” CD is about to reach it’s 100th week milestone.
The “Number Ones” CD has now gone 5x platinum here in the UK as well. It has
jumped from 141-31 during the first week of January ‘06 and has remained in
the Top 75 every week thus far.

Number Ones - UK Top 200 Album Chart
Week #85 (25/12/05): #141
Week #86 (01/01/06): #31
Week #87 (08/01/06): #31
Week #88 (15/01/06): #32
Week #89 (22/01/06): #34
Week #90 (29/01/06): #50
Week #91 (05/02/06): #52
Week #92 (12/02/06): #61
Week #93 (19/02/06): #59
Week #94 (26/02/06): #52
Week #95 (05/03/06): #51

“Number Ones” is also doing very well in Australia. The album has re-entered
the Top 50 and remains there for the third week.

Number Ones - ARIA Top 50 Albums
Week (19/02/06): #43
Week (26/02/06): #41
Week (05/02/06): #46

Source: MJJForum

By Roger Friedman

Janet Jackson’s brother Michael will not be singing “What Have You Done for
Me lately?” to her after today. Janet has arrived at her family’s home in
Encino, Calif., with her business advisers. Their goal: to bail Michael out
of his current monster of a predicament: pay his employees and restore the
insurances that have lapsed at Neverland.

Poor Janet: she should know that no matter what guarantees are given,
Michael Jackson never repays a loan. He considers all such agreements
“gifts” and his signature on loan papers, as demonstrated in the past, is
meaningless.

This has been an expensive week for Janet, who usually has little to do with
her family. She had to make about $80,000 in mortgage payments so that
private investors couldn’t foreclose on her family home. She also forked
over a goodly amount for a funeral for the Jackson 5’s drummer, Johnny
Jackson.

Sadly, none of her brothers or other family members has made a living doing
anything except living off Janet or Michael all these years. And now
Michael, without the Prince of Bahrain to help him, is out of luck. It all
falls on Janet, an actual pop superstar who is readying an album for fall
release.

And one thing is certain: Janet is doing this for her beloved mother
Katherine. She doesn’t want her to have to start making beds and tuna fish
sandwiches for all the “boomerang” Jacksons who never moved out of the
house.

Janet is not doing it for her father, that’s for sure. There is no love lost
between Janet and Joseph Jackson since she discovered at an early age that
he’d had numerous affairs and had at least one illegitimate child.

Stay tuned…

Source: FOX News

Financial woes at Neverland Valley Ranch could be over by Monday.

Michael Jackson’s business office is scrambling to reinstate workers
compensation insurance for the 69 employees at his Los Olivos ranch, and
that policy should be in effect today or Monday, the News-Press has learned.

“I have no doubt that it will be worked out very soon,” Jackson spokeswoman
Raymone Bain told the News-Press.

A state investigation allegedly shows Mr. Jackson has not paid some
employees since late December, and the required workers comp policy lapsed
in January, authorities said.

He is being asked to pay about $470,000 in back wages and fines.

Dean Fryer, spokesman with the state Department of Industrial Relations,
tells the News-Press today: “We’re still in contact with his representatives
at the ranch, and they’re still attempting to secure workers compensation
insurance.”

Source: Santa Barbara News-Press

By Roger Friedman

Attention creditors and the state of California: Even as his Neverland ranch
has been shut down today by authorities, Michael Jackson is back home in
Encino after a nine month self-imposed exile.

Sources tell me exclusively that Jackson has been back at his family home in
Encino for a day or so. He did not return to Neverland because he owes the
staff back pay from December 23, 2005.

This column has been the first and only to chronicle the lack of pay and
insurance at Neverland. Reports today that California authorities finally
figured out that there was no insurance at Neverland are pretty amusing.
We’ve told you repeatedly for weeks that Neverland was about shut its doors.
Wire reports today say that 30 employees have filed official complaints with
the state labor authorities.

Readers of this column knew that weeks ago.

Some good news, though: Jackson returns to the family home in Encino with
his mortgage payments up to date. Sources tell me sister Janet Jackson
brought his $2.2 million loan current on February 10th. The mortgage holder
is relieved they don’t have to foreclose. Janet Jackson also brought up to
date Jackson’s overdue payments on storage facilities in Buellton,
California.

But Michael Jackson is in big, big trouble now. The state fined him $69,000,
or $1,000 per employee, for allowing his insurance to lapse. He’s also been
levied $100,000 in fines for not paying the employees $306,000. That comes
to $475,000, which Jackson does not have.

I do feel a little like Rodney Dangerfield here. For weeks I’ve told you in
this space that Jackson was heading for a colossal financial disaster. Well,
it’s here, and so is he. Jackson’s arrival in Encino signals a total break
with Prince Abdullah of Bahrain who was underwriting the singer’s
extravagant lifestyle since last year. At the same time, Jackson faces
imminent foreclosure on $270 million of loans guaranteed by his 50%
ownership in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a.k.a the Beatles catalog.

More tomorrow, including the news that Jackson’s year 2005 civil attorney,
Brent Ayscough, has filed a breach of contract suit against the singer in
Torrance, California as of February 21, 2006. And that’s not all. Tonight,
even as you read this, Jackson’s employees who are still talking to him are
headed to the Encino house for a meeting.

Our flies are on the walls.

Source: FOX News