SONY BMG Germany will release a double CD called “VOICES FROM THE FIFA WORLD
CUP” to celebrate the upcoming soccer world championship. The double CD
contains the official worldcup hymn and songs from #1 artists . Michael is
on it with “Earth Song”.

Source: Amazon

Michael Jackson’s new business manager Guy Holmes began putting in plave the details of his new Two Seas operation last week.

Holmes, head of Gut Records for more than a decade, was last Wednesday confirmed as CEO of Two Seas Records, the joint venture established by Jackson with Abdulla Hamad Al-Khalifa.

Holmes, who will retain his involvement in Gut in parallel, will overseae the making of Jackson’s new album and other business activities, splitting his time between London and Bahrain, where Two Seas is headquartered.

But the UK office will be run by general manager Nina Frykberh, who has formerly worked in senior roles for Independiente, London and Mushroom Records in the UK. Holmes told Music Week that Frykberg will be his right hand person.

“Nina knows and understands the independent world and the major world, and she has international marketing experience, too. I am really please to get her,” Holmes says.

The UK company will oversee deal-making, marketing and promotion, he says, while recording of Jackson’s new material will be managed from Bahrain.

There, New Zealander Matt Tait, who has worked with Jackson over many years, will take on the role of studio manager. The operations in Bahrain include a stat-of-the-art studio complex which has been built from scratch and includes “every single micro-phone Jackson has ever used”, according to Holmes.

Holmes says, besides establishing Two Seas’ infrastructure, his first task will be planning a strategy for Jackson’s music. Jackson has already started working on hus new album, ready for a rough release date of late 2007.

“We need to decide how and precisely when we put the album out”, Holmes says. “We will be talking to major mobile companies and music companies around the world.

“We are going to look at all the different opportunities open to us. The world is a very different place today. This is going to be a totally multi-media project, perhaps bigger than any multi-media campaign that has been put together.”

Holmes says he is open to all possibilities in relation to a deal for Jackson. “it is about what is best for Michael’s career,” he says. It is understood that, despite Jackson’s high-profile falling out with Tommy Mottola at the beginning of the decade, the changing personnel and status of Song BMG would not rule the major out of any possible negotiations.

Holmes declines to discuss any details of his new working relationship with Jackson, but it is understood that the pair have been talking about working together since they were introduced by mutual friends in July last year.

Holmes is en established figure in the UK music industry, since first joining United Artists/EMI Records in 1979, later working for Arista and Island Records. He famously founded Gut records in the early Nineties after discovering Right Said Fred and being turned down by a string of major labels. The act went on to sell 6m singles and 5m albums.

Over the intervening decade and more, Holmes has revived the careers of Aswad and Tom Jones, selling 2m and 5m albums respecticely. And, in February, Gut was honoured as Music Week’s independent singles company of 2005 after a year in which it sold 700,000 copies of the Crazy Frog single. Holmes was also one of the founders of independent labels association Aim in the late Nineties.

Source: Music Week

David Gest recently talking about Michael Jackson on the UK’s GMTV Breakfast adding speculation as to whether or not the King Of Pop has arrived in the UK.

Speaking on GMTV Gest hinted that the King of Pop was involved in a tribute show for Motown legend Smokey Robinson.

There has been no official press release as of yet.

Source: GMTV

The woman whose son claimed Michael Jackson molested him at Neverland ranch was ordered Friday to stand trial on felony charges that she stole $8,000 from the government through welfare fraud.

The 37-year-old woman waived her right to a preliminary hearing during an appearance in Superior Court and was set for arraignment June 21 on a count of welfare fraud and four counts of perjury by falsely applying for welfare.

She answered “yes” when asked by the prosecutor if she waived her rights. She was released without bail.

The woman did not speak to reporters as she left and a call to her attorney seeking comment was not immediately returned. The Associated Press has withheld her name to protect the identity of her son because he has claimed to be a molestation victim.

Jackson was acquitted of the child molestation charges last year. Many jurors said a lack of credibility on the part of the woman and her children on the witness stand were major factors in their verdicts.

During the trial in Santa Maria, she invoked Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination on the welfare fraud issue and did not testify about it.

Fans of the superstar want to throw the book at her if she is convicted in the welfare case, the prosecutor said.

“I’ve had a lot of pressure from Michael Jackson fans to send her to jail,” James Baker said outside court, adding that he has received at least 15 phone calls and faxes.

He said he has explained that prison usually is not the sentence in first-time welfare fraud cases involving small amounts of money and denied the woman was getting preferential treatment.

“We try to treat everyone equally,” he said.

Prosecutors claim the woman fraudulently collected $18,782 in welfare payments between November 2001 and March 2003, failing to disclose she received a $150,000 settlement of a lawsuit against a department store chain.

However, the amount of the alleged fraud was dropped to $8,000 because the government received money back in the form of child welfare payments made by the father of her son, Baker said.

While each charge is punishable by up to three or four years in prison, Baker said if the woman was convicted it would be her first offense and she probably would be sentenced to three years of probation and repayment of the money.

He also said plea agreement negotiations with her attorney continued.

Source: Associated Press

Jackson’s legal difficulties are actually headed for a dramatic climax in just seven days.

Right now, lawyers for Jackson’s ex-wife are negotiating with the fallen pop star’s reps over depositions in Debbie Rowe’s ongoing visitation/custody case.

As things stand today, Jackson is supposed to be in New York in one week to answer a wide range of questions about his parenthood.

Upon their divorce, Jackson paid Rowe what is estimated to be about $9 million over several years. But he stopped short of the remaining $2 million owed because he said Rowe had violated their confidentiality agreement.

In fact, she gave “Entertainment Tonight” an interview about her horses and ranch, and said nothing about Jackson or the kids. But at the time Jackson was cash-crunched and looking for a way out of his agreement with the feisty blonde.

But Jackson owes Rowe more than she could ever give him. Not only did she “give” him two children, she came to his defense twice during his child molestation scandal.

The first time was in February 2003, right after Martin Bashir’s special with Jackson painted him in a bad light. Rowe immediately appeared on TV at Jackson’s request and described him as a wonderful, loving parent who wouldn’t hurt a fly.

The second time was in May 2005, when Rowe took the stand at Jackson’s trial and offered similar praise as a defense witness. Her testimony was so persuasive that the jury managed to forget about countless questions raised in their minds by witnesses for both sides.

Rowe’s reward for helping Jackson was one visit with the children in late summer 2005, during which she was not allowed to tell them she was their mother. Since then, she hasn’t seen or heard from them.

But recently, Rowe regained her parental rights in Los Angeles family court after thinking she’d signed them away. Jackson’s response was to force the private judge, a retiree whom both sides had hired, to recuse himself from the case, thus creating new delays in determining if Rowe would ever see the rest of her settlement or ever have a relationship with her kids.

A few months ago, Rowe changed lawyers after an arduous and successful run with Iris Finsilver of Palm Springs. She is now represented by “fresh blood,” Eric George of Beverly Hills, whose determined to get Rowe her rightful due.

Some people in the court of public opinion may argue that Rowe “sold” her kids or signed away her rights to them, but legally, neither is true. It will be interesting to see if Jackson shows up in New York next week, and if he brings the children.

Either way, hearings are scheduled in Los Angeles on May 18 and 24 in Rowe v. Jackson separate from the depositions.

Also on the table for next week may be depositions in the ongoing case brought by Prescient Capital, aka Darien Dash (cousin of Damon Dash) for $48 million in fees — a significant chapter omitted in yesterday’s Times.

Then there are further depositions that have been allowed by the California judge in Marc Schaffel’s $4 million case. That trial is supposed to begin on June 2.

Source: Fox

The latest single to be taken from the Visionary Box set has failed to make an impact on the UK charts, coming in at No.22.

Michael Jackson’s male and female tigers have been adopted by actress Tippi
Hedron and will be living at her Shambala Refuge.

It was reported “When Michael couldn’t find a buyer for them, he approached
Tippi, begging her to take both the male and the female. Tippi couldn’t bear
the thought of these beautiful animals ending up in a tiny cage somewhere or
- even worse, being mistreated or starved in a traveling sideshow.”

Michael has promised Ms. Hedron that he would be financially responsible for
the two tigers.

The source added that Ms. Hedron has placed them in quarantine for a month,
ensuring that they are in good health and that their diet will be monitored.
Once they have made this initial adjustment, the two tigers will be safely
introduced to the rest of the pride.

Source: Starpulse

The woman whose son claimed Michael Jackson molested him at Neverland ranch has been ordered to stand trial on charges of welfare fraud.

The 37-year-old woman waived her right to a preliminary hearing during an appearance in Superior Court in Los Angeles today.

She is charged with one count of welfare fraud and four counts of perjury by falsely applying for welfare. She is accused of stealing $8000 ($A10,488) in government aid.

The woman, released without bail, did not speak to reporters as she left and a call to her lawyer seeking comment was not immediately returned. The Associated Press has withheld her name to protect the identity of her son because he has claimed to be a molestation victim.

Jackson was acquitted of the child molestation charges last year. Many jurors said a lack of credibility on the part of the woman and her children on the witness stand were major factors in their verdicts.

During the trial in Santa Maria, she invoked constitutional protection against self-incrimination on the welfare fraud issue and did not testify about it.

Fans of the superstar want to throw the book at her if she is convicted in the welfare case, the prosecutor said.

“I’ve had a lot of pressure from Michael Jackson fans to send her to jail,” James Baker said outside court, adding that he has received at least 15 phone calls and faxes.

He said he has explained that prison usually is not the sentence in first-time welfare fraud cases involving small amounts of money.

Source: Associated Press

The Official UK Singles Chart : 14.05.2006

20 NEW
(-) Michael Jackson
In The Closet
(Epic)

##########################################

ITALY

Weekly Charts from 28/04/2006 to 04/05/2006 (specialised shops)
and from 24/04/2006 to 30/04/2006 (Large distribution)

#26 (last week #7) (2nd week in charts) Black or white epic
JACKSON MICHAEL sony bmg

#27 (last week #8) (2nd week in charts) Leave me alone epic
JACKSON MICHAEL sony bmg

#30 (last week #6) (2nd week in charts) Smooth criminal epic
JACKSON MICHAEL sony bmg

######################################

FRANCE
Classement des 100 Singles

du 07.05.06 au 13.05.06

#63 MICHAEL JACKSON IN THE CLOSET STRATEGIC MARKETING GROUP SONY BMG MEDIA
GROUP SONY BMG ENTERTAINMENT first entry: 13/05/2006 HP: 63

#82 (previous #63) MICHAEL JACKSON REMEMBER THE TIME STRATEGIC MARKETING
GROUP SONY BMG MEDIA GROUP SONY BMG ENTERTAINMENT FE: 06/05/2006 HP: 63

Musical videos
Classement officiel des 40 meilleures ventes de vid?os musicales en France
r?alis? par l’IFOP pour le SNEP
du 07.05.06 au 13.05.06

#11 (previous #15) MICHAEL JACKSON LIVE IN BUCHAREST: THE DANGEROUS TOUR
SONY MUSIC VIDEO SONY BMG MEDIA GROUP SONY BMG ENTERTAINMENT FE: 30/07/2005
HP: 1

##################################

IRELAND

Top 50 Singles
Week ending 11th May 2006

#25 IN THE CLOSET MICHAEL JACKSON EPIC 1st week

#38 (last week #26) REMEMBER THE TIME MICHAEL JACKSON EPIC 2nd week

Top 100 Individual Artist Albums
Week ending 11th May 2006

#66 (last week #60) NUMBER ONES MICHAEL JACKSON EPIC 53rd week

#########################################

SPAIN

08.05 - 14.05.2006

http://www.promusicae.org/file.php?url=319_TOP%2020%20SINGLES%20Y%20MAXISINGLES%
20-%20Week%2019.pdf&r_pid=9600

#2 Remember The Time
#4 Black or White
#6 Leave Me Alone
#8 Smooth Criminal
#9 Dirty Diana
#10 The Way You Make Me Feel
#11 Bad
#12 Thriller
#13 Billie Jean
#14 Beat It
#15 Rock With You
#17 Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough

Source: MJFC

For Immediate Release:
May 21, 2006
Per Mr. Joseph Jackson:

Statements from The Jackson Family Patriarch Joseph Jackson will be posted
on his Official Website, Joe Jackson’s Hip Hop Boot Camp:
www.hiphopbootcamp.com from now on.

From time to time, Members of the Jackson Family may also use this Official
Website to post statements as well.

A page is being set up for this specific purpose, so from this point on,
when Mr. Joseph Jackson puts out a press release/message to fans, etc., it
will be posted first on His Official Website. Any statements that are not
posted on Mr. Jackson’s Official Website, are not authorized or approved by
him.

We hope this solves the problem of statements being sent out from different
sources and websites.

If you need to copy a statement for your own website our use in the media,
please site Joe Jackson’s Hip Hop Boot Camp website as your source and URL.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter
Angel Howansky and Gail Felix
Hip Hop Boot Camp Press Team

Source: Angel Howansky, Gail Felix