Michael Jackson visited a Tokyo children’s home on Sunday and told a group of 140 excited children “I love you” in Japanese.

The 47-year-old entertainer, who appeared in public on Saturday for the first time since his acquittal on sex-abuse charges last year to receive a music award, was greeted by about 100 fans as he arrived in a black van.

Inside the Seibi Gakuen children’s home, Jackson watched a 15-minute performance of traditional music and dance by children in kimonos before speaking briefly on stage.

“I’m very happy to be here,” said Jackson, wearing sunglasses and a white T-shirt under a black double-breasted suit with gold buttons and a single red armband.

“I’m happy to be with you lovely people,” he told an auditorium of 140 children, ages 2-18.

In Japanese, he said “Aishiteru,” meaning I love you.

Smiling, he later shook hands and signed autographs for the children, who called out “Michael, Michael” and tugged at his sleeve.

“He is very tall and very cool-looking. I don’t know his songs but I’ve seen him dance on television,” Eiho Omori, 13, said.

Teachers at the children’s home said they were surprised when they had heard Jackson would be visiting.

“Everyone couldn’t believe such a big international star was visiting us,” said Kiyoko Mito, headmistress of the Christian-run school.

“The children only believed me after seeing the news yesterday that Michael Jackson was actually in Japan,” she said.

Jackson’s trip to Japan is the first in a series of planned visits to Asia. The star moved to Bahrain shortly after a jury cleared him last June of charges that he had sexually abused a young boy at his Neverland Valley Ranch in central California.

Source: Reuters

The latest Michael Jackson single taken from the Visionary box set, has charted the lowest so far of all the re-releases to date.

Heal The World entered the UK Singles Charts at a very dissapointing No.27.

Sunday 28th May:
New Entry – No.27 – Heal The World

Heal The World debuted at #27 this week in the UK singles chart.

Source: Radio 1

The following was recently reported by Reuters:

Pop star Michael Jackson appeared in public in Tokyo on Saturday for the first time since his acquittal on sex-abuse charges last year, accepting a music award and thanking “all the people who believed in me.”

Introduced to an adoring crowd at a Tokyo stadium as “the king of pop, the king of rock and the king of soul,” Jackson flashed a quick “peace” sign as he walked onstage to the sound of one of his biggest hits, “Thriller”.

“I’d like to say to the Japanese people from the bottom of my heart, ‘I love you very, very much’,” the 47-year-old entertainer said.

Receiving a “Legend Award” at MTV’s Japan Video Music Awards ceremony, Jackson said, “I thank the fans around the world and I thank the fans in Japan.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t be emotional when I got up here,” he continued, as his voice cracked and trailed off. Then he added, “I think you are very sweet, generous and kind people.

“I thank all the people who believed in me. I believe in you.

“I thank my children, Prince, Paris and Blanket, who have been there for me,” he added. “I love them very much.”

In a brief appearance backstage with reporters after the ceremony, Jackson was asked if he had a message for his fans.

I love you and thank you for your loyalty,” he said, making a light bow and putting his hand to his heart.

A steady rain pelted Tokyo on Saturday, but neither the weather nor scandal could prevent several hundred fans from flocking to catch a glimpse of Jackson as he arrived to receive the award.

“WE LOVE YOU, MICHAEL”

The crowd held up signs that read “We love you, Michael” and “Welcome to Japan” and some sported his trademark glitter glove as Jackson stepped out of a black limousine, surrounded by several bodyguards.

Wearing sunglasses, a jewellery-embroidered black blazer and tight black trousers with a simple white T-shirt, Jackson did not speak but waved and raised a forefinger to acknowledge a group of reporters before he was whisked inside along a red carpet.

Jackson has remained largely in seclusion since his trial on child molestation charges.

He will also spend time in Tokyo touring the city, visiting orphanages and meeting with Asian business leaders, spokeswoman Raymone Bain said, adding that his trip kicks off the first in a series of planned visits to Asia.

“I look forward to my visit to Japan because I have so many fond memories of my visits there,” Jackson said in a statement.

Source: MJNO

Michael Jackson choked up as he thanked his cheering Japanese fans who gathered to see him accept the Japan MTV Legend Award on Saturday, marking the pop icon’s first public appearance since his acquittal last June on child molestation charges in the United States.

“I’m honoured to be in Japan again and I’m very happy to be among the Japanese people because I love them very much,” Jackson said in his brief appearance at the video music awards ceremony Saturday at Tokyo’s Yoyogi Olympic Stadium. “Thank you for your loyalty.”

Jackson arrived Friday night with his three children on the first leg of a swing through Asia that will also take him to Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

“I’d like to say to the Japanese people from the bottom of my heart, I love you very much,” said Jackson in an emotional message. Responding to fans screaming “I love you,” Jackson replied: “I love you more.” Then he raised his hands with a V-sign.

The pop star planned to visit orphanages, tour Tokyo and meet with members of the Asian business community during his stay through Wednesday.

Jackson, 47, has been living in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Bahrain since his acquittal last June on child molestation charges in California.

Source: Associated Press

The ‘MJ’ logo has finally been auctioned in Frankfurt (Germany) on May 9,
2006 and went for the final bid of ?15,100. The first auction of the logo at
the end of April had to be repeated since the person making the final bid
couldn’t pay the money.

For Germany, the company MJ Entertainment, which is not connected with
Michael Jackson himself, owned the usage rights for the ‘MJ’ logo. Due to
insolvency of the company, creditors initiated the ‘MJ’ logo to be
distrained and requested it to be auctioned.

The logo went to the creditors who had inititated the auction, a company
situated close to Frankfurt. Whenever Michael Jackson comes out with a new
album or does another tour the company now has the rights to earn a lot of
money by putting the logo on for example t shirts or perfumes.

Source: MJFC

MARKS FIRST OFFICIAL PUBLIC APPEARANCE SINCE JUNE 2005 WILL RECEIVE MTV
JAPAN’S “LEGEND AWARD” AT THE MTV JAPAN VIDEO MUSIC AWARD’S CEREMONY –
SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2006

Washington, D.C. …….. Music Superstar Michael Jackson will visit Tokyo,
Japan, in what will mark his first official public appearance since June
2005.

On Saturday May 27, 2006, Mr. Jackson will receive MTV Japan’s “Legend
Award,” at the MTV Japan Video Music Award’s ceremony, for his extraordinary
and record-breaking career in the music industry. Mr. Jackson is a
trailblazer, who set an unprecedented standard with music videos like
“Thriller, “Bad,” and “Smooth Criminal.”

While in Japan, Mr. Jackson, whose recordings consistently topped charts,
with over 100,000,000 albums sold in Japan alone, will visit orphanages,
tour the city of Tokyo, and meet with members of the Asian business
community, spearheaded by Broderick D. Morris, CEO, Positive Productions
Yokohama, one of Asia’s most reputable and successful entertainment
promotions companies.

Mr. Jackson’s trip to Japan kicks off the first in a series of Asian visits.

Says Mr. Morris: “We are delighted that Mr. Jackson has accepted our
invitation to visit Tokyo. Michael Jackson is a legend. What he has
accomplished as a world renowned artist is unequaled. He loves Japan, and we
love him. We look forward to welcoming him.”

Says Michael Jackson: “I look forward to my visit to Japan because I have so
many fond memories of my visits there. I thank MTV Japan for this honor, and
Mr. Morris for spearheading this visit. I look forward to seeing old
friends, and saying hello to my huge fan base in Japan, who, like my other
fans around the world, have for so many years consistently shown their love
and support to me and my family.”

Source: Raymone Bain

Michael Jackson is in the U.K. on business and an interview with him has
appeared in today’s Daily Mirror newspaper.

The interviewer was Showbiz Reporter Fiona Cummins (pictured left meeting
Michael) and although it was short, it was revealed he is looking for a
place to live within the U.K.

Michael, who greeted Cummins like an old friend according to the reporter,
has arrived in London relatively quietly with only a few whispers and
rumours about his whereabouts. “I’m here in London on business for a couple
of days. I love it here,” he said.

“I’m looking for a place to live. I’ve always liked the U.K. and I just love
the fans here,” he continued. The interview took place in the famous Harrods
superstore, which is of course owned by Michael’s friend Mohamed Al Fayed.
“I’m also visiting my good friend Mohamed,” he said, “‘cos he’s the man.”

While attending business meetings, Michael is also said to be seeking out
places in Scotland and Ireland for a possible funfair-style ranch like his
Californian Neverland.

Cummins enquired about Michael’s health after already stating earlier in the
article that she noticed a vast improvement from last year. “I’m fine,”
Michael replied, “very well thanks. I’m feeling good.”

Source: The Mirror

A judge on Wednesday ordered lawyers representing pop star Michael Jackson
and his ex-wife to publicly file all documents from the couple’s divorce.

Jackson and Deborah Rowe had paid a judge to preside over their 1999
divorce, allowing them to avoid a public spectacle like his 2005 trial in
which he was acquitted of child molestation charges.

But the proceeding also kept from the public eye Rowe’s allegation that
Jackson abducted their two children by taking them to Bahrain without her
consent.

Rowe’s allegation was among documents not included in the public file of the
case when it was moved from a private judge to the family court. Lawyers had
been ordered to re-create the file with all documents that had been
submitted to the private judge.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider repeated the order
Wednesday, granting the attorneys 60 days to comply with the filing
requirement.

Under California law, if both parties agree, a sitting judge can transfer a
case out of the courthouse. The parties may then hire a jurist to resolve
civil disputes, but the cases technically remain in the public court system,
governed by the same rules as other lawsuits.

Source: LA Times

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.