AEG President Speaks - "We Gave Michael A Second Chance"

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hMDsQZZQRI4Wpt8ss9pMB_IYlqFgD9AU8RVO0

AEG president: Jackson movie should clear co. name
By MICHAEL CIDONI (AP) – 2 hours ago

LOS ANGELES — As dozens of buoyant Michael Jackson fans queued up in the Nokia Plaza to be among the first to see their idol's last performance, others watching the scene expressed mixed emotions.

Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, which bankrolled Jackson's "This is It" tour and is a key player in the film, recalled the moment he got the news of Jackson's death. "Well, at first it lets all the air out of you, and you sit here and you're stunned at how quickly it happened and occurred. You're in denial. You can't believe it. You're looking around, saying, 'What happened?"

Zip ahead some three months, to Thursday afternoon — about an hour before the opening of the nearly two-and-a-half day waiting line for advance tickets to "Michael Jackson's 'This is It'" concert documentary. Leiweke reunited with musicians, singers and dancers from the tour in a press conference held in the plaza, which is just directly across the street from the Staples Center, the site of Jackson's rehearsals, the last of which taking place just hours before his death June 25.

"It's mixed feelings, first of all, to see these guys again, and to be in this space," noted singer Darryl Phinnessee. "You know, we finished rehearsing at quarter to midnight the night before Michael died, and he was energetic and up and doing his thing, as you'll see in the movie."

Crafted from hundred hours of rehearsal footage, "This is It" is directed by longtime Jackson collaborator Kenny Ortega, who had been working with Jackson on the concerts.

"You see the music, the studios, the rehearsals, the dancers, the auditions, the costumes," said Leiweke. "You see all of the behind the scenes, and the you finally see the last few days of the dress rehearsals, and you begin to see the genius of Michael: the dancing, the singing, the choreography, and his concept of creative a one-time performance that no one would ever forget."

Leiweke said the movie also will provide proof that AEG had Jackson's well-being in mind. "I think we still are hurt," Leiweke explained. "Some of the things that people have said about us, which are so untrue, this movie's going to restore his legacy, and prove that we, in fact, gave Michael a second chance here. And an opportunity to make the kind of comeback here was dreaming of. And that we created an environment for him that was probably the best environment that the guy had the last 10 or 15 years of his life. And I'm very proud of the way we treated Michael, and very proud of the partnership that we had with him. And this movie is an opportunity to celebrate that, and we could get past all of the gossip and all of the innuendo."

"This is It" is set to open in cinemas worldwide Oct. 28.

What do you think of this? MJ's concept of a "one time" performance? (wasn't there suppossed to be 50 shows??)

Best environment for a second chance? (and he drops dead hours after rehearsal??)

hmm...

You know what I think of this?

Michael is sooooo alive, that I can smell his "Black Orchid" cologne all over me...

hahahah ..
im smiling now ..

i just wanna say "hello Mike, how are you ?? "

emanviam wrote:You know what I think of this?

Michael is sooooo alive, that I can smell his "Black Orchid" cologne all over me...

Don't wanna be the downer here but:

his concept of creative a one-time performance that no one would ever forget.

COULD mean, that he planned a great show..
and you usually visit ONE of the 50 concerts...

so it's a single-experience for every fan.

I hope you understand what I mean...
I'm the biggest fan of the movie theory..but the more TTI approaches..the more I fear
to get disappointed...
I just wanna be prepared..will watch the movie WITHOUT expecting anything..
if I was proven wrong..than I'm happier than ever

and this movie will help celebrate how they treated him?

So unless they worked with him to fake death and perhaps get him into rehab, what exactly is the celebration? If he died, then someone wasn't looking out for his best interest...

Didn't the family say that a week before he died they realized if someone doesn't intervene then he will die?

If it truly occured that knowing all this and being around him no one did intervene, then there is no celebration.

Of course we celebrate his life, but celebrating those last few days, knowing that it would have taken just one person to save him, is unsettling... unless.....

plus do you still find it odd that Mr. Murray would meet him at his house after midnight just to inject him so he could sleep?

SeeingClues wrote:and this movie will help celebrate how they treated him?

So unless they worked with him to fake death and perhaps get him into rehab, what exactly is the celebration? If he died, then someone wasn't looking out for his best interest...

Didn't the family say that a week before he died they realized if someone doesn't intervene then he will die?

If it truly occured that knowing all this and being around him no one did intervene, then there is no celebration.

Of course we celebrate his life, but celebrating those last few days, knowing that it would have taken just one person to save him, is unsettling... unless.....

I hope all our wishes come true...

this one is also interesting:
And this movie is an opportunity to celebrate that, and we could get past all of the gossip and all of the innuendo."

all of the gossip....the gossip from the last 30 years..and esp. the last 3 months....
I hope the media will get its big f*** you!

and prove that we, in fact, gave Michael a second chance here.

So that would imply Michael screwed up his first chance of a comeback???

And an opportunity to make the kind of comeback here was dreaming of.

I don't think Michael would have needed AEG for that. He could've easily pulled that off himself or with others, much closer to him.

If AEG has done nothing to be ashamed of, then why do they feel the need to prove they dodn't do anything wrong? This all sounds too fishy for my taste...

SeeingClues wrote:plus do you still find it odd that Mr. Murray would meet him at his house after midnight just to inject him so he could sleep?

Well, they are saying that Dr. Murray was living with MJ.

luvmjalways wrote:

SeeingClues wrote:plus do you still find it odd that Mr. Murray would meet him at his house after midnight just to inject him so he could sleep?

Well, they are saying that Dr. Murray was living with MJ.

If I'm not mistaken this has already been debunked or at least has become doubtful, since Murray also spent time or lived with his girlfriend (not far from where MJ was living). Anyways...him living at MJ's house is not a fact, so we can't make any assumptions about that. And regarding the (propofol-)injections to make MJ sleep: several reports have stated, that the dose of Propofol he was (allegedly) given, would have only put him to sleep for a couple of minutes. For a whole night's sleep the dosage should've been about 16 times higher (if I remember correctly).
Besides that, there are so many other types of medicine, which are way more effective to help a person sleep...:S Whether or not the statements Murray made about all this are true or not, doesn't really matter. What matters is, that he lied, proving only that things did not go the way he/they claimed.

whatever happened to the civil suit the Jackson family was going to do against Murray? Didn't they do their own autopsy? I haven't heard anything about the results of theirs versus the coroner... what was the purpose of them doing their own?

Perhaps! AEG is trying to absolve themselves of any impending conflicts that could possibly come out in the future about them. Maybe they want to make themselves look as though they were truly there for MJ's comeback concert. Also, they were there to support the family with the Memorial. I am having that thought roll around inside my head, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer". I know AEG has connections to SONY. MJ hated SONY with his entire being. AEG/SONY are the friends and MJ/his Jackson is the enemy. It's all about damage control. We (public)don't know what will come out after all of this ends. Somebody, somewhere knows the ending (MJ). Keep the Faith!

and of course out of 100 hours of footage, AEG can cherry pick the hour and a half of the best footage of MJ. I'm sure another movie could be made of all the lowpoints if they wanted to.
They want to come out as the good guys so they don't appear that MJ's heart failed as a result of being overworked and undernourished.

If MJ was so healthy as they say, why did Kenny Ortega have to cut up a grown man's chicken and feed it to him? But yet Kenny is so happy go lucky.. I haven't seen him sad..I mean you work so close with someone every day and can send such happy tweets..

Sweet1 wrote:Also, they were there to support the family with the Memorial.

Not only that...also at the burial, which was even weirder. :S

@seeingclues: your makin' some good points. As much as I want to believe Ortega is in on the hoax, your reasoning makes me doubt again. I have a feeling, that in order to find out whether he's in on it or merely trying to cover his '@ss' (pardon my French), we have to look way back to the beginning of this all. If only I had an idea where that could be. :S Good point though.

Perhaps the intent of the movie is to clear Michaels name, reputation (prior to coming back)


"discover the man you never knew"
or
"like you never seen him before"
and now
this movie's going to restore his legacy....And this movie is an opportunity to celebrate that, and we could get past all of the gossip and all of the innuendo."

eva05 wrote:Perhaps the intent of the movie is to clear Michaels name, reputation (prior to coming back)


"discover the man you never knew"
or
"like you never seen him before"
and now
this movie's going to restore his legacy....And this movie is an opportunity to celebrate that, and we could get past all of the gossip and all of the innuendo."

My exact thoughts!

Oh and I love your sig, I'm hoping to see this on the news soon.....

StenniZ wrote:

and prove that we, in fact, gave Michael a second chance here.

So that would imply Michael screwed up his first chance of a comeback???

And an opportunity to make the kind of comeback here was dreaming of.

I don't think Michael would have needed AEG for that. He could've easily pulled that off himself or with others, much closer to him.

If AEG has done nothing to be ashamed of, then why do they feel the need to prove they dodn't do anything wrong? This all sounds too fishy for my taste...

Well, since ppl turned against Michael, he really needed someone to help him with the comeback, i think...

AEG was accused of pushing MJ too hard, and taking into consideration that he wasn't too healthy(don't start-he was way underweight) it looked like AEG need the show go on no matter what... i really don't know whats true and whats not, but i believe in what they claim right now.

One more thought:

1. phase: bring attention to comeback, create interest - O2 press conference

2. phase: death; a lot of people realize how important MJ was for them, how much they miss and love him and his music

3. phase: washing "dirty laundry" in front of the public and media, only to prove it wrong with the This Is It movie - to restore MJ public image

4. phase: comeback

i have been thinking for some time now that the concerts never were meant to be.. but they were meant for a movie all along.. a concert dvd or something. that everything was part of the plan from the beginning...

just a thought

ziffes wrote:i have been thinking for some time now that the concerts never were meant to be.. but they were meant for a movie all along.. a concert dvd or something. that everything was part of the plan from the beginning...

just a thought

Been thinking the same thing. If the hoax is for real, then the start of it goes waaaaaaaaaay back!

StenniZ wrote:

ziffes wrote:i have been thinking for some time now that the concerts never were meant to be.. but they were meant for a movie all along.. a concert dvd or something. that everything was part of the plan from the beginning...

just a thought

Been thinking the same thing. If the hoax is for real, then the start of it goes waaaaaaaaaay back!

peww glad to know that others have the same thoughts as well.. and im not totally crazy here..

BTW.. is it normal to shoot 100 hours of rehearsal footage for life concerts???

ziffes wrote:

StenniZ wrote:

ziffes wrote:i have been thinking for some time now that the concerts never were meant to be.. but they were meant for a movie all along.. a concert dvd or something. that everything was part of the plan from the beginning...

just a thought

Been thinking the same thing. If the hoax is for real, then the start of it goes waaaaaaaaaay back!

peww glad to know that others have the same thoughts as well.. and im not totally crazy here..

BTW.. is it normal to shoot 100 hours of rehearsal footage for life concerts???

Ditto ....

Maybe he just wanted to make this movie because he didn't feel like having 50 concerts, way too many..is a way to show the fans what would his concerts would be like

eva05 wrote:Perhaps the intent of the movie is to clear Michaels name, reputation (prior to coming back)


"discover the man you never knew"
or
"like you never seen him before"
and now
this movie's going to restore his legacy....And this movie is an opportunity to celebrate that, and we could get past all of the gossip and all of the innuendo."

I LOVE THIS THOUGHT and HOPE IT COMES TRUE!

ALSO, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR SIGGY PIC! I can't til the DAY I see that ON TV! ;-)

eva05 wrote:One more thought:

1. phase: bring attention to comeback, create interest - O2 press conference

2. phase: death; a lot of people realize how important MJ was for them, how much they miss and love him and his music

3. phase: washing "dirty laundry" in front of the public and media, only to prove it wrong with the This Is It movie - to restore MJ public image

4. phase: comeback

This is brilliant.

Some of the things that people have said about us, which are so untrue, this movie's going to restore his legacy, and prove that we, in fact, gave Michael a second chance here. And an opportunity to make the kind of comeback here was dreaming of. And that we created an environment for him that was probably the best environment that the guy had the last 10 or 15 years of his life. And I'm very proud of the way we treated Michael, and very proud of the partnership that we had with him. And this movie is an opportunity to celebrate that, and we could get past all of the gossip and all of the innuendo.

this is interesting their helping him having a second chance lol we all know what that means isn't it
i cannot wait to see the movie


btw eva05 i love you sig to . i hope one day we see that in tv

It sounds more like AEG/Sony is trying to cover their own @ss, restore their own legacy. They talk about things that were said about them. And it sounds like they are tooting their own horn, taking credit for Michael's talent.

mjssoulmate wrote:It sounds more like AEG/Sony is trying to cover their own @ss, restore their own legacy. They talk about things that were said about them. And it sounds like they are tooting their own horn, taking credit for Michael's talent.

Yea.....you definitely have a point my friend.

Glad someone agrees with me!