Rumors were swirling prior to last Wednesdays finale which crowned David Cook as the new American Idol that Michael Jackson would be performing. Here’s why he didn’t.
It all started with Nigel Lythgoe calling into Seacrests radio show at the beginning of the week and saying that the “Biggest star in the world.” would be appearing. This led websites to go crazy trying to figure out who and although both camps were denying it at the time, MJ was the main name on that list.
It was supposed to be top secret, and good thing it was. Sources are now claiming that Jackson was indeed scheduled to appear but pulled out last minute due to stage fright!
Apparently Jackson came forward and said “I cant do this, people will hate me.”
His comeback is long overdue and this would have been the perfect stage. Not sure how much I buy the “stagefright” thing since this is the guy who has been performing on stage since he was 5 years old and has some legendary performances under his belt, but as with all things Michael Jackson, you just never know.
Jackson had no fright when he took the stage at Christian Audigier’s birthday bash this past weekend in LA to wish the designer a happy birthday. Although he did not sing, he seemed to enjoy the screaming fans. Video here.
And here is a video of Michael’s Superbowl performance from 1993. Mind you it was 15 years ago, but I still remember it as if it were yesterday. I cant make myself believe a guy who could pull of this performance would be afraid of 7,000 fans and 10 amateur singers at the Nokia theater in LA, but stranger things have happened with this Jackson.
P Diddy had very precisely described the genius of Michael Jackson: “He showed that you can actually see the beat. He made the music come to life. He made me believe in magic.”
Here I’ve tried to collect all notable tributes paid to Michael Jackson by peers:
http://www.tributespaid.com/category/m/michael-jackson