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Jacko fans petition for postponement rethink

By | Published on Friday 22 May 2009

Yeah, it’s all going to pot already, and there are still two months to go till kick off.

With continued rumours about Michael Jackson’s ill-health, despite insistent spokespeople insisting he’s fighting fit, and with reports Jacko hasn’t actually made it to a rehearsal yet, the doom and gloom mongerers are increasingly predicting Jackson’s big comeback residency at The O2 dome either won’t happen, or will be a disaster (some suggest Jacko himself may not even be performing during the majority of the show). With previous reports only half the fifty night residency is insured, some are already speculating what impact a last minute cancellation would have on promoters AEG Live.

But we’re refusing to participate in such speculation, I mean, with budgets as big as the one enjoyed by this show, in the worse case scenario, won’t they be able to employ a hologram to do Jackson’s bits? And there’s still the elephants to look forward to. But one thing we know for certain is this. Not every Jacko fan is happy that the first night of The O2 residency has been pushed back five nights nor that the next three shows have been postponed into next March.

Some fans have launched an online petition calling on Jacko to reconsider the postponements, which were announced by AEG earlier this week. The petition states: “Many of us now are left unable to go or are feeling disappointed in having taken so much effort to get tickets for the opening performances to be put to the very end of the concert run. While we have no idea who’s fault this is, we…are asking for the management of the concert to please reconsider this decision”.

The petition adds that while refunds are available on tickets, many fans have already paid for travel and hotel accommodation for the original dates. Though, not wishing to be unsympathetic or anything, but in the same way Pete Doherty not showing up at the Babyshambles show you’d paid to see used to be part of the true “Babyshambles experience”, and in the same way that paying to watch Amy Winehouse forget her lyrics and fall over on stage is part of the true “Winehouse experience”, surely getting caught up in politics, delays and postponements is part of the true “Jacko experience”. Actually, to enjoy the full “Jacko experience” there needs to be a lawsuit – perhaps some of the petitioners could sue.



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