Michael Jackson has appeared on stage for the first time since his acquittal last year of those child abuse charges, though he disappointed many fans who had expected him to give a full performance of his classic song 'Thriller'.
Those expectations were caused by those media reports that followed confirmation that Jackson would appear at the World Music Awards in London to pick up a special tribute award recognising that he has sold over 100 million albums during his career to date. But Jackson last night said that there had been a "misunderstanding" regarding his intentions to perform at the event. Instead he sang just two verses of 'Heal The World'.
Fans, many of whom were disappointed that Jackson had not made any effort to meet them outside the awards event at the start of the evening, initially booed the star when he left the stage after collecting his award from Beyonce Knowles without giving a performance. Some were later placated when he returned to give the mini-performance of 'Heal The World' after which he took time to shake hands of people in the front row at the awards event, although others still felt his performance was somewhat lacklustre compared to what they had been expecting. In the end it was US teenage pop star Chris Brown who performed a version of 'Thriller'.
Other winners at the World Music Awards, which recognise commercial success on a global level, included Madonna, who won Best Pop Artist; Nelly Furtado, who won Best Pop/Rock Artist; Nickelback, who won Best Rock Group; Beyonce, who took Best R&B; Kanye West, who won Best Hip Hop; Shakira, who took Best Latin Artist; and Bob Sinclair, who won Best DJ. Winners in the country awards included James Blunt (Best Selling British Artist), Elissa (Best Selling Arabic Artist), Andrea Bocelli (Best Selling Italian Artist) and Enya (Best Selling Irish Artist).