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| MICHAEL JACKSON - DID WE MEET HIM? | ||||||||||||||
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WebSight Copy. |
The only
barrier separating us and the most famous person in the world is a human
chain made a handful of security guards. The guys have formed a ring around
Michael Jackson's people carrier backstage at Earls Court. Jackson has
just left the stage after a pitiful, disappointing comeback at the World
Music Awards and for the past few hours we have been trying to track him
down in the vain attempt of him writing a sentence in our book. Our adventure started four hours ago as soon as we fastened our production wristband on our arms. Allowing us virtually full access at the World Music Awards so we could escape the shambolic show it gave us dressing room access so we could track down the likes of Beyonce, Nelly Furtado and Katie Melua. We could obstruct Paris Hilton as she wandered backstage with her mobile firmly glued to her ear. We could sneak in the beauty parlor for a quick make over if we wished and we could even poke our noses in the two press lounges where the artists where whisked off to after winning an award. But, there was one thing we couldn't do and that was to get pass the security bloke on Michael Jackson's dressing room door which, of course was separated from the other celebrities. Before the megastar arrived activity was quiet circulating his dressing room and we were fairly confidence of meeting him. So was Simon. To keep you in the picture Simon was holding a huge gold disc which he wished to present to the star and at first we categorized Simon as just a bloody lucky fan who had managed to wingle his way backstage. Because of the lack of excitement round Michael's area we freely walked around the dressing rooms trying to spot a few famous faces. Half an hour later we decided to return to outside MJ's dressing room. The trouble was a huge big wooden case had been moved across the entrances so nobody could gain any access for the next few minutes. So, no prizes for guessing who had just arrived! This was when we realised that a meeting with the King Of Pop tonight was against us. Although we were determined to meet him and so was Simon who we caught up with later once Michael was safely tucked away inside his dressing room. Cha' mone! ! It was time to use the oldest trick in the book of blagging. Wait until one of Jackson's representatives emerged from the dressing room and beg for a quick meet and quick so MJ could write his piece in our book for disabled awareness - which, for one night only, was for children who are not only disabled but battling with AIDS! Look, we were desperate all right? Beside, its Jackson's favorite charity and if the heartless bastard didn't fall for that then he deserves his back catalogue of bad publicity. After a while a guy came out from MJ's dressing room and we grabbed him. Told him about the book which aimed to Heal The World and gave him a puppy dog begging look in the eyes. 'I will make it happen, but you gotta be patient.', he told us. So we were, for a good ten minutes. Then we became restless and that's when we first spoke to Simon. Si had also been promised a meeting with Michael to present his disc. Things were looking good again, so we caught a few acts outside in the arena from a VIP table. But soon became bored. So we trotted back to MJ's area to catch up with Simon. We didn't expect to be confronted with our biggest barrier yet. Forget the wooden case earlier (which, to tell the truth, we managed to creep around). Blocking MJ's dressing room now was a bloody people carrier with it's boot right up against the door. The plan B we had of grabbing the star walking to/ from the stage had been thrown out the window. And Simon? Well, we wasn't there! We presumed that our lad patience had given him a meet and greet with the star - the lucky bastard! If only we had stayed with him, we could had been inside the dressing room by now meeting Jacko! Like a little kid trapped in Neverland we weren't sure what to do next. So, we decided to catch some more of the awards. After a few minutes though, we became bored again and retreated backstage. The people carrier had gone and Simon was outside the dressing room still with his disc. Apparently he still hadn't met MJ, but having spoke to Jackson's spokeswoman in America he had been assured that he could meet Michael after he came off stage. We also found out that he wasn't actually a fan, but an employee at Michael's record label, Epic. So we decided that we wouldn't let Simon out of our sight for the rest of the evening! The audience, the fans and the millions of worldwide viewers had been promised a reconstruction of the Thriller video live on stage. Granted, this was kind of try. Apart from the fact that there was a few guys dressed in bog standard Halloween Costumes and Chris Rock replaced Michael Jackson! Then came a 40 minute wait where nothing happened! (Maybe MJ was in the beauty parlor backstage because his nose fell off! - We have no idea!) Then a group of teenage of boys took to the stage, which meant only one thing - Jackson was near! Michael Jackson came on stage and met a bloke from the Guinness Book Of Records and picked up an award labeling him 'The Most Famous Living Person In The World' and then received his WMA Award. Next came the diabolical performance where the sound was turned down, Jackson sang a few words from 'Heal The World' and then opted to give up and shake hands with a few fans down the front and then he was gone! Backstage we were still with Simon! We were stage left hoping to meet MJ when he came off stage, but this wasn't to be the case. Michael Jackson had left the building. We were gutted and Simon was making a phone call. We have no idea who he was speaking to, it 'could' had been Romone, but after the call he told us that Michael Jackson was still in the building. All we needed to do now was to track down the people carrier! And there it was, on the opposite side of the stage with Michael inside. We ran round, but was stopped by one of two groups of security. We waited for our moment and when the security guard turned his back we made a run towards the car leaving Simon behind! Cha' mone! ! This is how we came to be obstructed by the human chain of security around Michael's car. A selected group of fans had been chosen to break through the chain and be called to the car to meet Michael. The inner circle was impossible to get to and we knew are chances had been blown. We knew nobody in the inner circle, until we reconsied a very familiar face - it was bloody Simon! Grabbing our hand like Christ to a sick man we were moved to the inner circle awaiting to meet MJ. We had our book, but had lost our bloody pen. Shouting frantically to the guys around us somebody gave us a fairly expensive pen (which, incidentally is on our desk at this very moment writing this article!) Then disaster struck, the security moved us back and closed the car door. Simon rushed around the other side and.. Oh, who cares about him anymore? Have we given up meeting Michael? Course we haven't, in a matter of fact we have just managed to track down Romone's mobile number and next time MJ comes to the UK. We will be waiting for him again. To Be Continued... |
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