Moving story about Michael from Karen
Do
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<!-- m -->http://karenfayeblog.com/2010/07/27/wha ... an-i-give/<!-- m -->
What More Can I Give
27072010
Michael dedicated his entire life to sharing what was in his heart at all costs. He was an expert at hiding his own pain, so he could serve others. This is a story I wrote a while back that illustrates how many of those working on THIS IS IT, the crew and many staff, never saw his pain. Michael was being threatened, but he also had a deep feeling of responsibility to his family and fans to bring what moments of joy he could, to a world that was experiencing so much pain, from financial strife, war and to environmental destruction. As soon as Michael left his dressing room…it was Showtime.
Michael was headlining two benefit concerts for the International Red Cross, Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund, and UNESCO. MICHAEL JACKSON AND FRIENDS. The roster of performers and their entourage flew from Seoul, Korea where the first concert was held, to Munich on a chartered plane. It was such a wonderful flight because we were able to spend some time and get to know everyone. There were performers from all over the world. We arrived at the Munich Olympic Stadium in the afternoon on June 27, 1999 to prepare for Michael’s evening appearance. Michael introduced Andrea Bocelli in the late afternoon. The sun was setting. The darkness changed the entire feeling of the arena. It was a hot summer evening. The crowd had been enjoying performances by other artists all day: Luther Vandross, The Kelly Brothers, Ringo Starr… but it seemed the audience was waiting for Michael. The excitement was building. Magically, the stage was being transformed with emerging walls of lights, screens and equipment that had been created for Michael’s show, that were hidden behind the other performances. Michael Jackson, Michael Bush and myself were using the last minutes to take care some details in the dressing room, just stage right. A long check list: Microphones, wires, wardrobe changes, towels, song list, ice, Gatorade, fans, grease paints, powder. Michael did some stretches to warm up, as the lights lowered in the house. I could feel the energy of anticipation the crowd directed towards us. Any hint of Michael’s appearance created excited chaos in the crowd. He would peek out at the audience from behind the curtains. The band came up the back stairs. Michael met them for the traditional prayer joining their hands. The show began with all the frenzy and excitement that they all did. We have been doing this for many years. After I prepared for the next change, I watched from stage right. Everything was going perfectly…. the medley…Beat It…Black or White with Slash…Billie Jean. The local performers for Earth Song started filing on stage. Earth Song began… then the bridge appeared, just as it had done in Korea. The children and adults slowly entered and filled the stage. The song builds…. Michael flies up the bridge and gyrates and pounds his feet, twirls as the bridge lifts away from its braces. Smoke, explosions, bombard our eyes and ears…the bridge continues higher and higher, but unlike rehearsals, and the last show…. it didn’t pause at its pinnacle… INSTEAD it came careening down gaining speed with Michael tightly grasping the railings… still singing. I started screaming, but I could not even hear my own voice over the pyro, music, and the audience. I started running out from behind the stage in horror as the bridge quickly disappeared below the front of the stage, slamming down on the concrete floor. Security grabbed and stopped me, thinking I was going to ruin the performance. Backstage, there was crying and screaming, only the crew and performers knew there was something desperately wrong. From our vantage point we had lost sight of Michael, as the bridge had fallen below the front of the stage. My heart stopped beating, while in the strong arms of a perplexed security guard. Even though the show continued for everyone else, time stood still for me, as I could not imagine how Michael could have survived such a fall. But slowly, and after what seemed like an eternity, as the music and applause continued, I saw one arm reach for the floor of the stage…then a long lean leg, another arm, another leg…he was up, center stage… finishing the end of Earth Song! My mouth dropped open in relieved amazement. Looking dazed, he made his way to our side of the stage. “Michael, sit down….” ”NO!” He demanded. ”Security… please get him to the hospital!” I was begging. “NO!” He grabbed the microphone and ran out to finish performing “You Are Not Alone”. I could not believe what I was witnessing. He finished the song, took his final bow, and returned once again to his stage dressing room and then… collapsed. Security whisked him off to a hospital in Munich. Band members, dancers, Slash and crewmembers all shocked and amazed at what we had witnessed wrapped up the show with prayers in our hearts. Once back in the hotel… I started making the phone calls to find out how he was. I got the reports that nothing was broken, but he was badly bruised, and his back was very badly strained. It had been a miracle. Being the performer he was, he knew how to land. The next day we were to leave for Paris for a photo shoot. This had been postponed until he was better. I asked him…why did you continue? I cannot believe you were able to do that. ”You know Turkle, the only thing that I heard in my head, was my father’s voice saying to me, MICHAEL, DON’T DISAPPOINT THE AUDIENCE
also watch
<!-- m -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPIFLhR-BGA<!-- m -->
[youtube:316ow0j3]
I haven't heard about that accident before. Wow, this is why we love this man so much! Always thinking about others. The confusion on his face after he felt down was heartbreaking especially when you know that he was in pain. Poor Michael.
What More Can I Give
27072010
Michael dedicated his entire life to sharing what was in his heart at all costs. He was an expert at hiding his own pain, so he could serve others. This is a story I wrote a while back that illustrates how many of those working on THIS IS IT, the crew and many staff, never saw his pain. Michael was being threatened, but he also had a deep feeling of responsibility to his family and fans to bring what moments of joy he could, to a world that was experiencing so much pain, from financial strife, war and to environmental destruction. As soon as Michael left his dressing room…it was Showtime.
Michael was headlining two benefit concerts for the International Red Cross, Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund, and UNESCO. MICHAEL JACKSON AND FRIENDS. The roster of performers and their entourage flew from Seoul, Korea where the first concert was held, to Munich on a chartered plane. It was such a wonderful flight because we were able to spend some time and get to know everyone. There were performers from all over the world. We arrived at the Munich Olympic Stadium in the afternoon on June 27, 1999 to prepare for Michael’s evening appearance. Michael introduced Andrea Bocelli in the late afternoon. The sun was setting. The darkness changed the entire feeling of the arena. It was a hot summer evening. The crowd had been enjoying performances by other artists all day: Luther Vandross, The Kelly Brothers, Ringo Starr… but it seemed the audience was waiting for Michael. The excitement was building. Magically, the stage was being transformed with emerging walls of lights, screens and equipment that had been created for Michael’s show, that were hidden behind the other performances. Michael Jackson, Michael Bush and myself were using the last minutes to take care some details in the dressing room, just stage right. A long check list: Microphones, wires, wardrobe changes, towels, song list, ice, Gatorade, fans, grease paints, powder. Michael did some stretches to warm up, as the lights lowered in the house. I could feel the energy of anticipation the crowd directed towards us. Any hint of Michael’s appearance created excited chaos in the crowd. He would peek out at the audience from behind the curtains. The band came up the back stairs. Michael met them for the traditional prayer joining their hands. The show began with all the frenzy and excitement that they all did. We have been doing this for many years. After I prepared for the next change, I watched from stage right. Everything was going perfectly…. the medley…Beat It…Black or White with Slash…Billie Jean. The local performers for Earth Song started filing on stage. Earth Song began… then the bridge appeared, just as it had done in Korea. The children and adults slowly entered and filled the stage. The song builds…. Michael flies up the bridge and gyrates and pounds his feet, twirls as the bridge lifts away from its braces. Smoke, explosions, bombard our eyes and ears…the bridge continues higher and higher, but unlike rehearsals, and the last show…. it didn’t pause at its pinnacle… INSTEAD it came careening down gaining speed with Michael tightly grasping the railings… still singing. I started screaming, but I could not even hear my own voice over the pyro, music, and the audience. I started running out from behind the stage in horror as the bridge quickly disappeared below the front of the stage, slamming down on the concrete floor. Security grabbed and stopped me, thinking I was going to ruin the performance. Backstage, there was crying and screaming, only the crew and performers knew there was something desperately wrong. From our vantage point we had lost sight of Michael, as the bridge had fallen below the front of the stage. My heart stopped beating, while in the strong arms of a perplexed security guard. Even though the show continued for everyone else, time stood still for me, as I could not imagine how Michael could have survived such a fall. But slowly, and after what seemed like an eternity, as the music and applause continued, I saw one arm reach for the floor of the stage…then a long lean leg, another arm, another leg…he was up, center stage… finishing the end of Earth Song! My mouth dropped open in relieved amazement. Looking dazed, he made his way to our side of the stage. “Michael, sit down….” ”NO!” He demanded. ”Security… please get him to the hospital!” I was begging. “NO!” He grabbed the microphone and ran out to finish performing “You Are Not Alone”. I could not believe what I was witnessing. He finished the song, took his final bow, and returned once again to his stage dressing room and then… collapsed. Security whisked him off to a hospital in Munich. Band members, dancers, Slash and crewmembers all shocked and amazed at what we had witnessed wrapped up the show with prayers in our hearts. Once back in the hotel… I started making the phone calls to find out how he was. I got the reports that nothing was broken, but he was badly bruised, and his back was very badly strained. It had been a miracle. Being the performer he was, he knew how to land. The next day we were to leave for Paris for a photo shoot. This had been postponed until he was better. I asked him…why did you continue? I cannot believe you were able to do that. ”You know Turkle, the only thing that I heard in my head, was my father’s voice saying to me, MICHAEL, DON’T DISAPPOINT THE AUDIENCE
also watch
<!-- m -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPIFLhR-BGA<!-- m -->
[youtube:316ow0j3]
I haven't heard about that accident before. Wow, this is why we love this man so much! Always thinking about others. The confusion on his face after he felt down was heartbreaking especially when you know that he was in pain. Poor Michael.
Comments
That makes me rather sad. :
MICHAEL, THINK ABOUT YOURSELF! I hope he's doing that now.
Read what she has said about Kenny in her comments to this.
Very true, for some reason KF is always going at Kenny, She's always complaining about something or someone, in the early days it was AEG but then she got her cheque & stopped going on about them, she's always going on about SONY <!-- s:roll: -->:roll:<!-- s:roll: -->
I'll never forget her FB status the night before the premier of TII
" I won't be walking the red carpet to see TII, it would be like walking in Michael's blood"
She upset alot of fans that were going to the movie & then she ended up going the next week anyway!! <!-- s:x -->:x<!-- s:x -->
I know MJ was a perfectionist and a workaholic.
He had a fall. Ok, thats very traumatic and he had injuries from it.
However, accidents happen. Ive also been injured in my line of work, and i havent moaned. Ive carried on as best as i could. Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq are coming home without legs and are learning to walk again against all the odds, and they do it with humility and no self pity.
I dont think MJ would agree with this hullabaloo that she is creating over an accident. Maybe Kenny didnt apologise, but MJ obviously didnt care that much about it because he rehired him for TII. (or maybe thats the reason he rehired him for TII... to make him another fall guy and take some blame???)
Im just trying to say that Karen trying to make MJ into some kind of angelic hero doesnt wash with me. He was a human being. He knew he was a human being. He knew he was a perfectionist and he knew he was lucky to be doing what he was doing with the talent he possessed.
I cant help feeling this is all about karens agenda... her agenda and vendetta against Kenny Ortega and not about Michael or his fans at all.
PEACE. x
Edit: - Aren't you also just a little thankful because just a few minutes before there were several people above and below that bridge. Think of how it could have ended...I'm sure Michael was thankful it ended with no other injuries.
Anyway - the beginning statements of Karen's story are really confusing to me. Is she saying Michael was threatened as in recently or was she putting this in the context of the story? When she talks about many have not witnessed his pain is she talking physical pain, emotional pain, or both and is she talking as in TII time frame or when the story took place in the 90's?
it's just an odd start to her story and it has me confused. Am I the only one? I know she's a drama queen but...
One more thing - seeing over and over and over again the sheer inner strength that Michael possessed I find it really hard to believe that off stage he would have trouble handling the slightest of pain as has been reported. Yes, I know he was totally different on stage but I don't believe he was a total wimp that transformed into superman when in front of a crowd.
Moving story about Michael from Karen
New postby Do » Thu Jul 29, 2010 9:30 pm
<!-- m -->http://karenfayeblog.com/2010/07/27/wha<!-- m --> ... an-i-give/
What More Can I Give
27072010
Michael dedicated his entire life to sharing what was in his heart at all costs. He was an expert at hiding his own pain, so he could serve others. This is a story I wrote a while back that illustrates how many of those working on THIS IS IT, the crew and many staff, never saw his pain. Michael was being threatened, but he also had a deep feeling of responsibility to his family and fans to bring what moments of joy he could, to a world that was experiencing so much pain, from financial strife, war and to environmental destruction. As soon as Michael left his dressing room…it was Showtime.
And WHY is she trying to play the victim now?
I'll post this here also
Interesting that KF starts with the title of story "What More Can I Give? and ends with "Michael, Don't Disappoint The Audience"
What might we take away from these bookends of her touching story?
I so agree with you. I, like so many of you, didn't follow Michael the way the fans that you describe did. I was someone who grew up with his music, wandered away in my 20's to other types of music, but always held a respect and admiration for the man Michael Jackson. Throughout the years I can honestly say that I never believed what the tabloids preached. It made me ill to see the way they degraded him. The biggest source of confusion for me throughout the years was the fact that when he performed it was evident how strong and agile he was yet when he was off stage he was portrayed as sick and frail. I settled in my heart that the off stage portrayal was a mixture of what Michael was portrayed by the media and what Michael wanted the media to believe. I never bought it. You can do a lot of things but you cannot go onstage and perform the way he does if he's not in top shape. I don't know much about Karen Faye but she seems like someone who wants to be considered a lot closer to Michael than she probably is.
I'm with you - I am confused as to why she's bringing this up at this time. You bring up good points about the bookends too. I keep wondering about her comment saying he was threatened. Is she saying he was still threatened in 2009? Or, was she talking about the 90's. We know he's been threatened throughout his life but it's not clear to me what time she's talking about and I think that might be a hint as well. Blessings.
ditto ditto ditto
Also just a thought about his looking frail, thus not strong with stamina. Well there's this new guy started working as a cook at the restaurant I work at. He's 53 and extremely noticably gaunt, Michael-like but that's where the similarities end. He's a fast worker, and told me he bikes everywhere, plays in a band, and does a lot of travelling; he says his very thin arms and legs are all muscle, that he's in excellent shape, and can eat more than a large man. He just burns it all off. It helps me believe MJ really was in excellent shape, but maybe slimmed down to make people think he was unhealthy, for the hoax.
"The next day we were to leave for Paris for a photo shoot."
To convince us about the Arno Barni photos in 1999 ?
Do we have this video to compare his face with the photos as MJJpictures website is on hiatus right now ...?
And a very strong message for us :
MICHAEL, DON’T DISAPPOINT THE AUDIENCE
Yes we know ... <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->
I don't trust so much Karen, but except her malicious comments to one of MJ's fans, I think sometimes she said the truth regarding MJ....anyway she also mentioned that photo shoot in Paris..her story is odd <!-- s:? -->:?<!-- s:? -->
It was a time when the fans were kind of hierarchic subdivided - we were in a low class. But coincidentally before Michael's appearance on stage, we tried to talk to some guys "in a higher hierarchical class" so to speak and we brought up that we were concerned that Michael seemed not well. We were ridiculed by them and were told that everything was fine, blah blah blah. I'm still angry about that conversation.
And then that accident ... the end of the concert was not exactly as Karen describes it. I don't know what to make of it. Yes, he finished Earth Song and even You Are Not Alone and left the stage. But then another group with an Arab name came to the stage. They performed and during their performance Michael's face appeared on the big screens several times. He was speaking and he looked very serious. Like he was giving an important message ... but there was no sound. I was sure that we would find out what he said later through our video recordings at home - but it was not there. No one ever mentioned anything about that anywhere. It was creepy!
My friend and me left the arena and we searched distance and we tried to analyze all the events. (What did this thing with the bridge falling down mean? Remember it was Earth Song and he was wearing this devilish color mix ... What was he saying, when he was on the screens?) With all that and with our interpretations of the events we were not happy at all. Eventually news hit us that Michael was in hospital. We were like: "then it was NOT part of the show!" "poor Michael!" "fortunately he is not crazy, it was an accident." "how is he, where is he?" And again we tried to approach fans on such a higher hierarchy level and again we were rejected. The woman we approached told us that she was not interested and that it was party time or something to that effect. We were blown away with that.
After that I did not go anywhere where Michael was until 2005, when I was in Santa Maria for about a week. I just was sick and tired of the people I experienced there in 1999 and I did not want to be a part of all that anymore.
You´re right. I hope that´s what he does now: taking care of himself.