There have been rumors going around that Michael Jackson relocated his family to Las Vegas, NV in the hopes of staging a huge comeback with his very own Vegas show (a la Céline Dion at Caesar’s Palace) but thus far there has been no movement and not a single sign that this Vegas show thing is ever going to happen … especially notsomuch after new photos of the so-called King of Pop have surfaced of the man, covered head to toe, was seen being wheeled around in a wheelchair to and from a Barnes and Noble bookstore (with his three kids in tow) in LV recently:

Pictured on a visit to a toy and book shop near his current home in Las Vegas, the singer was slumped in a wheelchair wearing pyjamas, a dreadlocked wig, a surgeon’s mask, a baseball cap and sunglasses. Such theatre was presumably designed to prevent shoppers from discovering his true identity. The irony is of course that Jackson is now better known for wearing such ludicrous disguises than not. Indeed he would have stood a much better chance of not being noticed had he strode into the shop without any disguise – and had not pulled up in four cars filled with his eight-strong security team. It remained unclear last night whether Jackson, who is most famous for his footwork and in particular his moonwalk, actually needs the wheelchair to get around or whether he was just using it as a prop … He has been spotted both with and without the chair in recent weeks. He has battled numerous health problems over the years, having being diagnosed with lupus and vitiligo and the amount of surgery he has had has rendered him unrecognizable from his former self … The last time he was in the chair was to watch the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Las Vegas in May at the MGM Grand hotel. On that occasion, he also draped a coat around his face to try to disguise himself. But as always, the peculiar appearance only drew more attention to himself. On this occasion, Jackson arrived with his three children, who were unusually unmasked, and headed straight for the children’s book section, where he remained alone for some time. An eyewitness said: “They arrived at the Barnes and Nobel shop in Las Vegas on Monday afternoon. First Michael was in the childrens’ section on his own in the wheelchair reading books. The three children were at another table with the bodyguards. He was in the children’s section for about half an hour. He then went to the music section and was sitting in the chair looking through various books. But this time the children were in the children’s section. Then he pushed himself around in the wheelchair for a while and ended up in the magazine section. He was in the shop for about two hours in total. There was no special treatment. The shop was not closed to the public at any point. There were quite a few members of the public in the shop who knew he was there but no one approached him. To be honest, he looked a bit weird wheeling himself around covered up in a surgeon’s mask and that is probably what freaked people out to not want to approach him. When they left the shop, the children came out first and he was wheeled out behind them. He never left the wheelchair at any point in the shop.” A Jackson family friend indicated last night that the wheelchair was indeed needed for a recurring back problem that Jackson has had ever since his performing days. “He has a problem with his back which surfaces from time to time,” the friend said. Jackson is currently living in Las Vegas trying to land a residency at one of the big venues in the city to clear massive debts he has accrued.

This man’s entire life is just so strange, so utterly bizarre. I am not at all surprised that no one tried to approach him … I mean, what does one even have to say to Michael Jackson anymore? I like your face mask? It is such a shame that he and Madonna are practically the same age — she is about to embark on her most recent world tour, full of entertaining pomp and circumstance and he has been reduced to being pushed around in wheelchairs at local bookstores. I contend that this “Vegas comeback” will never come to fruition. The insurance alone to cover any sort of crazed carnival that he might want to bring to the stage would be enough to turn off investors (oh, but can you just imagine what a Jackson Vegas Show might look like?). The man appears to have lost all connection with rationality, it’s really very sad. After the jump, check out a photo of Jackson’s three children — Prince Michael Jackson, Paris Michael Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson, II (better known to the world as Blanket) …

It’s bad enough that Jacko lives this bizarre existence but to impose such a lifestyle on his kids adds even more tragedy to the scenario. I cannot even imagine what life must be like for these kids. The poor dears always look as if they get their clothes from a thrift store, they never match and I understand they only have each other to play with. I guess they look healthy enough and I’m sure that Jackson loves his kids in his own way but … I dunno, I just fear that these kids are going to have a lot to say when they grow up — if they grow up. After all, Michael Jackson is practically 50 years old and he doesn’t seem to have started growing up yet. What a strange, strange family.

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