Apparently, a lot of people want to see Michael Jackson in concert. What initially started out as a 10 show residency at London’s O2 Arena quickly turned into a 20 show residency. Now, because the demand is so high (reportedly record-breaking heights), his residency at the O2 Arena has been expanded to 50 dates … which means his “Summer” This Is It Tour will now carry into the first couple months of 2010:
Michael Jackson will now play 50 dates at London’s O2 arena, continuing his farewell residency well into 2010. The 50-year-old has added new shows throughout the first two months of the year, ending on 24 February. Some 360,000 pre-sale tickets have been sold so far and if all 50 dates sell out, Jackson will have sold a million seats for the run of shows. Organisers say the This Is It tour has become the fastest selling in history, with 33 seats sold each minute. Jackson is said to be “thrilled” by the response. Randy Phillips of promoters AEG Live said: “Not only are these concerts unparalleled, these records will never be broken. “We knew this was show business history, but this is a cultural phenomenon.” Pre-sale tickets for Jackson’s first 10 dates sold out on Tuesday but some fans complained of “technical problems” trying to register online. Ticketmaster director Chris Edmonds said demand was “unprecedented”. He added: “Unfortunately due to a technical issue, we were unable to facilitate all immediate ticket requests. Apologies to those fans who were unable to log on, but fans should keep on trying to purchase tickets.” Additional codes are being issued, the organisers said, with registration being dealt with on a first come, first served basis. Tickets are only being sold to fans who have registered, with the rest of the seats going on sale to the general public from 0700 GMT on Friday. Tickets for the Jackson shows are already being sold on the online auction website eBay. Prices on the site range from £170 to £10,000, but tickets bought directly from the singer’s website or Ticketmaster cost up to £75.
Apparently, if Jackson is able to sell out all 50 dates at the O2 Arena he will have sold 1 million tickets! Insane!! David, the eager Michael Jackson fan that he is, managed to secure a couple of great seats for the two of us to see The Gloved One in September at the O2 Arena. Our concert date will be very close to his birthday so it looks like we’ll be going back to London to celebrate. I am seriously shocked that the demand for Michael Jackson is this high. I still am having a hard time believing that he will be able to pull off this amazing feat of 50 concert dates but … as long as he lasts long enough so that David can see him in concert, I’ll be cool. Crazy!! Just a few weeks ago, we were talking about Jacko as if he was down for the count … and now this? If he can truly pull off this coup d’etat then he will really be worthy of his self-proclaimed title as the King of Pop. Are any of y’all gonna get tickets to see the man in action?
[Source]
Ugh I wish he was doing this in the states! I can’t afford a ticket and a trip to London :[[
I really cannot believe he is healthy enough to perform 50 times. However, we never really knew what was going on with his health, it was all speculation, so he could he as healthy as ever I suppose. I wish I could see him!
LEW — such a valid point. It’ll be interesting to see how this holds up….its not really a “This is it Tour” either since he is just in London which is really unfortunate for fans…that just adds to the shock that there is this much demand. Ridiculous. Kind of disappointing actually.
Trent why are you surprised that the demand is this high? He’s MICHAEL JACKSON. I mean I get that you don’t care for him that much, but people still LOVE his music, regardless of whatever has happened in his personal life. I wish he’d come to the US so my friends and I could go.
If I could afford to go to London, I would totally go. He’s kind of a tragic figure, but he is in a class of his own when it comes to the music and performing. I wish I could see it! He’s a legend!
Hmm… I don’t know. I like Michael Jackson as much as the next person but not enough to go to one of his shows. I own Thriller but that is all.
I’m not surprised at all. I think that if he did a similar thing in like Vegas or something, the demand would be equally as overwhelming.
I am totally not surprised there’s this much demand. I mean, it’s Michael Jackson. First, especially over in Europe, he remains hugely popular. Second, he is, or at least was, a great performer. Third, it’s kind of like seeing a car wreck. I’m sure a lot of the demand is for people just curious to see if he can pull it off. In his press conference for this he seemed remarkably pulled together and normal sounding. I love Britney’s comeback, and even if Whitney makes a comeback that is still nothing compared to this comeback if he pulls it off. This is the comeback of all comebacks.
I wish I had the $$ to go to London and see him. I saw him when I was 10..yes 10 years old. My very first concert was the “Bad” tour, god I am dating myself. Trent, if he performs even close to what he did then…you are in for an AMAZING show. The man is a true performer…even if he is nutso.
ill be in london the last 2 weeks of september and i looked into going but they are just too expensive for me. we’ll just go to a west end show instead! when are you going to london trent? maybe we’ll bump into each other while we’re out and about!
Not real sure on this one! I think I would take my kids because he is still a LEGAND but I could I am not like David I would go to London again just because I love the feeling I get when I am in London , but I would skip seeing Michael J.
It’s SOLD OUT from what I hear. That’s awesome! 1 million tickets is no joke!!! It’s good to FINALLY hear some good (celebrity) news for a change. I say good for MJ. He’s still got that magic touch. Anyone who managed to finagle tickets is pretty damn lucky!
I have doubts he’ll actually get through all 50 shows. I say he bails after ten and then gets sued.
So I guess when he kept repeating “this is it” in that press conference he didn’t quite have a good concept of what those words mean…
OMG I spelled LEGEND wrong what the….. I think I am just having a bad day :(
Wow! While I find MJ to be personally creepy (esp after the Martin Bashir documentary), I totally appreciate his contribution to music (hello, the baseline to Billie Jean alone is friggin’ genius!), and many of his songs from “Thriller” have found their way onto my iPod.
I wish I could see him live, because really, why wouldn’t you want to? Sure, he’s scary to look at, but I have eyelids that can successfully close when the need arises.
I really love MJ but I’m satisfied with a cd.
I got tickets, but we could only get them for the Jan 18th show during the presale yesterday. I’m super excited, but skeptical that he’ll actually make it to Jan 18th. I have a feeling there may be some cancelations……
@Andrea — I’m worried he won’t make it til September :(
mmmNOW TELL ME? WHO IS THE FUCKIN KING OF POP BITCHES!!!! WHO!!!!! MICHAELJACKSON YESTERDAY NOW AND FOR EVER!!!! POOR MADONNA HA HA HA HA AND HER POOR RECORD!!!!
I don’t think he’ll make them all. 50 concerts is gruelling enough for a young fit person, let alone a middle aged person with ailing health.
And seriously, does he really still have that many fans? In the one country? lol I wouldn’t say he was bad, but rather sad.