Today is Hallowe’en eve, otherwise known as Devil’s Night to some, and to get in the spooky spirit of the pagan new year, a group of psychics orchestrated the world’s first Twitter seance — or tweance, if you will — earlier today in the Twitterverse. A few weeks ago, I heard about this tweance and started following @tweance on Twitter to keep apprised of updates leading up to today’s event. The tweance “contacted” a group of deceased famous folk as voted on by Twitter followers — River Phoenix, Kurt Cobain, William Shakespeare and Michael Jackson. Here is the full Twitter transcript of the tweance communication with Michael Jackson:

(Jayne: Thank you to everyone who is following and sending in questions. We will try contacting William Shakespeare next…). / (Jayne: William Shakespeare is very weak. Many people have tried to contact him). / (Jayne: there is someone else. It is much stronger, someone who died recently…Someone who is waiting for us.) / (Jayne: Michael has been waiting. He is here now). / (Jayne: He is very strong. He is smiling as he is finally linking to his fans. He is in paradise). / Jayne: Does anyone have a question for Michael? He is here now and he wants to talk again. / (Jayne: He is singing. His voice is very powerful indeed still.)

HMMM … as you can see, the attempt to contact William Shakespeare was unsuccessful but MJ jumped right in there to start taking questions. After the jump, check out the full transcript Q&A with Michael Jackson in this tweance …

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We are just a couple weeks away from Hallowe’en and already we’ve seen a few celeb families (HERE, HERE and HERE) steppin’ out to pick their pumpkins for seasonal carving … but a gardener named David Finkle in Chelmsford, Essex, England is already hard at work carving his very special Hallowe’en pumpkins … here are a few examples of his work:

Yes, that is US President Barack Obama and Michael Jackson on top along with a couple of traditionally themed pumpkins on the bottom. When I carve pumpkins, I tend to keep it simple … you know, triangle eyes and nose, jagged teeth … so I’m always very impressed with work like this. Hallowe’en is one of the funnest times of the year … hopefully these jack-o-lanterns will inspire all y’all to have fun with the pumpkin carving this year. I would also like to urge all y’all to send in photos of your carved pumpkins so that I may feature them here on the blog!

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Last month we learned that Sony Music would be releasing a new single and new album from the late Michael Jackson to coincide with the release of the new documentary/concert film Michael Jackson’s This Is It which was pieced together from hours of rehearsal footage from MJ’s This Is It Tour preparations. The title song, This Is It, was released online late last night for all to hear:

Apparently, this track will be released in two versions on the new soundtrack album for the This Is It film … a slow ballad, This Is It has a bit of a mournful feel to it. After the jump, listen to the new track from Michael Jackson in full …

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On Friday we learned that Rabbi Shmuley Boteach was releasing a new book compiled from recordings that he made with Michael Jackson, supposedly with MJ’s permission, in order to share with the world the secrets that MJ wanted everyone to know. On Friday night, Dateline on NBC aired some of the recordings that Boteach made with MJ:

Speaking candidly to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in conversations that were recorded with the express purpose of sharing them with the public and publishing them in a book, Michael Jackson related extensive personal information. During 30 hours of conversation, they discussed the star’s childhood scars, the price of fame, his spirituality, married life, his love for his children, his demanding father, his thoughts about dying young, his deep fear of aging, racism, his closest friendships and much more. With Michael’s sudden and unfortunate death, Rabbi Shmuley was moved to fulfill his friend’s wish that his true self and heart be known to the public. Their talks are the foundation of “The Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation.”

Despite the fact that MJ makes clear in these recordings that he did want Rabbi Boteach to release these conversations, I still can’t help but feel it is still extremely exploitative:

Who is making the money from this book? That’s the question that stands out in my mind. Even still … I cannot help but be intrigued by these conversations that Boteach had with MJ. After the jump, check out video from Dateline to hear some of the MJ recordings for yourselves — they are insanely enlightening …

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Today we are learning new information supposedly from the late Michael Jackson by way of the King of Pop’s religious leader Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. According to the rabbi, MJ believed that after a few dates in the early 90’s, Madonna fell in love with him and that MJ did not return her love because he did not find her “sexy at all”. HMMMM. Here is a photo of Madonna and MJ from their appearance together at the 1990 Academy Awards and the deets from Shmuley on what MJ really thought of her Madgesty:

The King of Pop befriended the singer in the early 1990s and several dates followed, but Jackson revealed he never had any romantic interest in her during a taped conversation with his close friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. Jackson told Boteach, “I think she (Madonna) likes shock value and she knows how to push buttons on people. I think she was sincerely in love with me and I was not in love with her. She did a lot of crazy things. I knew we had nothing in common. “She is not sexy at all. I think sexy comes from the heart in the way you present yourself.” The Thriller icon believed Madonna was one of several stars who envied his fame: “They admire you and know you are wonderful and great because they are jealous, because they wish they were in your shoes. Madonna is one of them. She is jealous. She is a girl, a woman and I think that’s what bothers her … I get the fainting and adulation and she doesn’t.” The star went on to confess he had considered dating actress Elizabeth Taylor but feared the media would mock their 27-year age gap. He said, “I know that if we ever did anything romantically the press would be so mean and nasty and call us the Odd Couple. It would turn into a circus and that’s the pain of it all.” Jackson also described the late Princess Diana as his ideal woman: “I thought she was very special – very feminine and classy. She was my type for sure, and I don’t like most girls. There are very few I like who fit the mould. It takes a very special mould to make me happy and she was one of them.” Boteach, who is publishing the conversations, maintains Jackson wanted the footage to be released to the public so his fans could gain a better understanding of his personal life.

LOL! It’s funny to hear these supposed comments from MJ especially after hearing Madonna’s heartfelt (and oftentimes rambling) speech about him at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards a couple of weeks ago. It’s funny, she never mentioned in her meandering monologue that she was “in love” with MJ. It’s so strange (and very unprofessional) that a rabbi would be blabbing MJ’s secrets, even if he maintains that MJ “wanted the footage to be released”. It seems so … opportunistic. Whether or not these comments are true or not … they do further enlighten on the man that was Michael Jackson.

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Big Michael Jackson news to pass along today … Sony Music has announced that a new Michael Jackson single titled This Is It will be released next month, which will be included on a new 2-disc album from MJ also titled This Is It … all of which will coincide nicely with the release of the This Is It Movie which was made from rehearsal footage of the This Is It Tour. Here are some of the deets of the release of this new MJ music:

Like numerous pop-music performers before him, Michael Jackson will not be hindered in his recording career by his death. A new song by Mr. Jackson, called “This Is It,” will be released next month, Sony Music Entertainment said Wednesday in a news release. The song, which shares its title with the comeback tour that Mr. Jackson was rehearsing when he died in June, will be released as a single on Oct. 12, Sony said. Two versions of that song, which includes backing vocals by Mr. Jackson’s brothers, will also appear on a new two-disc set, also called “This Is It,” which includes previously released and new material, including a spoken-word poem by Mr. Jackson called “Planet Earth”; that set will be released internationally on Oct. 26 and in North America on Oct. 27. That will be followed on Oct. 28 by Sony Pictures’ release of the documentary film “Michael Jackson: This Is It,” which is compiled from rehearsal footage from Mr. Jackson’s planned concerts.

I don’t think there is a soul alive that was not expecting the announcement of previously unheard Michael Jackson music … I guess I just wasn’t expecting its release so soon. It makes sense that Sony Music would want to capitalize on the hype surrounding the release of the This Is It Movie. This may be the first of the new MJ music to be released but it will most certainly not be the last. We’ve been hearing of the treasure trove of previously unreleased music that MJ left as his legacy … this is just the tip of the iceberg. Get ready for an onslaught of all new MJ material … I guess we should’ve know that not even death would be able to hinder Michael Jackson’s money making power.

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Over the weekend a new preview clip from the upcoming This Is It Movie, which hits theaters next month and features hours of rehearsal footage of the making of MJ’s ill-fated This Is It Tour, made its way to the Internets. Here are a few screencaps from the preview clip which features MJ himself rehearsing the performance for his song Human Nature:

Days after the unleashing of the first trailer for “This Is It”, another sneak peek at the movie built around Michael Jackson’s rehearsal footage has been released in the form of a clip. This brand new snippet comes out courtesy of Apple. It revolves around the King of Pop’s rehearsal for the “Human Nature” song with director Kenny Ortega watching on the side. In addition to the fresh clip, Apple has put out a two-minute plus trailer for the feature film. Containing mostly similar footage to the one debuted during 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, this trailer offers a number of fresh footage, which are scattered throughout, and further info about the movie release. “This Is It” offers a behind-the-scenes footage of Michael preparing for a series of the O2 London shows he was rehearsing before he passed away on June 25. It will compile more than 100 hours of video footage concert promoter AEG Live shot during April, May and June 2009. This movie will be released in theaters across the world for a limited two-week engagement, starting on October 28. This documentary movie got a thumb up for production in early August when AEG Live and co-executors of Jackson’s estate reached a deal with Sony to make and release the movie. The studio was reported to have acquired the footage for as much as $60 million, from a bidding that was started at $50 million.

I have to admit, seeing the expanded trailer for the This Is It Movie which debuted on the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards last weekend really got me excited to see the movie. Had things turned out differently and had MJ lived to perform the This Is It Tour in London, David and I would be in London right now for the event. It’s still so crazy to know that MJ has really died … his memory lives on so powerfully, even now. After the jump, check out video of Michael Jackson rehearsing Human Nature for the This Is It Movie …

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