VIA VARIETY:

Variety has provided details of the contract between Michael Jackson and AEG Live, the promoter behind his 50 sold-out concerts at London’s 02 Arena that he was prepping for before his death on June 25.

According to the original contract, the initial agreement called for Jackson to do 31 shows. But, once presales indicated an overwhelming response beyond the 31 performances, Jackson “said yes to more shows but no more than 50,” stated AEG’s VP of communications Michael Roth.

Jackson stipulated two conditions for the additional run: that AEG would rent him a country estate near London so that his children would have a retreat during the shows’ July-February duration, and that some arrangement would be made to have the Guinness Book of World Records to acknowledge the tour’s record-breaking run.

The contract between Jackson and AEG called for 10 shows in each of the months of July, August and September, with three months off before resuming in January and February. That would have been an average of 2 1/4 shows a week, said Roth.

Roth also addressed rumors that the 02’s four initial shows were postponed due to Jackson’s flagging health. He said the delays had to do with tour director Kenny Ortega’s request for more rehearsal time. Also, Roth pointed out, AEG needed more tickets to meet the swelling demand from media and VIPs for the kick-off show, hence the delayed start date. Even beyond the 50 sold-out dates, Roth said there was still a waiting list of 200,000 people hoping to nab a seat.

Everybody from Ortega to choreographer Travis Payne attested to Jackson’s fitness for the shows, and that 130 hours of rehearsal time — on a Burbank sound stage as well as the Inglewood Forum and the Staples Center — had been filmed, said Roth. Much of it is full-on performance by Jackson and his band, not just walkthroughs.

Although Roth continues to field phone calls and emails related to Jackson, the dust had largely settled. At least until an autopsy report will determine how much money AEG will be able to recoup from its $20 million-plus investment in the tour.

Check out this gallery of Michael Jackson below:

VIA PEOPLE:

With Michael Jackson temporarily interred at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles, his family is wrestling with a painful decision: Where will the King of Pop finally be laid to rest?

A source close to the Jackson family says, “They [still] haven’t decided,” but adds that the singer’s parents and siblings might be one step closer to an agreement.

Click here to hear Latoya Jackson’s tribute to her brother, Michael!

Michael’s mother Katherine Jackson, 79, had previously objected to making the Neverland ranch his final resting place because, says the source, “She thinks it’s a place of horrible memories. She says Michael wouldn’t want to be there.” (Authorities once alleged Jackson molested children at the ranch; he was acquitted of all charges 2005). However, she has since softened her stance, according to the source.

“Katherine is still opposed to Michael being buried at Neverland, but would relent if it could be arranged for Michael’s children to gain ownership of the property,” the source explains. “If they could have complete ownership, Katherine would approve.”

How that arrangement might work, however, is up in the air; currently a majority stake in the property is held by private investors. “That’s one of the things they’re trying to figure out,” the source says, noting that there is money to be made if Neverland becomes a tourist attraction like Graceland, the Memphis home of Elvis Presley.

The other location in play is Forest Lawn, where a private memorial for Jackson was held the morning of his July 7 public tribute in Los Angeles.

Did Bill Maher insult the legacy of Michael Jackson with his “new rules”? Click here to find out!

VIA NYP:

Michael Jackson was so addicted to the powerful sedative Diprivan he begged to be “put under” for days at a time, it has been claimed.

He would spend up to 72 hours lying “like a living corpse“, according to former plastic surgery nurse Kathryn Buschelle.

Kathryn, 41, the long-term partner of one of Jacko’s surgeons, said the star became addicted after being given Diprivan to cope with the pain of continuous laser facial peels to lighten his skin.

She said: “Michael’s obsession with his appearance led to more and more skin treatments and his subsequent addiction to Diprivan led to even more. It was an insane cycle.”

“He was literally burning his skin off and then being knocked out like a zombie. It reads like a horror movie script. Towards the end of the 90s he was a dead man walking, that’s how zoned out he was.”

Apart from Diprivan, the LA coroner found Demerol, Methadone, Valium, Dilaudid, Ambien, Fentanyl, Xanax and Vicodin in Jacko’s body after his death on June 25 aged 50.

VIA PEOPLE:

Despite Michael Jackson’s reported orders that his family not be permitted inside the gates of Neverland for fear they would observe him abusing prescription drugs, older brother Tito Jackson claims that his siblings once staged a raid in an attempted intervention.

“I never saw [Michael] on drugs. Not once. He deliberately did it away from us. He didn’t want his family to know anything about that part of him. He did almost everything in his power to make sure we didn’t know,” Tito Jackson, 55, tells Britain’s Daily Mirror in a lengthy interview Wednesday.

But when the stories just grew too loud to ignore, “We had to act. It was me, my sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya and my brothers, Jackie and Randy,” says Tito – adding that they all barged in and “surprised” Michael, “to say the least.”

Confronted with their questions about his doing drugs, Michael “kept denying it” and told his siblings – some of whom were crying – they were “overreacting,” says Tito, who, along with his brothers and sisters, were assured by Michael’s doctor that the King of Pop was “healthy.”

Who to Believe?

“We didn’t know what to believe. We didn’t take what Michael said as the truth,” admits Tito, who said his brother’s staff at Neverland “literally shut us out. I don’t know if they were just doing their job or if it they were part of some kind of conspiracy.”

Michael Jackson, whose June 25 death is now being treated as a homicide by the LAPD, is believed to have first become hooked on painkillers as the result of the scalp burns he sustained while filming a 1984 Pepsi commercial. Tito says he awareness of the problem wasn’t until 1993, when Michael was treated in a London rehab clinic.

Still, the older brother maintained a hands-off policy. “Before the intervention attempt I would never go to him and say ‘Are you still doing it?’ I would just say, ‘Are you sure you’re fine?’ He’d say, ‘I’m fine, TT.’ ” Even so, the older brother says he asked others to keep an eye on Michael and “make sure he’s okay.”

Check out these ‘noisemakers’ below and share your thoughts about Tito’s claims in the comments!

VIA PH:

It’s the Jackson ladies versus the men in the decision of how the public should pay their final respects to Michael Jackson.

MJ’s father, Joe, as well as all the Jackson brothers, wanted to honor their brother with the excessiveness of both James Brown and Princess Diana‘s funerals, says the King of Pop’s former business manager, Dr. Tohme Tohme.

Joe and the Jackson men were set on having an open casket funeral and having the late King of Pop’s body driven through the streets so fans could throw flowers onto the casket a la Princess Diana.

“The family is fiercely divided. You’ve got the brothers on one hand, who all want to perform and turn the funeral into a showbiz extravaganza, and then you have Katherine on the other side who is a deeply religious woman and is determined that this won’t descend into a circus,” Dr. Tohme told reporters.

Bless her heart!

Added former Jackson tour manager Frank DiLeo: “‘She is the one who is pushing for a spiritual element to the funeral. If the brothers had their way, it would be the Jackson Five’s greatest performance. Or rather, the Jackson Four’s greatest performance.”

Momma Katherine has been backed by daughters Janet and LaToya in her decision to have a closed casket memorial at the Staples Center in LA on Tuesday. A single sequined glove and black fedora will be placed on top of the coffin in honor of the late music legend.

Katherine has yet to decide if Jackson’s three children will attend the memorial, but if they do, they’ll be at the Staples Center sans masks.

Check out our ‘Michael Jackson & Friends’ gallery below and share your thoughts in the comments:

VIA EUR:

All plans for Michael Jackson’s public and private funeral at Neverland are canceled after his family was unable to obtain a residential exemption required for a burial on private property.

“Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland,” says a Jackson family statement. “Plans are underway regarding a public memorial for Michael Jackson, and we will announce those plans shortly.”

Colony Capital, the investment company that purchased Neverland in May 2008, tried to get an exemption for burial. “They couldn’t get it in time,” a Colony spokesperson says.

There were also reports Wednesday that Jackson’s body is being held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills. William Martin, communications director for the funeral home, won’t confirm or deny if Jackson will be buried there.

Also …

TMZ, debunking a report by the Hollywood Reporter’s Roger Friedman that Michael’s funeral will be at Staples Center in downtown LA, is reporting this:

– it won’t be until next week
– it will not be at Neverland
– it will be in the L.A. area, and the Staples Center is an option but it hasn’t been decided.

Beyond that — the family still hasn’t made its decision, the site boldly states.

What’s your favorite Michael Jackson moment? Speak on it in the comments section!