TV Shark reports that Michael Jackson’s final rehearsal for his planned London concerts was recorded and could soon be televised.
“In fact, AEG, promoter of Jackson’s London concert tour, filmed all the rehearsals with state-of-the-art digital equipment and in addition to being aired on broadcast television, it could be released soon as both an album and DVD.
The company reportedly amassed over 100 hours of footage and his practice run-throughs, and there are ongoing discussions with both US and international network broadcasts of the final three-hour-plus rehearsal, held at LA’s Staples Center the night before Jackson’s death.
Producer Ken Ehrlich, an executive at AEG, who watched the performance and met with Jackson says: “He was definitely in rehearsal mode. He wasn’t giving it full out. But vocally, he had started to really project. I thought he was in great form. He just seemed really healthy. He really looked good and he was very upbeat.”
“He was having a good time. During rehearsal, I could tell that he was feeling it. He was feeling good. He was on his way to giving a great performance.”
The company is no doubt trying to salvage what it can from the canceled London tour, especially now that it has had to issue refunds.
But AEG isn’t giving up that easily. The company announced Monday that the 750,000 Michael Jackson concert ticketholders can get full refunds or opt to receive souvenir tickets instead, which it said feature graphics ‘inspired and designed’ by Jackson himself.
It may be counting on die-hard fans to want to hold onto their tickets or to cash in later should they become collector’s items. Fans spent more than $90 million on tickets in all, which were priced between $80 and $120. They will have until August 14 to consider the offer.