The King of Pop music has confirmed the dates for his London residency at the O2 Arena in July as fans wait to see whether they will be among the first to have the opportunity to buy tickets. Michael Jackson hasn’t toured properly since 1996, nor released a studio album since 2001 but now, after announcing the 10-date run and the opening July 8 show at a press conference last week at the O2 Arena, the nine other dates have been announced.

They are billed as his last ever shows in London. Michael Jackson previously said that his London concerts will be his “Final Curtain Call“. During a press conference at London’s O2 Arena, he stated, “I just wanted to say, these will be my final show performances in London. When I say this is it, it really means this is it. I’ll be performing the songs my fans want to hear. This is it, this is really it, and this is the final curtain call.”

Described as a “big budget, grand, highly technical, incredible show“, the first concert will be held July 8, 2009 and tickets prices will cost between £50 and £75. The other dates for the AEG Live-promoted shows at the 23,000-capacity venue are: Friday July 10, Sunday, July 12, Tuesday, July 14, Saturday, July 18, Wednesday, July 22, Friday, July 24, Sunday, July 26, Tuesday, July 28. Further dates are set to be confirmed if the 10 dates sell out as expected.

Fans can visit michaeljacksonlive.com or text for a chance to get access to the ticket presale, which begins 7am GMT March 11. The general sale begins 7am GMT on March 13 and tickets are priced £50 ($68.94) to £75 ($103.41).

AEG Live says there has been a huge amount of registrations from around the world, stating that the “requests for tickets from France alone would practically fill an O2.” There are reports of one million registrations.

On what fans can expect from the upcoming concerts, Randy Phillips, a chief promoter of AEG Live tells BBC that since Michael is a perfectionist, he will come up with a new idea. “Michael Jackson is a perfectionist, so it’s going to be amazing,” Randy says. “He’ll try a lot of new things.”
Rumors say that Jackson, who has returned to the US for rehearsals, is “ecstatic” at the response according to a statement.

Source: billboard.com; contactmusic.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 11:30 am and is filed under News.