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Kenny Ortega is a fabulous person and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his new film and his historic collaboration with Michael Jackson:

Q: Have Du had any sleep?

KO: Du know, I haven’t had any sleep for the last few months. I haven’t. During the rehearsals, I worked pretty late hours and then we did the memorial and then we started up on the film and the film was 14 hours a day, seven days a week, every week since we started and then we handed the movie over and it was like mixing. We just came back from 10 days out on the road starting in Chicago with Oprah and back here for the premiere. It’s just been an absolute whirlwind. Like the wind last night, I was like ‘nothing new to me.’

Q: Was syncing in post a nightmare?

KO: Not a nightmare. Fortunately, we had everything being recorded. We had our monitor guys. Du know when Michael’s talking, when he’s going, ‘I’m not trying to be difficult. I realize Du guys are trying to do your job but I’m having a problem. It’s like somebody sticking their fist in my head.’ He’s talking to the monitor guys who are over there recording everything. Not everything was recorded where we had separate stems. Some things were just in two track so we didn’t have the ability to bring Michael’s voice out as much as we would have liked to. We did our best and other times we had it as good as in a recording studio where Du could pull it out and mix it so we were able to get a greater sort of mix. But everything Du heard was happening right there in the room. That’s Michael’s band playing all that music. Those aren’t records. He wanted it like the records as he made very clear, but those were his singers Singen live. That was his band playing live. That was Michael up there obviously. If anybody needed to put that concept to rest, I mean Du saw him. He would just start to improvise and start to sing out of nothingness and suddenly the band kicked in and we were into a rehearsal. That’s how organic that process was for us.

Q: Had he ever done Jackson 5 songs as an adult before?

KO: Oh yeah. Since I’d started working with him which was back during Dangerous and HIStory and many one offs that we did, in Korea and Germany, many places, JFK Stadium in D.C., Michael loved to pay tribute to those years, to the songs and to his brothers Mehr importantly.

Q: The rawness accentuates the fact that it was never meant to be seen.

KO: It wasn’t, it wasn’t. But also, we had three big chunks of footage that we worked with. Du saw the big films that we incorporated into the storytelling. Those were 10 short films that Michael and I developed and produced together that were incorporated into the concert. So those were always intended to be a part of the concert. Those were made for the live Zeigen and ultimately down the line when we filmed the live Zeigen in London which was a plan, those would have been a part of that. Then we had the behind the scenes, interviews, the making of, because Michael had intended to film the concerts in London so he wanted to have a nice behind the scenes to be able to attach to that. So that’s where Du got the dancers and band members talking and seeing the scenic shots. Then Du had what I call the miracle footage which was the footage that we use. It was a tool for us to videotape the rehearsal so that we could at any time we wanted to go back and look at something and say, ‘Why don’t we open this up musically oder Du know what we should do here with the lights? oder why not bring the dancers out at this moment?’ That it offered us an opportunity to kind of after the fact step back, look at something and be able to make creative adjustments. We’d done that ever since we started working together. We didn’t always turn those cameras on and there were only two of them and sometimes one. Du can imagine the complication of trying to tell a story and cut this movie together. There were times where I was on the floor banging and kicking and screaming because we didn’t Design this to be shot as a film. We never planned it. There was no script. I didn’t say, ‘And now go in for the close-up and can we do one Mehr take of that?’ That was never part of it.

Q: Were any musical numbers left out because the footage wasn’t there?

KO: Yeah, mm hmm, yeah. The Tag that Michael died, we were waiting for him to come in to block him into Dirty Diana, which was at the end of Dirty Diana, he stepped into an illusion and before your eyes went up in smoke and then suddenly appeared completely on the other side of the stage rising up on the kirsche picker and out over to the audience for Beat It. He was really looking vorwärts-, nach vorn to it. The night before, he had sagte to me he was very happy. He saw the dream coming to life on the stage. The only thing he wanted me to say to anybody creatively, dancers, creative team was, ‘I Liebe them. Everybody’s doing a great job. I Liebe you, Kenny. I’ll see Du tomorrow. Thank you.’ He left and we were invigorated. We came back that Weiter Tag and we were all up on the stage really excited working with our illusion makers, working with our technicians. We had our aerialist, Danielle, on the stage and Tony Testa, one of our associate choreographers was standing in for Michael. It was just like we were getting everything ready for him to walk in and step into what was going to be one of his Favorit days because he loved illusion. When we discovered that, in fact everything stopped.

Q: Did your Hocus Pocus background help reinvent Thriller?

KO: It didn’t hurt. It didn’t hurt but it also came from my background of loving Michael Jackson’s Thriller and being a huge Fan of all of his short film work. But it was one of the first ideas that Michael and I talked about was let’s create a 3-D experience in an arena for the fans. Of course, people were like, ‘What?’ The technology, they were really racing to get it finished. We had the first HD 3-D screen up and we were creating these films. There were people that were not even sure it was going to work. When we first tested the 3-D on the screen in the arena, it was mind blowing. Then what we were planning on doing was Michael had all these other ideas. We had Michael curry who designed The Lion King was one of our scenic designers and puppeteer designers. We had giant illuminated characters dropping out of the ceiling over the heads of the audience and these beautiful puppets that were coming down the aisles and moving out of the vomitoriums. Michael was so excited about it. He liked to call it a 4-D experience. So, Du were going to have a 3-D movie, the cast on stage and then the smoke billowing off the edge of the stage into the audience and all of these elements dropping in over your head and your 3-D glasses on.

Q: Did Du ever want to add something reflecting on the emotional background?

KO: Du know, the only reason why I didn’t do it was because I didn’t want anyone to ever say that we fabricated anything. We didn’t. There is absolutely nothing in this film that wasn’t created from the time Michael Jackson announced that he was doing the concerts until the Tag that Michael died. We didn’t want to touch it. It was like I called it sacred final documentation and if we went back in to shoot the band oder anything, then we left ourselves open to people going, ‘That really wasn’t how it happened. They tried to color it differently.’ However, in the DVD series, there is a tremendous, I would say, three to four hours of information that’s not in the film that comes again from that source, but also now post source. So that we did go back and now talked in hindsight about the experience of working with Michael and we completed some ideas that Michael had blessed and signed off on that we didn’t have quite finished Von the time Michael had died. So you’re going to see an even sort of completer picture and come to understand Mehr detail about all the elements of what we had planned for the show.

Q: How would Du like Michael to be remembered as an artist and as a person?

KO: I think people were saying it last night. They were echoing everything that I felt in my heart. People coming up to me and saying, ‘We didn’t get it. We didn’t get the closure from CNN. We didn’t get to say goodbye properly from CNN.’ Not meaning that they were being irresponsible. It was just that the information wasn’t there and that people were saying that not only did we get to have these final moments with Michael as the artist, but we got to come to know him better than ever before as a man. Du really came to appreciate his kindness and his sweetness and his generosity and the wonderful collaborative spirit that he was about and the way that he worked with people, never wanting to offend anyone. My God, if he thought that he embarrassed somebody, it would just knock him to his knees. That’s why Du always saw him, even in the deepest frustrating moments for him, he would say, ‘With the love. That’s what the rehearsal’s for’ because he really appreciated us so much. He sagte to me, ‘Kenny, go out and find the best artists in the world. Invite them to come and Mitmachen our journey and then let’s inspire them to go to places that they’ve never been before.’ So Michael knew who was in front of him and he had the greatest admiration and respect for everybody. Even if he had a little Debatte oder a disagreement with someone, he never wanted it to get to the place where that person might have thought that he didn’t care for them oder that he didn’t respect them.

Q: Shouldn’t he have done movie musicals?

KO: Yeah, we were going to do a couple of films. Before we even knew that we were going to do This Is It, Michael and I were already in the early development stages in talking about doing a Legs Diamond musical and a full length 3-D Thriller motion picture. Michael was not intending to resign from the business. He wasn’t retiring. However, this was what he was calling his final curtain call for live touring. What he thought was he’ll do the 50 shows in London and then he really said, ‘If it works and I still feel good and I still have the energy, I would Liebe to go to Africa. I would Liebe to go to India. I would Liebe to go to Japan.’ Travis (Payne) and I saw it. Michael was intending to go out there with his children and see the whole rest of the world, share that experience with them, meet the fans, take one Mehr grand bow and then he wanted to pull the plug on his live performing because he said, ‘I don’t want to be out there doing it when I can’t do it with the integrity that I’m known for. However, let’s make Filme and great albums and develop projects together.’ So he was excited about so much. He had so much Mehr in him still.

Q: What did Du discover about Michael and yourself and your friendship doing this?

KO: Well, Du know, Michael just gave me such trust. From the very moment that we began, it’s like he threw the clay in the middle of the tabelle and he said, ‘Put your hands in it with me right now.’ He loved creative jousting with me. He loved it. He loved wrestling down ideas. Whatever stuck to the Wand the Weiter day, we didn’t even remember who came up with it. We so didn’t care. It was such a partnership. It was so easy, out of our ego, and it was so about what belonged in the storytelling. Michael had for a couple of years been entertained Von so many people with ideas and he would call me every once in a while, we would have dinner, we’d talk on the telephone. He’d come to visit me on set and he’d say, ‘There’s nothing out there that has enough purpose behind it for me to want to do it,’ meaning in the live arena. He’d say, ‘Keep thinking.’ I was doing my films and suddenly I got this phone call, after two years of us talking about the possibility of maybe doing something live, and he said, ‘Kenny, this is it.’ I swear, that’s what he said. ‘This is it.’ Then during the conversation while we were talking, he sagte it like five times and I laughed and I said, ‘You should call the tour This is It because Du keep saying it.’ What happened when we got together right after that was, before any conceptual ideas, he started talking to me about the reasons why, the reasons behind wanting to go out and do it. Here’s why we need to do this and now let’s create the Zeigen that gives worth to these reasons. That is what I’ll take with me. His sense of responsibility, that it wasn’t enough to just go out there because he could. It had to be important. It had to have worth. It had to have reason, raison d’etre as Gene Kelly used to say to me all the time. What’s the reason for being there that’s going to inspire me to get up every Tag and want to put on my costume and get on that stage and be Michael Jackson.

Q: How do Du respond to theThis Is Not It website? Would Du take legal action?

KO: I don’t. I mean, everybody, the way I look at it is they’re all fans. Everything is coming from a sense of loss. There are some Fans out there that are just looking to sort of point at something, to point to the reason why we don’t have Michael anymore, put blame. All I would say is Michael didn’t live that way. That’s not the spirit of Michael Jackson. Michael didn’t assume. There were an awful lot of people though that did assume about Michael Jackson. They created scenarios and they speculated and even persecuted him and demoralized him. I would just say to anyone, if Du don’t know what you’re talking about, if Du weren’t there, if Du don’t have the information, don’t put that information - - don’t. Don’t do it. See the movie. Look at the movie. The movie speaks for itself. It’s Michael. It’s Michael talking, Michael doing, Michael sharing. It’s pretty clear. It’s pretty honest. It’s pretty raw. It’s pretty unguarded. That Michael wanted to be there. He was doing this. This nourished him. It invigorated him. It excited him. He wanted to do this Mehr than anything other than spend time with his children. This is what he wanted to do.

Q: What do Du look for in artists to participate?

KO: Collaborators and people that are not afraid to go on a journey and get outside of their head and that are less concerned about an idea being theirs and Mehr concerned about being a part of a team that arrives at something that’s special.

Q: What’s going on in High School Musical land?

KO: I’m not going to do High School Musical 4 but I hear that they might be doing an all new cast, all new.

Q: What happened to all the sets?

KO: All of it’s in storage. All of it’s in storage. Some of it is spectacular. Somehow maybe in the future we might be able to pull it all into some kind of idea. I don't know. I hope it’s not just going to sit behind closed doors.

“This is It” opens in theaters on October 28th.
posted by Eternalmike
 Dahlia
Dahlia
Dahlia's P.O.V(last Tag of school)
So I'm moving two days after today. I'm going to the lunchroom with Michael who's holding onto me. "I'm gonna miss Du so much" Michael said. Michael is clinging to me like glue.We sit down at our usual table.Michael asked me if he could have Athena.I told him no but inside I wanted to say yes. I'm going to miss him so much!

Michael's P.O.V(After school into vacation)
I clung to Dahlia like no tomorrow! I invited her and Athena tomorrow to spend our last Tag together. I Liebe her so much, I can't let go so easily! I just feel like going with her to Nevada but...
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posted by Eternalmike
Dahlia's P.O.V (After school)
So I return Home and my parents called me in the living room. I walked in and sagte "What's going on?" I know that when they call me into the living room, something's going on. My parents were shaky like they didn't know how to tell the news to me.It was silent for a Minute and then my dad spoke out the news that changed my life.
"Honey, I got a job that's far away from our house so we're moving."
My jaw just flew open."We are moving to Nevada" My mom said. My jaw was still flung open. My brother walked in and sagte " Wow, looks like she's pretty shocked!" My dad said...
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posted by Eternalmike
 The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
Michael's P.O.V
So it's 6:25 AM and it's way before I get up for school! I live close to school so I get up at 7. Plus, it's Friday! I'm so psyched that Dahlia's coming over and maybe Athena ( I just want that cat so bad!!) I can't wait!!

Dahlia's P.O.V
So it's lunch time at school and I just told him I'm bringing Athena. Michael has this goofy smile that's just adorable.I know he can't wait for Athena!
After school
So I have Athena in the car with my dad. Athena is Weiter to me looking out the window.I have a feeling we're near 2300 Jackson street...
Here we are! I'm at Michael's house and Michael...
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posted by Eternalmike
 A Zufällig Quote That's Relevant to this Part ;D
A Random Quote That's Relevant to this Part ;D
Dahlia's P.O.V
So I thought of a flashback to when me and Michael first met.He was always such a nice guy. We talked every time we had the chance. My first Tag turned from the worst to the best and it was all because of Michael.They say the best things in life come when Du aren't looking for them. In that classroom on the first day, I gave up looking for that person and just sat randomly. That Tag I thought I was going to be the loneliest person in Kindergarten.But Michael picked me up from the ground and made me an individual at this school. I feel like I know my place because of him.Ever...
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Chapter 2 : kick your game


After the konzert we met fans,signed autographs, and took pictures. After all of our group duties were done we were ushered to a tented Window limo. pebbles blew a KISS and waved us good bye saying that she would meet up with us tonight over dinner. We would of went right now with me, T-boz and chilli being hungry n all (for god sake she's eating for two now :) ) but pebbles sagte she had some 'important" manager things to handle. yeah right her husband is her boss I know what they're doing :)



on our way to not just any hotel but MGM GRAND HOTEL ! :



"so chilli Du wanna...
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Chapter 1 :1,2,3,4 Yall Oooooh..... on the TLC Tip


T-L-C , T-L-C, T-L-C. , that was the Chant of the crowd before we hit the stage. wow just thinking we have millions of Fans now and it's our first tour and our album has been out for six months and has reached #14 on the charts. ME Lisa Nicole Lopes being a member of a inspirational girl group !!!! Putting the L in TLC with my cool rapping style. I can see myself in days beyond now still giving that kick to the Musik industry for female rappers.





enough of that .….



Pebbles knocks on our dressing room door and sticks her head in "you girl's ready...
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Jaycee's P.O.V.

When Michael dropped me off, I felt sick to my stomach. Something is nagging at me, I just can't figure it out. It didn't help that Jada was in the car either, she's very annoying and pushy. The whole time her mouth was going ' Why are we leaving?' ' Can I stay at Hayvenhurst?' ' Can we stay longer?' ' Why do we have to go Home so early?'.

Not only that, but I threw up on the way. I threw up on the sidewalk, on the straße and in Michael's limo. When we finally got there, my vision was blurry, my throat had a knot in it and my back was killing me. This was officially the worst...
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 Colette
Colette
Weiter Morning...

Fancy's P.O.V.

In the dining room, we were eating pfannkuchen while listening to some of Motown's greatest hits. Watching Michael eat reminded me of when we used to eat pfannkuchen at my house back in Gary. I miss all the good times we had together...

( Flashback 1966)

Orlando, Florida

Michael and I were watching the waves cascade over the strand floor and flush away. The sun's warm rays pressed heat on our backs while the cotton like clouds hovered over our heads.

Our feet was deep in the golden brown sand while our hands were clutched together. Gary was nothing like Florida. This...
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 Marlon
Marlon
Both Mikes gasped."Haylee, what makes Du think that Du can keep him here?" Other M sagte defensively."Easy, I'm going to destroy the portal so he can never go back to that hündin he calls his girlfriend!" Haylee responded holding a hammer."Wait, how did Du get here?" Michael asked."By following that dumb guy" Haylee sagte pointing at Other Mike"Stevie Wonder can follow your footsteps"."Hey I'm not dumb Haylee and Stevie Wonder us blind" Other Michael sagte defending himself."That's the thing dumb ass!" Haylee sagte snickering."Hey stop snickering at other Mike! He's my best friend in this world...
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added by cherl12345
added by cherl12345
 Michael
Michael
Haylee caught him, pushed Michael against a wall, and began Küssen him.After a sensual kiss, Haylee said" I want Du so bad Michael. I'd never thought I could find a guy like Du but I did,please be mine!" "Sorry Haylee, I already have someone that I love"Michael sagte pushing Haylee away."Yeah in another world Michael"Haylee sagte resisting Michael's pushing."Ok but I still Liebe her and I'm going back to my world as soon as I find the machine" Michael sagte with one last great push that sends Haylee falling.Haylee got back up a few Sekunden later and said"Fine, Du win. Since Du don't Liebe me...
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Michael's P.O.V

I finally had gotten the courage to do what seemed almost impossible. I kissed Fancy. Her lips were soft like rose petals, oder like she just kissed a cloud.

We are both too young to be boyfriend and girlfriend; just at the tender age of 10. Besides, I can be 18 and have a girlfriend and Joseph would still freak out. I knew we couldn't tell anyone about the KISS oder we'll regret it. Especially since the wannabe casanova we call Marlon already kissed her.

Even if Marlon took the role of sharing Fancy's first kiss, our KISS was way Mehr special. Even if our noses bumped a little....
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Michael and other Michael woke up at 11:25 AM.The Aunt made breakfast for everyone downstairs. Michael and other Michael went downstairs seeing Haylee and David also there."Good Other Mike and good morning Michael!" Haylee sagte with eyes on Michael."Good Morning Haylee!"Other Mike said."Good morning to Du Haylee" Michael sagte Schauspielen like Haylee didn't KISS him last night."Good morning y'all!" David sagte with a western accent."Good morning David " Other Michael and Michael sagte in unison."Good Morning, have some breakfast" The aunt said.The Michaels sat at the tabelle and the aunt gave them their...
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added by cherl12345
Michael knew exactly who the people were. He's sad that he can't talk to them because he's in an alternate world."Ok so I'll check the room I auditioned in with my brothers" Michael said."I'll check this room" The other Mike sagte pointing to a recording room.Michael walked upstairs to his auditioning room. He walked inside to find out that the room is empty and dark.Michael flipped the light switch to on and starts searching for the machine."Wow, I remember when I was Singen 'I got the feeling' and I was nine years old" Michael sagte with flashbacks in his brain."I remember when we got into...
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 Young Michael
Young Michael
We go back in time in Fancy and Michael's relationship. Before Summer, before the marriage, before the dating, all the way back to a simple, yet strong friendship.

Both Michael and Fancy are 10 years old, right near the time when Michael and his brothers were going to Motown.

Chapter 1: Scoring Big and Mighty

Fancy's P.O.V

As I come Home from cheerleading practice, I look over at Michael's house. Michael and I have been best Friends for as long as I can remember. We were born in the same hospital, we went to the same preschool and we go to the same school.

My sister Felicity was inside the...
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 Jada
Jada
Michael's P.O.V

I can't believe I kissed her! What did I do?!?! Ugh, I'm such a idiot. Jaycee will probably never talk to me again! The only thing to do is to call someone to pick us up. I drag my feet as I go to the pay phone. Twenty-Five cents for one stupid call. Lord have mercy.


Jaycee's P.O.V

He kissed me! He actually kissed me!!! Du won't believe how long I wanted this Tag to come. I sat down In a chair and watch Michael negotiate on a pay phone. His face was saturated with sweat. He still looked cute to me.

Michael's P.O.V

I opted to call for Jermaine, who was the only one who knew...
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