Plug pulled on Vienna Michael Jackson tribute show
The Michael Jackson tribute concert in Vienna that was being planned by his brother Jermaine has been canceled after a week of media reports questioning artists' participation and the support of the Jackson family. Organizers said the show will be moved to Wembley Stadium in London in June 2010 to mark the first anniversary of Jackson's death, according to a Billboard report.
Earlier this week, Jermaine Jackson announced the line-up for the Vienna show, which included Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, Natalie Cole, Akon and Sister Sledge. However, shortly following Jermaine's announcement, a spokesperson for Brown said the singer never committed to performing at the concert, according to MTV News. Additionally, a publicist for Blige reportedly denied she would be taking part in the show.
As those reports began to surface--as well as a TMZ story that claimed the Jackson family was not supporting Jermaine's plans--a spokesperson for Cole told the Associated Press that the singer has been in discussions with organizers but she was not 100 percent confirmed.
Concert organizer Georg Kindel blamed negative treatment by the Austrian media for the cancellation of the event, according to Billboard. "The artists were disrespectfully treated as B-list artists by the media," Kindel told reporters.
Tickets for the Vienna show, which were priced for 63 to 518 euros ($91-$745), will be refunded.
In a statement to reporters, Jermaine said the concert had taken the wrong course. "I personally didn't want to take that course because Michael wouldn't have wanted to be part of anything that was going that way," he said.
The line-up for the London concert reportedly will be announced in December. Kindel told Billboard that it was impossible to announce a new line-up because the date of the show had yet to be confirmed. "We do not have the exact date because Wembley Stadium said to us there were two possible dates that would work for them," he said.
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