| EVENT REPORT 10.28.09 3:50 PM |
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This Is It Premiere Sprawls Over L.A. Live With Aerialists, LEDs, and Fans Galore
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In his life and death, Michael Jackson was a larger-than-life figure, surrounded by seemingly limitless pomp and glitter. Appropriately then, the premiere for the movie culled from his final rehearsal footage, Michael Jackson's This Is It, was an event that fit into the same category, and conjured its own mystique and energy in a bustling, fan-mobbed downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night. Columbia Tristar Marketing group senior vice president for special events Alison Bossert, along with executive director Mary Powell and manager Dori Golod, oversaw the event, with production by 15/40. "It was the premiere event of the season," Bossert said.
The spectacle began with arrivals on the Nokia Plaza at L.A. Live. The atypical setup felt more like a stage than a standard arrivals line: Instead of the usual carpet, a red laquer dance floor lay underfoot, inset with video and lighting elements to evoke Jackson's iconic "Billie Jean" video. Dancers from the planned tour, known as the "Crystal Divas," performed an aerialist routine overhead in Swarovski crystal costumes and chandeliers. Glass cases displayed costumes from the intended tour, some unfinished. Video elements and LED screens surrounded the area, and a fan pit in the middle emanated energy. Craig Waldman of 15/40 described the scope of the arrivals scene as "like an awards show." About 200 photographers and 120 television crews lapped up the coverage.
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This Is It, Michael Jackson, Sony, Columbia Pictures, L.A. Live, Ultimat Vodka |
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| NEWS 10.26.09 1:37 PM |
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Two L.A. Movie Releases Go for Guinness Records
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Attention-grabbing stunts intended to break Guinness world records are surrounding two movie launches in town this week. On Saturday, more than 6,000 made-up and costumed fans converged on Nokia Plaza at L.A. Live to participate in a world record attempt for the most people simultaneously dancing the routine from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video—part of a worldwide simultaneous dance event known as "Thrill the World." The upcoming release on Wednesday of the movie Michael Jackson’s This Is It inspired the stunt.
The participants wore a specially created T-shirt distributed free by event sponsor TapouT. (Fans can also purchase the shirt online with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the City of Hope.) Clear Channel Radio Los Angeles sponsored the event, which was hosted by its stations' on-air personalities.
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Michael Jackson's This Is It, Michael Jackson, Ice Age 3, Clear Channel, TapouT, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, City of Hope, Guinness Records |
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| NEWS 09.14.09 1:34 PM |
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MTV Video Music Awards Filled With Tributes, Stage-Crashers
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 | Jay-Z and Alicia Keys closing the show
Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images |
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FROM NEW YORK
MTV promised to use more than just Radio City Music Hall when it announced a return to New York for the 26th Video Music Awards, and it delivered. In addition to the festivities at the primary venue, last night's broadcast made use of a subway station, the Avenue of the Americas, the Walter Kerr Theater, and an F train. In between, there were a few extravagant performances, tributes to fallen stars, and an uncharacteristically tame M.C. job from returning host Russell Brand, though the night will probably be most remembered for an outburst from Kanye West.
Early reports of the hush-hush production and the show's promotional campaign suggested it would adopt a West Side Story theme in its decor and staging, but there were no obvious allusions to be seen last night. Instead, the stage sat below an archway of metal rods and neon lights, while images of the New York skyline, cranes on the Brooklyn waterfront, and water towers played on the backdrop. Performers left that stage for other venues throughout the night, but festivities kicked off inside Radio City with a tribute to Michael Jackson.
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MTV, MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Russell Brand |
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| NEWS 07.08.09 11:52 AM |
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$4 Million Michael Jackson Memorial Spectacle Draws Far-Flung Fans and 3,200 L.A.P.D. Officers
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 | Queen Latifah at the Michael Jackson memorial service at Staples Center
Photo: Harrison Funk/MJ Memorial/WireImage |
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In the nearly two weeks between Michael Jackson’s death and his giant-scale memorial service at AEG's Staples Center yesterday, public interest in the late pop star seemed to grow exponentially. After the plans for the memorial were announced last week, more than 1.5 million fans reportedly applied online for free tickets, fewer than 20,000 of which were awarded via a lottery system. Wristbands and tickets—distributed at Dodger Stadium Monday—identified bona fide attendees from all over the world among the fans at large, who numbered about 1,000 (down from initial estimates as large as 1 million). Celebrities walked a black carpet to enter the event, according to The Los Angeles Times. Michael Jackson’s body rested in a flower-draped coffin in front of the stage, which was backed by a giant video wall.
Authorities shut down part of the freeway system to accommodate the event—and much of the city was affected by traffic for the morning rush hour. Classic Party Rentals supplied a significant number of barricades for crowd control and safety, plus other rental items. City Councilwoman Jan Perry's office released a map of street closures and impacted traffic regions—a document so complicated that architecture blog Curbed suggested it might actually deter would-be attendees coming from long distances.
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Michael Jackson, AEG |
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| EVENT REPORT 07.01.09 1:14 PM |
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BET Hosts Opulent, Crimson-Toned Awards Pre-Party for 350 at Drago Centro
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Like the show they celebrated, the flurry of parties around Sunday’s Black Entertainment Television Awards was both haunted and energized by the memory of the late Michael Jackson. BET’s artists and colleagues reveled and remembered the King of Pop at many of the more than two dozen bashes around town, which kicked off Wednesday and included Friday’s tribute to Keri Hilson (who went on to win for best new artist) at a private dinner hosted by Timbaland and Polow Da Don, produced by New York-based MVD Inc.
With budget concerns limiting BET’s post-party to an internal wrap bash at Mihaus, revelers leaving the show Sunday evening spread out among six parties, including Interscope Geffen A&M Records’ “Crème of the Crop” dinner at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills; artist/producer Ryan Leslie’s bash at Les Deux in Hollywood; and Jamie Foxx’s celebration at Guys & Dolls in L.A.
But the weekend’s centerpiece was BET’s lush pre-party Saturday evening, which was hosted by the network’s new president and C.E.O., Debra L. Lee, and designed by Washington-based André Wells in collaboration with Lee’s special assistant, Bobette Gillette, and BET's director of special events, Sarah Storrs.
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BET Awards, BET Networks, Keri Hilson, Michael Jackson |
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| NEWS 06.30.09 4:54 PM |
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BET Awards' Hastily Planned Jackson Tribute Yields Ratings Triumph
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After Michael Jackson died suddenly on Thursday afternoon, BET worked fast to transform its already-scheduled awards on Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium into a tribute to the pop star. And, in addition to being what some would consider an appropriate format change for a show celebrating black entertainment, the modified broadcast was also a boon for the network: It was the top-watched cable telecast this year and BET's biggest audience ever, according to a press release from the network.
The live broadcast, hosted by Jamie Foxx, drew 10.65 million viewers. About 10 percent of televisions that were on during the broadcast period were tuned to the awards program, uncommonly high for a cable network, according to Nielsen Media Research findings cited in The Los Angeles Times.
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BET Awards, BET, Michael Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Twitter |
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