Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Jackson Service Draws 31 Million Viewers
Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jackson’s brother, was among those who performed at the artist’s memorial service, one of the most watched in history.About 31 million people in the United States tuned in to the television coverage of Michael Jackson’s star-studded farewell on Tuesday afternoon, Nielsen said, easily making it one of the most-w
A potpourri of channels, including ABC, CNN, Univision and VH1 Classic, showed the nearly three-hour service on Tuesday, leading some critics to draw comparisons to state funeral services for former presidents. Indeed, Mr. Jackson’s memorial at the Staples Center drew more attention than the three-hour funeral for President Gerald Ford in 2007, which was watched by an average of 15 million
The estimated 31.1 million people who watched Mr. Jackson’s memorial on TV represented about 21 percent of all United States households with TV sets. According to Nielsen, the same percentage of households watched coverage of the not-guilty verdict in Mr. Jackson’s trial on charges of sexual abuse in 2005.
Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 was shown on eight channels and was watched by 27 percent of households.
In addition to the TV ratings, many millions of people watched the service on the Internet, as Jenna Wortham reports on the Bits blog.
Citing internal data, CNN.com said it served 4.4 million live video streams during the service; MSNBC.com said it counted 3.1 million. Yahoo reported 5 million total streams.
viewers, Nielsen said.
The two-hour burial of President Ronald Reagan in 2004 was watched by about 35 million, but the four-hour funeral service for Mr. Reagan later that day was watched by about 21 million. (Longer events tend to draw lower ratings, even if higher numbers of people sampled the coverage, because the audience estimates are averages over the entire time period.)
That said, the audience totals for a combined 18 channels were only slightly higher than the ones for the “American Idol” singing competition on Fox
International idol, Jackson mourned around globe
Police stand guard outside the Staples Center as the hearse carrying Michael Jackson's coffin arrives at his memorial
LONDON (AP) — Fans in Asia stayed awake into the wee hours, bars across Europe held Michael Jackson theme nights and television stations from Sydney to Paris cleared their schedules Tuesday to broadcast the King of Pop's star-studded memorial service from Los Angeles.
Fans mourned the singer and celebrated his life along with the thousands attending the U.S. event, where entertainers including Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie paid tribute to Jackson, who died June 25. The 12-year-old Welsh schoolboy Shaheen Jafargholi, who wowed TV audiences earlier this year with the Jackson 5 song "Who's Loving You" on "Britain's Got Talent" got a standing ovation after he sang the same song to the stadium.
In London, dozens of fans sheltered under umbrellas against the rain as they watched the event on a big screen outside the 02 Arena, where Jackson was to have performed 50 comeback shows starting next week. Many more stayed dry at home after the BBC announced it would cancel scheduled programming and show the ceremony live.
"His whole life was a global broadcast in a way, so I suppose it's fitting that his death also is," said barista Robert Anderson, 26, in London.
Crowds gathered outside Harlem's Apollo Theater in New York — where the Jackson 5 won "Amateur Night" in 1967 — and in Detroit, where his career was launched with Motown Records.
"I think he was somebody who really did change the style of music," said Jonathan Contreras, a 23-year-old college student from Westland, Michigan. "They call him the King of Pop. I call him the King of Music."
Fans gathered at Berlin's O2 World arena and at a bar just off Paris' Champs-Elysees, where about 20 people, many dressed in black, Jackson-style hats or white gloves, watched the ceremony.
"I didn't want to experience this moment alone," said Marie-Anne Le Saux, 25, an insurance company employee who helped organize the ceremony.
In Santiago, Chile, national police band played "We Are the World" during the traditional guard change at the presidential palace La Moneda, as hundreds watched.
About 50 fans lit candles and laid flowers in the main square in Stockholm, as "Billie Jean" and "Earth Song" poured out of a small stereo.
Hannah Ralme, 14, from Stockholm, said she had been heartbroken by Jackson's death. "It's like a piece of me died," she said. "The music, the way he danced, the way he expressed it showed me how to live my life — to be childlike and think about other people."
At a Pan-African culture festival in Algiers, Algeria, hundreds of singers and dancers from across the continent performed The Jackson 5's "Blame it on the Boogie" as a tribute.
Several hundred Jackson fans gathered at a Hong Kong mall late Tuesday to remember their idol and watch the memorial on a big screen, surrounded by shuttered store fronts. Holding white candles, Hong Kong singer William Chan and Taiwanese pop star Judy Chou led the audience in observing a 30-second silence. Many fans clutched red roses and wore black; some donned Jackson's trademark fedora hats.
In Japan, home to some of Jackson's most passionate fans, about 100 people gathered at a Tower Records store in downtown Tokyo to watch his videos on a big screen hours before the Los Angeles memorial. The store, which Jackson visited twice, displayed his hand print in a cement block and large posters celebrating his performances. Several shelves dedicated to the pop star were stacked with his CDs and DVDs.
"I love him," said Namiko Hayakawa, a 31-year-old housewife, one of the first to grab a seat. "He is one of the greatest and most original solo performers. He also has a message about peace. He is such a big star, but he has a message for every little person."
In the Philippines, noontime television variety show "Eat Bulaga" said it would hold a Jackson dance contest Wednesday in honor of the pop icon.
For some, the relentless media coverage of Jackson since his death was too much.
"In Ireland we like a good funeral, so we'll be tuning in. There's no good sports match on tonight anyway," said barman Peadar O Docherty, 24, in the Stag's Head pub in central Dublin.
But, he added, "a lot of the adulation is completely over the top."
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Asian fans mourn 'King of Pop'
"I am just shocked. One of the world's great men has died," said Masato Tanaka, a 30-year-old bass player who was shopping in Tokyo, Japan. "He was a star no matter what he did. I think his fans of the world believed in him."
"It becomes so lonely without him," said Mayumi Takeda, 35. "He is definitely a superstar. He was a man of dreams."
Even government ministers expressed their sorrow over the passing of the 50-year-old.
"I feel sad as I had watched him since he was a member of Jackson Five," Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Tsutomu Sato, 57, told reporters.
"With a lot of popular songs, he built a generation," said Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada, 53.
Jackson drew screaming crowds when he visited Japan in recent years.
In 2007, he threw a private party here for hundreds of well-heeled fans who paid
thousands of dollars each for an exclusive dinner and photo with the music legend. Jackson also amazed fans by making a lavish shopping trip to Tokyo electronics stores, for which he reserved an entire building, and private visits to Tokyo Disneyland during which other people were kept out.
He also visited Tokyo in May 2006 to receive a "Legends Award" at MTV Japan's Video Music Awards, making his first public appearance in nearly a year following his trial on child molestation charges.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed that Jackson was pronounced dead at 2126 GMT Thursday in a Los Angeles hospital after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest.
Australian fans of Jackson were stunned and devastated by the sudden death of the pop icon, while the country's music industry paid tribute to the singer's musical legacy.
"OMG Michael Jackson is dead. This is a very sad moment. I am over here in tears. He was a hero to me," wrote one fan, identified as Anya, in a posting on the public broadcaster ABC's website soon after the singer was confirmed dead.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner's officer confirmed that the "King of Pop", 50, was pronounced dead at 2126 GMT in a Los Angeles hospital after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest.
Shocked Australian singing sensation Delta Goodrem hailed Jackson's towering talent.
"I feel so thankful for him sharing his brilliance," she wrote on the Internet microblogging site Twitter.
Her fiance, the singer Brian McFadden, said Jackson had been his "first and greatest idol."
"It's strange how I cry and grieve when I've never even met (him). Just feels like a big part of my life."
One of the members of the Australian group The Veronicas said Jackson's musical legacy had altered her life.
"I wish I got to tell him how much his music existence changed my life," Lisa Origliasso wrote on Twitter. "He was my biggest inspiration and will forever live on in my heart."
The death gripped China as fans spoke of how his music became the soundtrack for the nation's early years of opening to the outside world nearly 30 years ago.
"I was in love with him and his music when I was in college," Wang Fang, a 45-year-old businesswoman, told AFP.
"His life was bizarre, but his music has stayed with me since my youth."
His most popular album, "Thriller," was released here just as China opened its doors to the outside world in the early 1980s, giving the once-isolated nation its first taste of Western pop music, Wang said.
Jackson's death was the top news item on popular Internet portals Soho.com and Sina.com, which called him the "most remarkable singer ever."
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