The Final Destination: Commendable 3D Effect

NEW YORK: The latest installment of “The Final Destination” franchise has been made into a 3D flick, to appear even more appealing to the viewers.With polarized glasses, viewers are bound to feel very much drawn “in” to the film (as in, being a part of the whole mayhem). The movie hit the theaters on Friday, August 28, and because it is a “Final Destination” franchise, it evidently drew a lot of attention to itself. Also because, it is the first in the series to be dished out in the 3D format.The movie has opened to mixed reviews. Though some have thrashed the movie outright, there are others who have found it to be quite endearing. A highlighted part in most talks surrounding the movie is obviously the 3D effects.Since 3D is all about making things on screen appear to leap out and head for the viewer, with the sole aim to make the those in front of the screen flinch or duck low, “Final Destination” has proven to be a worthwhile select.Along with the untimely, unsuspected, abrupt and almost always brutal deaths of the characters on screen, the viewers get to flinch too, as objects appearing out of nowhere kill the onscreen lot one by one.For 82 minutes, the film traces the common theme that runs in all the series’ ventures- death by destiny. The movie’s characters avoid an accident at the race track because of a premonition of one of their friends.However, deaths seem to have evaded them only momentarily and seeks them out one by one, in chilling regular incidents, which are etched out in gory details.

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Most dangerous celebs to search for online

e cautious if you plan to Bing Jessica Biel or Google Brad Pitt. A new report says you might get a virus. The Hollywood actors are among the top 10 celebrity searches online that can lead to computer problems, according to a report released Tuesday by the computer security company McAfee. The company named Biel the “most dangerous celebrity in cyberspace.” One in five Internet searches for terms related to “Jessica Biel” leads to a Web page, photo, video or piece of spam that contains a cyber-security threat, the report said. The former “7th Heaven” star and girlfriend of singer Justin Timberlake is followed on the “most dangerous” list by singer Beyonce, actress Jennifer Aniston and football hunk Tom Brady. Singer and reality TV star Jessica Simpson rounds out the top five. Pitt, who topped last year’s list, moved down to 10th. The report shows that hackers use pop culture trends to spread viruses and malicious software, said Shane Keats, a research analyst at McAfee. Biel is “very, very popular right now, so it says to me that the cyber criminals really do know who’s hot and who’s not,” Keats said. “They really are smart. They can spot a trend as well as anyone else can — as well as Paris Hilton can.” Risks associated with the searches range from “annoying to devastating,” he said. But they don’t mean people should be afraid of using the Internet. Keats’ advice? Surf Web sites you know and trust. “You really can’t go wrong if you stick to the really well-lighted parts of the Internet,” he said. “As soon as you go off the big boulevards, you go off map and you have the potential to land in a dark alley.” Those “dark alleys” are where fake photos and harmful downloads are most likely to damage a person’s computer, he said. Keats acknowledged that computer viruses can come from many places and many types of searches. He said McAfee chose to highlight celebrity searches because they are popular and because they’re a good teaching tool — a way to make cyber security resonate with everyone. McAfee makes anti-virus software that can be used to combat cyber attacks. Reports from computer security companies are often criticized as somewhat promotional. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has information on anti-virus software and tips on how to stay safe online. The company said it surveyed 900 Web sites and 150 ring tones for its analysis. It ranked celebrities based on the percentage of search results that were found to be damaging and on how harmful those sites turned out to be. Biel’s publicist did not respond to a CNN request for comment. A news release from McAfee said the company was surprised to find President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama relatively low on the list. They ranked 34th and 39th, respectively. Young Hollywood stars were popular on the list. Miley Cyrus and Lindsay Lohan both were in McAfee’s top 15. Only two men — Brady and Pitt — made the top 10.

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Worldwide Avatar previews thrill sci-fi fans

LOS ANGELES: Fans wearing 3D glasses clapped as soon as James Cameron’s face appeared on screen. The filmmaker, shown in 3D, invited moviegoers to enjoy a 16-minute peek of his anticipated sci-fi epic “Avatar,” which was screened for free around the world Friday. The footage takes viewers to the planet Pandora, where an ex-Marine (Sam Worthington) is among a group of humans who have their brains linked to cloned versions of a native species in order to safely explore the spectacular environment. Sigourney Weaver plays a botanist overseeing the exploration. She, too, embodies an avatar based on the tall, lithe, tailed, blue humanoid species that populates the planet. Together they meet an enormous hammerhead dinosaur with a plume of multicolored spikes on its face and the snarling tiger-like creature that scares it away. Another scene shows Worthington’s character befriending a native woman (Zoe Saldana). They discover a psychedelic forest of luminescent flowers and battle an army of flying dragons. Relying on 3D and performance-capture technology Cameron has helped pioneer, “Avatar” is an immersive blend of animation and live-action movie magic. Fans at an IMAX screening in Los Angeles were overwhelmed by the 3D footage. “It was almost a sensory overload,” said Ryan Moore, 23, a student at Ohio State University. “You have to be in the moment wearing the (3D) glasses to really appreciate it.” Dwayne Smith of Venice was taken with the digital effects. “It looked very real, especially the aliens. It looked amazingly real,” said the 45-year-old. “It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, actually.” The free preview convinced one fan to buy a ticket on the spot. “I think it’s going to be one of the greatest movies this decade,” said 21-year-old film student Derek Nunn. The screenings, shown on some 440 screens in 58 countries, kept social networking sites abuzz with fan feedback. One who was disappointed with the trailer said seeing the extended footage in 3D changed his mind about the movie. “It is essential that you watch it in IMAX 3D, or 3D,” Manoj Patel of Manchester, England, wrote on the film’s Facebook page. “I just got back from watching the 15-minute footage, and I’ve got to say, my mouth was wide open all the way through.” Response to the film’s 2D trailer, which debuted online Thursday, was mixed. Analyzing the two-minute teaser, several movie blogs — including Movieline.com and Spout blog — noted the film’s similar appearance to the 2008 animated flop “Delgo” and other science fiction movies. But fans who saw the footage in 3D gave it overwhelmingly positive reviews. “The trailer does not represent the movie properly,” Smith said. “The trailer short-sells it.” Cameron said Friday he heard the trailer was a hot topic on Facebook and Twitter, but that he lacks certain social networking skills to take part. “I don’t even know how to Twitter,” he said in an interview. “I’m so unhip that it’s tragic.”

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Arnold Schwarzenegger invited ShahRukh Khan to Washington to diffuse tension

The Terminator hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who presently is decorating seat of Governorship of California, has invited Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan to meet him on September 20 in Washington as an effort to diffuse tension resulted from the alleged detention of Shah Rukh Khan US border officials in a New York airport last weekend. Shah Rukh, who is featured in the list of ‘50 Most Influential People’ told experience at the Newark Airport to be embarrassing. It is still uncertain whether Mr. Khan would accept this invitation. In meantime he has signed £125 million deal with Fox-Searchlight in US to distribute his latest movie ‘My Name is Khan’ that is based on racial tension as erupted aftermath of 9/11 terror attacks. After retuning back to India, he said, “I am scared of authorities and rules, so I try to follow the rules of the country I travel to,” he said. He again said, “Whenever I am in America, I have to report at least two hours in advance while traveling within the country for security reasons – they ask me to take off my clothes and shoes, and I do that. “But I never experienced this kind of treatment.”

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YouTube gets Time Warners Adult Swim, Gossip Girl

NEW YORK : Online video site YouTube said on Wednesday it signed a deal with Time Warner Inc to feature program clips from a range of its cable networks including CNN, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. No financial details were disclosed. The move is the latest by the Google Inc-owned video service to increase the range of video clips through which it can sell advertising. Currently, most of the clips are uploaded by users, which advertisers are reluctant to advertise alongside because they are frequently unprofessionally produced and may have inappropriate material. Some Time Warner-owned programming is already available on YouTube including HBO and CNN International outside the United States. The new deal will allow YouTube users in the United States to watch short clips of television shows like “Gossip Girl” and the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” as well as some Warner Brothers movies. As part of the deal YouTube will also be integrating the Time Warner player into the site.

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SRK says detention no big deal

SRK gives a full blown interview to Rajdeep Sardesai after the brouhaha over the issue of him being detained by US immigration authorities.

Rajdeep Sardesai:Critics say that the entire detention in America has been hyped by Shah Rukh himself as some kind of publicity for your film My Name is Khan. It’s part of SRK’s attempt to remain in the news. How do you react?

Shah Rukh Khan: As a matter of fact, I am averse to being in front of news when I am not really doing it for my film. My film is coming much later. It’s eight-nine months away. Normally you don’t start publicity of a film that early. Second, it’s not very positive to be questioned, to have someone asking someone to be vouching for you in someone’s wonderful country. I think it’s a little disrespectful. I wouldn’t use that as a part of publicising myself, neither I am that kind of a person. So may be those who say this believe in designed things like that.

Rajdeep Sardesai: But you know, people are detained and questioned at American airports, post 9/11 it’s a regular practice. Why suddenly should Shah Rukh Khan take it as a personal affront? Was it ‘how can you detain me, Shah Rukh Khan’?

Shah Rukh Khan: No, no. I don’t think so. I am very humble about who I am. I speak in third person when I am talking about my acting. That’s how I am.

Rajdeep Sardesai: What was it that made SRK – who has also been subjected to checks and questioning – suddenly this time believe that this was way too much. What went out of line, where did you snap?

Shah Rukh Khan: No I did not snap at all. I didn’t even know it had taken this kind of a momentum. I called a friend who’s perhaps related to the media. And obviously when you call family, they go, ‘what happened?’. I went for my work, came back at 2 am, had calls from all channels – yours being the first one – and I remember I felt funny about the interview. I hadn’t taken it as a personal affront.

Rajdeep Sardesai: You did not take it as a major issue?

Shah Rukh Khan: No I did not.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Come on, Shah Rukh be honest. You were angry, you were upset.

Shah Rukh Khan: No I wasn’t angry. I was disturbed with the kind of questions they were asking.

Rajdeep Sardesai: What were the questions they were asking you?

Shah Rukh Khan: They were asking me for someone to vouch for my entry into America, if I knew Americans, I had to give their telephone numbers and also of my business associates. I was hoping they don’t call because it was a little embarrassing. The things they were supposed to check they did not. There were 20 people including an immigration officer who said very loudly that ‘Hey, I vouch for you, Shah Rukh Khan’, pointing a finger at me. I was like, ‘it’s a little embarassing’.

Rajdeep Sardesai: So there were people who knew who you were and yet kept questioning. You weren’t somewhere where you felt you were being questioned because of your surname. That had you been, for example, a Hindu name, you wouldn’t have been questioned. Was it that factor? Somewhere was there a feeling that ‘I am being looked at suspiciously because I am a Muslim’.

Shah Rukh Khan: I am and I have accepted that for the past few years. And that’s okay. I am absolutely allright by that. I have no issues because I am very pragmatic.

Rajdeep Sardesai: It’s a strange situation where for a couple of days this was the biggest story. Now you’re saying it’s anon-issue. You’re almost saying, ‘it’s not troubled me at all’.

Shah Rukh Khan: I feel disrespected because I never made this story. I just called a few people for things that should be taken care of by the Indian consulate.

Rajdeep Sardesai: At no stage did you want this to become a story?

Shah Rukh Khan: I have no issue about it. I did not want to talk about it. Suddenly I got a call from who I know…who said we got very nervous. I said no it wasn’t that big a deal.

Rajdeep Sardesai: You say it’s not a big issue but you are still making a big deal out of it somewhere. Wherever you went to America, you did mention.

Shah Rukh Khan: I spoke to you guys first because I did not want any misunderstanding that I had gotten arrested or whatever. Even in the first interview I insisted they were polite.

Rajdeep Sardesai: What have you told your children about it?

Shah Rukh Khan: My son was excited that I was caught and was disappointed to learn I wasn’t. My daughter was very happy that I also get detention. I explained to them that we have a name which will ensure we are checked extra and it’s okay since it’s a rule.

Well I would like to ask SRK, how did it feel to be grilled by Rajdeed after being grilled by Newark immigration authorities *chuckle*.

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Salman Khan is Kutto ka King Khan in WANTED!!

MUMBAI: Salman Khan, the macho man of bollywood who plays the main lead in upcoming flick ‘Wanted Dead and Alive’, has once again created a stir by referring his character in the film as Kutto Ka King Khan(Shah Rukh Khan is generally referred to as King Khan).

As only Shah Rukh Khan is addressed by that title of King Khan in the industry due to his supreme hold at the box office, the eyebrows are being raised at the intention of Salman Khan in choosing this name for making the King of dogs. Sources say that the dog topic is especially sensitive for Shah Rukh Khan camp due to its earlier association with Aamir Khan episode of calling his dog ‘Shahrukh’. Aamir had written on his blog that Shahrukh was licking his feet, but later clarified that it was the name of his dog.

And now, Salman Khan openly says at the music launch of his film ‘Wanted Dead and Alive’ that he had become King Khan of dogs. The industry watchers say that it is certain to worsen the already strained relationship between the two superstars.

Sources say that Salman Khan even elaborated on this ‘Kutton ka King Khan’ thing by saying that whenever he went for jogging in Greece during a schedule, several of dogs would follow him. This made him think of himself as ‘Kutton Ka King Khan’.

Industry insiders say that everybody knows that Salman Khan does not forget or forgive easily and this was his way of getting back at Shah Rukh Khan by making himself ‘Kutto Ka King Khan’.

This is not for the first time that Salman Khan has lashed out at King Khan. Recently, when Shah Rukh Khan had been detained by the US authorities at Newark airport in that country, Salman Khan did not express any sympathy for him.

Instead, Sallubhai praised the strict checking and detention of Shah Rukh Khan in the US by saying that it was such thorough frisking that had prevented the reoccurrence of events like that of 9/11 bombing in New York.

It seems Salman Khan has yet not forgotten or forgiven Shah Rukh Khan for the ugly fight that had taken place between them at Katrina Kaif’s birthday bash, last year. Sources say that Shah Rukh had said some nasty things about Salman’s ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai and Salman lost his cool.

Salman Khan plays the character of a hit man in Boney Kapoor’s upcoming flick ‘Wanted Dead and Alive’, which is being directed by southern dancing sensation Prabhu Deva. Ayesha Takia plays the female lead opposite Salman Khan in the flick.

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Authorized Jackson photo book in the works

LOS ANGELES: A luxury publishing company said on Wednesday it is putting together a Michael Jackson photo book that the pop star wanted to create before his sudden death about two months ago.

Kraken Opus said “The Official Michael Jackson Opus” will be available for customers through the website of concert ticket seller Ticketmaster, with delivery set for the Christmas holiday season.

Kraken said it had been in discussions with the pop star before he died, and now the book has been endorsed and approved by Jackson’s estate.

The book will detail the “Thriller” singer’s life and career, span 400 pages of photos and text, weigh 38 pounds, come bound in leather with a silk clamshell case. It will cost $165.

Jackson’s estate has already approved a movie based on rehearsal video that was taped only days before his sudden death on June 25, and the estate is awaiting a judge’s approval of a merchandising deal and a traveling exhibition of memorabilia from the King of Pop.

Jackson suffered cardiac arrest and died at age 50 in Los Angeles. Police are currently conducting an investigation that appears to be focused on the role that powerful prescription drugs may have played in his death.

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SRK to pay tribute to Michael Jackson

SRK has initiated a tribute video for King of Pop Michael Jackson which will star people from Bollywood and will be aired on TV on MJ’s b’day on August 29th.

Musician Vishal Dadlani confirmed the news and said, “The song is titled, We lived in his world.”

A source says,“Shah Rukh Khan is a huge fan of the late Michael Jackson and when the creative heads in Red Chilles pitched the idea, he loved it. He had cried when he learnt about MJ’s death. He was also supposed to attend one of the London concerts which never happened. So, the idea was finalised and they decided to make a music video as a tribute. The best talent for the song was Vishal of the Vishal-Shekhar duo. Vishal is a huge fan too and he was in shock for days when he learnt about MJ’s death.

He has written this passionate song and it has been composed by Vishal-Shekhar. They are also the performers in the video with singers Kay Kay, Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Goshal, among others. The video will have heartfelt messages by top stars like SRK, Hrithik Roshan, Prabhu Deva, Shahid Kapoor, Harman Baweja, Yuvraj Singh, Katrina Kaif, Kangna Ranaut and Priyanka Chopra, among others. The video, currently being shot, is directed by Samar Khan.”

“None of the people associated with the video has charged a penny and it’s their love for the legendary singer that has brought them together. It’s been shot in low lighting and has a unique mood. The video will be aired on all the leading channels on August 29, MJ’s birthday. The song has been choreographed by Remo.”

Now that’s really nice of Bollywood. We love you MJ.

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Halo movie officially on hold: Microsoft

Microsoft has responded to rumors posted on Saturday regarding Steven Spielberg being interested in the Halo movie.

According to a spokesperson speaking to Kotaku, so that it can focus on Halo 3: ODST and Reach, Microsoft has put the film on hold.

“

We’re glad there’s still a lot of enthusiasm in the entertainment industry surrounding the idea of a Halo movie. That said, the Halo feature film remains on hold as we focus on projects like Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.

”

Originally, IESB was reporting that a source close to the site claimed Stuart Beattie had been shopping around his Halo: Fall of Reach script and Steven Spielberg had his eyes on it.

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Coke Studio: Episode 5 Unity – Tracklist

Last year, Coke Studio ended on the fourth episode which featured songs from all artists involved. This year the studio includes a bonus episode, extending the season to a full five sessions, bringing the musical journey to its conclusion in Unity, on 14 August 2009.

-Coke studio

Noori – Kedaar
Zeb and Haniya feat Javed Bashir – Rona Chor Diya
Strings
Arieb Azhar
Ali Zafar
Atif Aslam
Shafqat Amanat Ali

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Why Rakhi ka Swayamvar was the funniest!

MUMBAI: Following are some of the funniest statements of Rakhi, that she said on her famous reality show ‘Rakhi ka Swayamvar’.

I believe in commitment. When I get married, I will make our love larger than life. My husband should be like Shahrukh. He is an ideal husband to Gauri and a loving father to his two kids.

Mai bhi ek bhartiya nari hoon. Agar aap mujhe cheroge, i won’t leave you too. Main kaam karti hoon, parties mein jaake kapde toh nahi utarti. Bohot mehenat ke baad main rakhi sawant bani hoon.

“Unke chune se mujhe koi feeling nahi aati toh humara dost rehena hi thik hai. Shaadi ke liye ek chamistry hona zaroori hai.

Unnhone mujhe pavitra bible gift karke impraaas kar diya hai.

Ghungat toh main le lungi par agar aur larkon ko main aise pasand aa gayi toh?

Main Aishwarya se bhi sundar dulhan banungi.

Malaika Arora Khan bhi item girl hai, aap mujhe sexy kahiye, item girl kahiye, hot kahiye, mujhe koi problem nahi hai.

Main aap ke liye non-veg khana chor dungi (Rakhi to Manmohan’s mum)

Mai bhi ek bhartiya nari hoon. Shaadi se pehle main sharirik sambandhoin mein vishwas nahi rakhti.

I know many people assumed that my show is rigged, but believe me, I would never mock the institution of marriage. On August 2, sab ko asliyat ka pataa chal jaayega.”

“It could be Elesh. He is a very nice boy. I’ve always craved for genuine love and I can see it in his eyes.

And apart from anything, reality is that she actually chose Elesh as his life partner and had got engaged with him Live on TV.

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Priyanka Chopra looks gorgeous at Nokia phones launch

Priyanka Chopra is on a high these days. She has given a row of hits and has bagged in many prestigious awards in recent months. She has some of the most prestigious brands associated with her and given the kind of stunning beauty she has been endowed with, no wonder big companies are in a queue to sign her as their brand ambassador.



Recently, Nokia unveiled new and latest phones Nokia 6700 and Nokia 6303 for the suave and savvy Indian consumers who are looking for superior functionality with premium finish at competitive prices. The launch was made by none other than Piggie Chops who looked absolutely gorgeous and picture perfect in a black mini dress. Check out the shots from the event.

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Top Hollywood studios bring films to web

NEW YORK: It is a dash of Hulu and a sprinkle of YouTube, features a crystal clear picture, can rewind or fast-forward at lightning speed, and doesn’t require a download of any special software.

But epixHD.com, the soon-to-launch video website, will have its success dictated more by the movies, concerts and original programs it offers than the technology behind it, said the executive charged with creating and running the site.

“The critical linchpin to what we’ve got is that we have one-third of the box office of Hollywood,” Epix Chief Digital Officer Emil Rensing said in an interview.

That comes thanks to the three parent companies of Epix: Viacom Inc’s Paramount film studio, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp and MGM. In putting together Epix, the companies hope to compete with Time Warner Inc’s HBO and CBS Corp’s Showtime in the premium movie channel business.

But they added a twist. In addition to the premium movie channel and a video-on-demand component, the venture is building epixHD.com, a website where the studios’ vast collections of full-length movies and new original programming can be streamed by any subscriber.

Rensing, a former executive with Time Warner’s AOL, was hired to run the site. His aim, he said in an interview, was to make it “all about being easy to use” yet not a “dumb player” that simply acts as a projection screen for video.

So epixHD.com comes with an array of features. When watching Paramount’s “Iron Man,” for instance, a person will have access to the trailer, lists of facts about the superhero film, a plot synopsis, and cast list.

Because of its relationship with the studios, Rensing said epixHD.com could eventually offer more unique features.

“Let’s give something to the fans that gets them really excited,” said Rensing. “We’re asking (the studios) for some of the weird stuff. We’d like to go to sets on tear down days, talk to the teamsters about the crazy stuff that happened.”

BUILDING ITS LIBRARY

EpixHD.com is due to launch before the cable channel does in October, and will build its library of films from its parent studios in the months that follow. At the moment, it is still being tested in front of a small audience.

As for its appearance, the site features as wall of movies from which a viewer with a click of the mouse. The movie then pops up, set against a traditional red movie theater curtain. Another mouse click plays the movie.

“My job is not to convince people to watch movies on the Internet. I already know they are doing that. What’s my job? My job is to make it as easy and fun as possible to watch the stuff that I have access to,” said Rensing.

“We’re not a tech company, we’re a media company,” he said in response to a question about some similarities to Google Inc’s YouTube or Hulu, owned by General Electric Co’s NBC Universal, News Corp, and Walt Disney.

“I’m not going to reinvent the wheel. Hulu’s got a great player? I’m going to take a couple things from Hulu. YouTube’s got a couple cool features. I’m going to take them.”

Rensing noted one feature he particularly liked: a sharing function. Under the current distribution agreement with Verizon Communications, Epix subscribers can invite up to four friends to watch a movie online — from their own computers.

Those friends can also swap message about the movie through a chat function in the player. And so long as they are invited by an Epix subscriber, the friends watch for free.

“Hey, when you come to my house and we’re going to sit down and watch the ‘Sopranos’ and you don’t have HBO do I charge you a dollar and stick it in my cable bill?”

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Major Jackson tribute planned for Vienna

VIENNA: The King of Pop is about to get a royal send-off in Vienna.

Events promoter World Awards Media GmbH says members of Michael Jackson’s family and a “high-profile lineup of international stars” are planning a tribute concert to be held within a few weeks in the Austrian capital.

Organizers say they’ll announce the date soon, but the venue is set: Vienna’s former imperial Schoenbrunn Palace.

They would not confirm Austrian media reports that the outdoor tribute may include U2, Madonna, Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston.

There were conflicting reports Monday about the date. Some said the tribute still might be held Aug. 29, which would have been Jackson’s 51st birthday. Others said it will be staged in mid-September.

Jackson died June 25.

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The truth about Michael Jackson’s sexuality

Lisa Marie Presley said he was a passionate lover. So what WAS the truth about Jackson’s sexuality?They met as children and for 40 years, he was Michael Jackson’s confidant. Now, in this deeply personal series, J. Randy Taraborrelli writes exclusively of the Michael Jackson he knew. Yesterday, he told the story of his friend’s fall as he witnessed it first hand. Here, he examines Jackson’s sexuality, investigating his questionable relationships with children – and providing a fascinating glimpse into a very passionate marriage with Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie…

This was the night in 1993 when it emerged that Jackson, a global icon, was under investigation for the sexual abuse of 12-year-old Jordie Chandler.

The police, armed with a search warrant, were on their way to look for evidence. Everything vaguely suspect was to be taken off the property. ‘We couldn’t get the stuff out fast enough,’ the maid recalled.

As stacks of magazines and pictures were thrown into crates, one of the staff held up a photograph and asked: ‘Is that Macaulay Culkin in his underwear?’ It was.
The picture of the 13-year-old star of Home Alone was boxed, along with a lot of others of children similarly dressed down.

The maid heard a colleague mutter: ‘This guy is nuts, isn’t he?’ The maid herself ‘felt bad about the whole thing’ – and soon the whole world would, too, as the lid came off Michael Jackson’s bizarre private life.

Everyone had known the global superstar was weird. But now, it seemed, he was wicked, too, and in an area he had always claimed to be a total innocent – sex.

Jackson’s sexual proclivities had been a matter of speculation since he was a teenager. Even his mother worried that he rarely went out with girls.

The dynamic sex appeal he generated when performing seemed to desert him in the real world with real people.

No one believed he’d had romances with girls such as Tatum O’Neal or Brooke Shields, no matter how much he insisted he had.

Tatum told a friend: ‘How can any girl have a relationship with him? When we’re together, he’s so shy he hardly says two words.

‘I know he’s a virgin. I wonder if he’s afraid to have sex. He doesn’t seem very interested.’

What he was interested in, however, and was absolutely open about, was his love of children. He made no secret of his feelings.

‘One of my favourite pastimes is being with children,’ he explained. ‘When I’m tired or bored, children revive me.’

He regularly visited sick youngsters. To the world at large, his interest seemed odd, but not necessarily inappropriate. It was part of the way he seemed to shun the world in favour of a fantasy lifestyle.

Mostly, where Michael’s personal life was concerned, people felt a sense of sadness. He was an enigma: perplexing and eccentric, but essentially asexual.
Nothing could have been more surprising, therefore, than his marriage to Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, in 1994. From my conversations with both Michael and Lisa, I am convinced this marriage was not a sham. And, according to Lisa herself, Jackson was a wonderful lover. He was, she said, ‘very hot’ in bed.

But the allegations being fired at him by Jordie Chandler and his family were like a bomb going off. ‘Peter Pan or pervert?’ asked a headline in the New York Post.

It was a question that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He was a contradictory figure. From being the youngest who always had to do what he was told, he had taken a firm control of his career and even sacked his father as his manager.

He was now the adult in charge. But in every other area of his life, instead of growing up he seemed to be regressing: buying toys, playing childlike games and, for the first time, surrounding himself with children.

Young fans who gathered at the gates of the Jackson estate in Encino were invited to spend time with him.

Asked about the possibility of having children of his own, he shook his head. He might adopt, but he would not procreate. ‘I don’t have to bring my own into the world,’ he said uneasily.

Instead, he began to develop friendships with young boys.

The first was with Emmanuel Lewis, a 12-year-old actor, just 3ft 4in tall, whom Michael liked to carry in his arms as if he were a toddler.
They played cowboys and indians and rolled on the lawn. He seemed to be trying to live the childhood he believed he had missed because of his career.

Some found nothing wrong in Michael’s behaviour. To his voice coach Seth Riggs, he was just a ‘natural, loving person’ who went gaga over kids.

Others were not so sure. Michael’s manager, Frank Dileo, expressed concern after Michael gave a $100,000 Rolls-Royce to the parents of another friend, ten-year-old Jimmy Safechuck. Dileo was worried how the gift might look. Hurt, the singer told him to mind his own business.

His friendship with Jordie Chandler would make what Michael did or did not get up to with young boys everyone’s business.

Whatever the truth about Jackson’s sexuality, it was clear – to everyone but him – that, in so openly flouting convention and insisting people trust him, he was playing a dangerous game. He and Jordie had met when Jackson’s car broke down in Beverly Hills.

The world’s biggest-selling pop star, clad in black turban and veil, stood by the road feeling powerless and utterly alone. He normally had servants to solve this kind of problem – but today he’d left them at home.

The boss of a nearby car-hire business saw his plight and came to his aid.

He brought the star back to his office while the car was fixed and then rang his wife, June, urging her to bring Jordie, her son from her first marriage, to meet the VIP customer.

When the boy, dark-haired and bright-eyed, his face lean and angular, arrived, Jackson peered over his sunglasses at him. Jordie, a huge fan of Jackson, smiled – and his idol smiled back.

In the coming months, the star took the boy and his sister to a toy store and let them load $10,000 of toys into their shopping trolleys.

At Neverland, they all rode in a gondola to the highest point of the Ferris wheel and stopped.
‘Do you know how much time I spend up here alone?’ Jackson mused, looking out over his 2,000 acres, with a lake, statues inspired by Peter Pan and Disney music emanating from speakers disguised as rocks in flowerbeds. ‘I have all this, yet I have nothing.’

‘You have us now,’ Jordie said, putting his arm round Michael’s shoulder. Michael smiled. ‘My new little family,’ he beamed.

June, Jordie’s mother, was happy to go along with this. ‘I truly don’t think there’s a devious bone in Michael’s body,’ she said.

Nonetheless, she was worried one morning when she caught her son coming out of Jackson’s room, where he had spent the night.

‘Never do that again, Jordie,’ she scolded. Reluctantly, Jordie agreed.

Later, he told Michael about his mother’s concern, and the singer took her aside. ‘How could you think I would hurt Jordie?’ he asked.

He then told her his theory that children were sexually innocent until ‘conditioned’ by adults to be otherwise. It was his desire, he said, that Jordie remain pure and untouched by the adult world.

Then he quizzed the boy. ‘Did Michael ever touch your penis?’ he asked. Groggily, Jordie said that Michael had.

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June was appeased. She apologised and said she trusted Jackson. The next day, he gave her a $12,000 ruby-and-diamond bracelet from Cartier. ‘It’s nothing,’ he said. ‘I just love you.’

With Jordie, he had a pact to ‘never grow up’ and ‘live with me in Neverland for ever’.

Even Jordie’s natural father, dentist Evan Chandler, divorced from June, after initial suspicions about what was going on, was won over.

But as time went by he began to have second thoughts. It bothered him that his son was dressing in black hats and sunglasses, and that he and Jackson were always whispering together, sharing private jokes, then clamming up whenever anyone else entered the room.

One day, he had Jordie in his surgery to extract a troublesome tooth and put him under with the so-called truth drug, sodium amytal.

Then he quizzed the boy. ‘Did Michael ever touch your penis?’ he asked. Groggily, Jordie said that Michael had.

Chandler took his son to see a psychiatrist. In a gruelling three-hour session, the boy told of many incidents of masturbation and oral sex with Jackson.

Within hours, Jordie was being interviewed by the police, and the allegations of sexual activity between the world’s biggest pop star and a 13-year-old boy swiftly flashed around the globe.

To try to calm the storm breaking, Jackson’s advisers put up people to speak out on his behalf. The two ‘friends’ they chose were Brett Barnes and Wade Robson – aged 11 and ten!

Brett admitted that he and Michael had slept together on many occasions, but with no sexual overtones. ‘He kisses you like you kiss your mother. It’s not unusual for him to hug and nuzzle up to you.’

Wade also slept in the same bed as Michael dozens of times, but ‘just as a friend and the bed was huge’.

Doubts were not stilled by their testimonies.
For Jackson, the strain of all this was immense. In pain from his heavy performance schedule and unable to sleep, he began taking increasing doses of painkillers and tranquillisers. He was soon seriously addicted.

To be fair to Michael, as his linen was washed in public and the pressure on him grew, his denials never wavered. The problem, he maintained, was people’s dirty minds. ‘There’s nothing sexual going on. Why can’t people just get that?’ he said.

When Chandler confronted him, saying ‘You and Jordie are having sex, aren’t you? Just be a man and f***ing admit it’, he stayed composed.

‘That’s preposterous,’ he replied. ‘It never happened.’

In the end, there was no police prosecution. Not one witness came forward to corroborate Jordie Chandler’s story or to make similar accusations, and without other witnesses the case was weak.

Perhaps Michael had the undying loyalty of the youngsters with whom he’d had sex. Or, maybe, conceivably, he was innocent.

The issues were never aired in court. A civil case against Jackson was settled out of court with a $20million payment to Jordie.

It was not, Jackson’s people emphasised, an admission of guilt but simply to draw a line under the whole tawdry affair.

What we do know is that when, 11 years later, in 2005, he stood trial on a series of child molestation charges involving other young boys, he was acquitted on all counts.

In the dark days of his humiliation over the Chandler affair, Michael forged an extraordinary new relationship with Lisa Marie Presley.

From their very first date, at a dinner party staged by a mutual friend, Michael and Lisa hit it off. Raised at her father’s impregnable home, Graceland, she had much in common with the world’s most famous pop star, cloistered away in Neverland.

Both had been sheltered from the real world, missed out on their childhoods and were mistrustful of outsiders. They believed they were soul mates.

Michael was openly flirtatious, and Lisa was impressed by his private candour and normality. As they talked, she began to feel she was seeing the real Michael, the man behind the mask.

His sexuality, admittedly, still seemed ambiguous, but he was soon kissing her fairly passionately. She was certainly attracted to him. Lisa liked strange guys, with an edge. And who had more of an edge than Michael?
Throughout the time of his obsession with Jordie Chandler, Jackson dated Lisa intermittently. After he was accused of abusing the boy, he sought her support in long, anguished phone calls.

‘Yes, I started falling for him,’ she explained. ‘I wanted to help him, and I felt that I could.’

As he spiralled into drug addiction, she stood by him.

During one of their phone calls, he wanted to know how she would respond if he asked her to marry him. It could have been a joke but, without missing a beat, she replied: ‘I would do it.’

A silence followed until Michael said: ‘Hold on, I have to use the bathroom.’ When he came back on the line, he acted as if everything was settled. Lisa was his fiance.

‘My love for you is real,’ he told her. ‘Please believe me.’

At Neverland, the two walked hand in hand and then kissed at the top of the Ferris wheel.

She slept with him in his bedroom. For Michael, it was the first time he had experienced such chemistry with a woman, or with anyone.

He seemed unable to contain his laughter. ‘I’ve never known a person like her,’ he said.

He and Lisa appear to have had an intense and active sex life. She told a friend that he was ‘hot stuff in bed’ and ‘amazing’ – and she should know, the friend added, because ’she’s been around’.

Nevertheless, some of his habits were a little odd.
‘The first time, she went to turn on the lights afterwards, and he leapt out of bed and ran into the bathroom so she wouldn’t see his body. He emerged 20 minutes later, in full make-up and wearing a silk robe. Then they went at it again.

‘He liked her to wear jewellery in bed. They were into role-playing games, although Lisa would never say who was playing what kind of role.’

They were married at a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic in May 1994, with no family or friends present. Priscilla Presley, Lisa’s mother, was furious, convinced that Jackson was using her daughter to improve his image after the Jordie Chandler affair.

‘Can’t you see what he’s up to?’ she asked. ‘It’s so obvious.’

In fact, Jackson had an entirely different agenda. The man who had previously been adamant that he had no interest in procreation was desperate to have children.

The Chandler business had hurt him deeply, leaving the gnawing, empty space in his heart more terrifying than ever. He was determined to ’start living’, he insisted, falling in love with a woman, marrying and having children of his own. He told me at the time: ‘I love Lisa. Why won’t people believe that? Why won’t people let me be happy?’

When Lisa didn’t become immediately pregnant, he expressed his disappointment.

‘I thought we’d be expecting within a couple of weeks of making love,’ he said. ‘Lisa says it takes time, but I don’t have time. I want it to happen now. I want children so badly.’

Meanwhile, Lisa was realising that her mission to save Michael was not going to be easy. She was amazed by his emotional repression and felt he was resisting her efforts to help. Perhaps, she pondered, he rather enjoyed wallowing in his own pain, playing the victim.

He was ‘like a young boy, angry at the world’, one of her friends noted, and his self-pity became a strain on the relationship.

‘She had no patience at all with the lost childhood routine. “Who hasn’t had a miserable childhood?” she would say.’

His moods and habits became infuriating. She clocked up the hours her husband spent in the bathroom, applying and removing cosmetics.

Throughout their marriage, she never saw him without his make-up. When they slept together, in the morning she’d find his pillow smeared with it.

‘Lisa would try to surprise him by waking early and tapping him on the shoulder,’ a friend recalled.

‘He would shriek “No, don’t look!” and scamper to the bathroom.’

Other aspects of his behaviour alarmed her. She did not believe that he was a paedophile, but it concerned her that he had not learned his lesson from the Jordie Chandler affair and still chose to spend time with young boys.

She squirmed as she sat beside him during a television interview, when he was adamant he was going to continue having boys come to his home for sleepovers.

It was after this that things started going bad. One of Lisa’s friends said: ‘The great sex continued but when they weren’t in bed making love, they were fighting. Lisa started to wonder if she’d made a mistake in choosing him as a life partner.’

What finished off the marriage was the issue of children – and it happened, in true Michael Jackson style, in the most bizarre of ways.

He had one grown-up friend, Debbie Rowe. She had been a ‘biker chick’ in black leather when she was younger, swore like a sailor, drank beer and tequila and, despite having wealthy parents, was always penniless.

‘When I imagined having a child with him, all I could ever see was the custody battle nightmare,’ she said

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She was the nurse at his dermatologist’s, and he had met her ten years earlier when his skin first came out in mysterious blotches and he was certain he had skin cancer.

He had been in touch with her again after he bleached his scrotum with a special cream and it burned him. Debbie attended to him, and to show his gratitude, he gave her a car.

By September 1995, Michael was still pushing Lisa to get pregnant. She, however, was reluctant – sensing that the marriage was doomed.

‘When I imagined having a child with him, all I could ever see was the custody battle nightmare,’ she said later.

Their physical intimacy had cooled. ‘I think we have to have sex in order for me to get pregnant,’ she told him, ‘and I ain’t doin’ it.’

But Michael didn’t mind. He had a plan. One day over breakfast, he told Lisa: ‘My friend Debbie said she will have my baby. If you won’t do it, then she will.’

Lisa was stunned. Life with Jackson had been weird from the start, but this was too much. She called his bluff. ‘That’s fine with me,’ she said in a calm, controlled voice. ‘Tell her to go ahead and do it.’

Michael got his way. Debbie would bear him two children, though whether they were ever intimate or underwent artificial insemination was never known for sure.

What was without doubt was that there was no future for him and Lisa. It had been the most improbable of marriages and it ended in divorce.

Michael was deeply upset. Never before had he felt uninhibited and physically intimate with anyone.

Despite the maddening friendships with boys and all of the rest of his eccentric behaviour, he was still a human being with emotions, feelings and a beating heart.

And Lisa Marie Presley had been the one to truly touch it.

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Coroner completes Jackson autopsy, film deal set

LOS ANGELES: Coroners have completed the autopsy report on the body of pop star Michael Jackson, but details remained under wraps on Monday as police probe the cause of the singer’s death and his prescription drug use.

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said detectives requested the autopsy, which includes toxicology tests, remain sealed until their investigation was finished. He could not say when it would be completed and declined to offer more details.

Some media outlets reported that the “Thriller” singer’s body has now been buried at the Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles, but that could not immediately be confirmed through a family spokesman. A cemetery spokesman declined to comment.

Police are looking into why the 50-year-old singer died suddenly of cardiac arrest on June 25. Numerous media reports have said officials are focused on Jackson’s use of a powerful anesthetic called propofol to sleep. Police and federal agents have raided several offices of Jackson’s doctors as part of their probe.

Meanwhile, the judge overseeing the singer’s will said he had approved several business deals, including a $60 million agreement with Columbia Pictures to make a movie from video of the King of Pop’s rehearsals for a series of concerts that had been set to take place in London this past July.

Those shows were dubbed “This Is It” by Jackson, and the movie will be similarly titled. Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp’s Sony Pictures Entertainment, said the film, due to be in theaters on Oct. 30, will have performances and behind-the-scenes video of Jackson preparing for the concerts. Some of it will be shown in movie theaters in 3-D.

The judge also agreed to the re-issuance of the singer’s autobiography, “Moonwalk,” currently planned for October.

Lawyers spent much of Monday in court wrangling over merchandising deals still being planned and a traveling exhibition of Jackson memorabilia that concert promoter AEG Live, which had backed the London concerts, wants to mount.

Attorneys for Jackson’s mother, Katherine, said they had concerns about the involvement of AEG in deals struck with the executors of the pop star’s estate.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff said he could not approve the deals for the traveling exhibition and merchandising rights until he appoints an attorney to represent the interests of Jackson’s three minor children, who along with Katherine Jackson are beneficiaries of the estate.

As a result, he put off his decision on whether to approve the two deals until Aug. 17.

An attorney for AEG Live, which spent as much as $30 million preparing for the comeback concerts, had argued that to help recoup its investment it needed to move quickly to take advantage of the resurgence in the singer’s popularity.

Several of the “Thriller” singer’s albums, for instance, have returned to the top of the music charts in recent weeks, whereas before his death his CD sales had languished.

“The longer we wait, the more time passes, frankly the less interest there will be on the part of the public to come see the exhibit,” said Kathy Jorrie, an attorney for AEG Live.

Jackson’s “Number Ones” CD, originally released in 1993, is the second-best selling album of 2009 in the United States, with sales this year of 1.4 million copies, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. Only Taylor Swift’s 2008 release “Fearless,” with 1.5 million copies sold so far this year, stands in the way.

Jackson was said to be as much as $500 million in debt when he died, but the value of his estate was reported to be as high as $1 billion given his part ownership in a music catalog and his control of his own songs.

Jorrie told the judge that attorneys for his mother have demanded AEG Live give the estate its rehearsal video, something that AEG is not willing to do. AEG is owned by reclusive Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz.

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