bleungberg.com

It is indeed true that Michael Jackson inspired many when he was alive.

Just take a look at this man in China!

* Having been shielded from the paparazzi for as long as they have been alive, the three Jackson offsprings appeared deliberately unmasked for the first time in public AND in front of countless millions, thrusted into the limelight to pay tribute to their late father live on stage.

Sure, Paris Jackson was flanked by her siblings, uncles and aunts but really, whose idea was it to allow for this to happen? Have they forgotten why they were all there in the first place? Can they not comprehend with the fact that Jackson’s early death is largely down to being exploited and used as a kid, also in front of millions at roughly the same age as Paris? Do they really want history to repeat itself with the next generation? It’s hugely irresponsible and deeply disturbing. Shame on them.

* The event closed with two songs - ‘We Are The World’ and ‘Heal the World’, which apparently would’ve been part of the O2 shows in London. The fact that the concert promoter - who undoubtedly hastened the death of Jackson - showcased the acts who would’ve performed those songs on Jackson’s behalf indicate that anyone going to the gigs would’ve been severely short-changed.

*The winner of this made-for-TV occasion? Simon Cowell. As Paul Gambaccini rightly pointed out on the BBC, there’s probably no greater platform to launch one’s new act: Shaheen Jafargholi. (see, there’s the Iranian connection and Michael Jackson’s death again!!! They killed him to showcase an Iranian boy who can sing!!! It’s like Hitchcock’s ‘Strangers on a train’: the perfect murder!)

* Were we the only ones to have cringed upon seeing a bunch of kids being wheeled onto the stage en masse to join in the finale?

* Plastic surgery alert: Brooke Shields, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Janet & LaToya Jackson and, sad to say, Gladys Knight. And of course ‘him’ in the box.

* Hair-dye alert: ditto, and everyone bar Berry Gordy and Jermaine Jackson.

Ten years ago, Diana Ross was a washed up singing superstar, infamous for her diva-like behaviour including no eye-contact with lowly employees, and insisted upon being addressed as ‘Ms Ross’ by anyone beneath her social standing.

She also missed the open goal during the opening ceremony of the 1994 World Cup.

And then came the infamous incident at Heathrow when she was detained for assaulting a female security guard, and the humiliation was complete when she was arrested for DUI a few years back - unable to walk in a straight line, or count numerically down at the police station.

Fast forward to 2009, and Michael Jackson’s named his life-long friend as the back-up guardian for his children because of her positive influence and fantastic work ethics. She has also been credited for bringing up her five children well.

If anyone’s come out well in the aftermath of Jackson’s murder, it is Miss Diana Ross.

Expect a comeback tour soon.

Seeing the evergreen (read: surgically enhanced) Lionel Richie sing at the Staples Center for Michael Jackson inevitably brings back memories of the greatest charity single of all time, ‘We Are The World’ - which also closed the memorial service in Los Angeles.

Co-written by Richie and Jacko back in 1984 in response to the phenomenal success of Band Aid in the UK (in other words, lots of famous American egos felt humiliated and undermined by a couple of washed-up punks in Geldof and Ure), the song was clubbed together at lightning speed and is probably the first video that Bleungberg can remember as a kid - a seven-minute video filled lots of dead airtime before the evening news!

And watching the video again today, it’s quite astonishing that only two of the performers have died - Ray Charles and Michael Jackson.

Considering the amount of drugs and booze this whole lot must have taken between them over the years - Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Willie Nelson, and of course, Bob Dylan - the ’survival rate’ and longevity of these superstars are nothing short of incredible.

Shame the same can’t be said for the Ethiopians who were supposed to benefit from the sale of the single.

Michael Jackson’s getting buried today - so, no better time to ask….who killed the freak?

Bleungberg’s smart money is on the Iranians.

Why? Simple.

For the best part of three weeks, the entire world was gripped by all the unrelenting and pretty courageous shenanigans happening all over the place in Tehran (no one bothered to film the protesters in Yazd or Bam), with even more heated arguments and trade-offs/bribes raging behind the scenes in the Majlis and the Guardian Council down in Qom.

And, just a few days before Jacko’s death, the supreme(ly evil) leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, had - somehow - managed to get all the world’s news channels to clear their schedules in order to listen to him for 90 fucking minutes (an unprecedented feat for such a boring and uncharismatic old sod), in which he spouted yet more poison and poured scorn on his enemies, making up stuff and generally being a liar, albeit a very impressive one as he delivered the entire speech with one card in his hand and no autocue (beat that Obama!!). Naturally, he scored a handsome propaganda coup, too, as the rant led every major news bulletin in Europe.

However, the speech didn’t quite do the job, and the situation on the streets of Iran didn’t quite relent. Mousavi, the ‘defeated’ (or cheated) reformist candidate fought on, and continued to demand a recount.

Naturally, the Ayatollah got very pissed off - so much so that he flew into a rage and wanted the world’s most famous Satan to be condemned and killed in order to ‘take the heat off a while’.

The Satan? Michael Jackson.

And jackpot, no one gave a shit about Iran anymore. The media circus moved on…well, ok, satellite money went to LA instead, and instead of applying for more reporters’ visas, the western media decided it was easier to do the Visa Waiver Programme instead and flew everybody there on flight Ego I.

Iran thus got bumped off the front-pages, whilst Jacko received blanket coverage for a whole weekend and more, even though he never resurrected and remained very much un-alive.

As if we needed further evidence of this cynical orchestration on the Iranian regime’s part….guess who made a belated appearance in Iran at the SAME time as Michael Jackson’s memorial event at the Staples Center? President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!!! The cheeky Iranians even wheeled out one of their own to sing on stage just yards from Jacko’s box!! (see below)

Lastly, July seems to be the turn of the Uighurs to protest in Xinjiang, Western China, who have been openly confronting the ‘public safety officers’ in the prominently Muslim, renegade province.

There are shades of Tehran (and therefore Tianamen Square) about this latest uprising. Apparently, the Chinese are deliberately letting them run amok, and have placed no restrictions on reporters so that ‘everyone can see just how evil the foreign elements are within China, threatening the Han unity, and that Muslims are destabilising the PRC’s world-famous secularism’.

Then again, if it gets out of hand, they can always kill off Madonna and move the media circus out of Urumqi and onto New York!