Michael Jackson Forever - The Tribute Concert

Michael Jackson

Several members of Michael Jackson’s family announced plans for a grand tribute concert in October. But problems come along...


But those plans were immediately called into question when Jackson’s estate said it had not authorized the event, and two of Jackson’s brothers said they would not support it because the event was scheduled to take place during the criminal trial of Jackson’s doctor.


Organizers of Michael Jackson tribute concert, supported by the pop star's mother and four siblings, promise they will announce "an incredible line-up very soon" that will include "some of the greatest names in music".


Jackson’s mother, Katherine, along with four of his siblings — La Toya, Tito, Jackie and Marlon — held a news conference in Beverly Hills, California, to announce plans for Michael Forever: The Tribute Concert, scheduled to take place on October 8 at the Millennium Center in Cardiff, Wales, a theater that can hold 75,000 people. Performers were not announced, but Chris Hunt, a British promoter working with the family, said that further details would be revealed in coming weeks and that profits from the show would go to charities in the United States and Britain.


The four-hour concert, scheduled for the 40th anniversary of Jackson’s first solo single, “Got to Be There” would be “a show fit for a king,” Katherine Jackson said. Michael Jackson died two years ago at age 50.


But after the news conference, a spokesman for the Jackson estate said that the executors were not aware of the plans and had not authorized the use of Jackson’s name for the concert. Complicating things further, two of Jackson’s brothers, Jermaine and Randy, released a statement later saying that they did not support the event.


“We want to make clear that this does not reflect the position of the entire family,” the brothers’ statement said. “While we wholeheartedly support the spirit of a tribute that honors our brother, we find it impossible to support an event that is due to take place during the criminal trial surrounding Michael’s death.”


Jury selection in the trial of Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter, is expected to begin on September 8, with opening statements beginning on September 20. Dr. Murray has pleaded not guilty.


“There will come a time and place for an amazing and deserving tribute to Michael,” Jermaine and Randy Jackson added in their statement. “But we feel that the most important tribute we can give to our brother at this time is to seek justice in his name.”


Family members organizing Michael Forever did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Adidas Wants To Take Nike's Crown In UK, Because Of The Olympics

Reuters: German sportswear maker Adidas plans to use the Olympic Games in London next year to generate 100 million pounds of sales in the UK and steal market leadership there from arch rival Nike.


"We want to achieve market leadership in the UK by 2015 at the latest. The Olympics is definitely a pillar for that," Chief Executive Herbert Hainer told journalists in London.

Currently Nike, the world's largest sportswear group, has a share of about 18 percent of the UK sports apparel market, worth an estimated 4.3 billion pounds, with Adidas in second place on about 15 percent.

Adidas is kitting out the host nation's athletes with gear designed by Stella McCartney and also making the official London 2012 sports apparel merchandise for sale in the UK, which will not feature the group's three-stripes logo.

As official sportswear partner, Adidas will also provide clothing for the athletes to wear in the Olympic village and for volunteers.

Adidas, whose founder Adi Dassler provided running shoes for athletes during the 1928 Games, said the London 2012 products had already been selling well in tourist stores.

The group added it was currently negotiating rights to sell 2012 merchandise in its other key European markets of France and Germany, with sales expected to start in France at the beginning of next year.

Hainer said the cost of buying licence rights and marketing would also reach about 100 million pounds, the same as the projected sales uplift in the UK.

"Of course, if Team GB does better than expected, there would be upside potential," Hainer added.

After the Beijing Olympics left the group with excess products that it then had to sell at discounts, Hainer said the group had streamlined production processes and could adjust production rates at short notice, depending on demand.

Adidas is currently enjoying a boom in demand for its products, from basketball gear to soccer shoes, and earlier this month raised its sales targets for the second time this year, despite the loss of business from key market Japan.

Hainer said in London that the overall situation in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami was looking better but did not adjust his estimates for sales there.

He had said earlier in May that the group was working with the assumption sales in Japan would fall by 15-25 percent as a result of shops being closed following the earthquake and tsunami.