I've been a dedicated MJ fan for 40+ years...ask me anything!

[Moonstreet]

Yes, I had quite the life in 1993, my own 'fires' to put out and there was nobody calling anyone on my behalf.

I'm glad you and so many other fans were priviledged enough to lend your time, energy and attention to someone else's life.

I'd like to hear from fans who were aware of these legendary fan campaigns. This is the perfect thread for them to chime in.

But even if it was in the NY Times every week or on every bill board in the U.S., yes I had my hands completely full is my justification for trusting the powerful people in MJ's world to help him.

If I had had a 'say', MJ would've NEVER settled, but then, also, he really wanted to get on with his life and make it go away, so I doubt I'd have had a 'say' at all.

I believe in fact that, if it was up to me being in MJ's life, I'd have been forced by Michael to drop out his life at the first sign of the spread of his vitiligo from all the stress he was under and every manager, handler etc. would have been telling him, 'Michael, she HAS to go" ...

as fantasies go ...

but in real life, no, he wouldn't have ever 'needed' me in the first place

I just cant with you, dropping him 1993, thats just low. and then to come back when he died, nope, nope nope. Im done with you.

 

[SoS]

I just cant with you, dropping him 1993, thats just low. and then to come back when he died, nope, nope nope. Im done with you.

You can satisfy your need to make me wrong all you want, and you're wrong. I came back after LWMJ in 2003...but you don't care. You have no choice but to be .... like that. I get it.

If you think its fans like you that are the mostly highly valued, I do agree.

 

[librariangirl:)]

Can we please get back on topic. This discussion is getting kind of annoying and juvenile. This is not a competition. Everyone here loves MJ (except some trolls that pop up on and off). Really ridiculous!

 

[Moonstreet]

Can we please get back on topic. This discussion is getting kind of annoying and juvenile. This is not a competition. Everyone here loves MJ (except some trolls that pop up on and off). Really ridiculous!

ok, then, as the topic says.
Ive been a fan since Thriller era, ask me anything

 

[summer]

HIStory tour era:


So in 1996 it was announced that Michael is going to tour!! YAY!!!! The excitement was REAL…..!!! Back then, you couldn’t buy tickets online. So I had found out a phone number to a ticket office from somewhere (I really cannot remember from where) to be able to get tickets. So the day came when tickets were going to go on sale…I called first thing in the morning and was able to get my tickets!!! Woohoo!!! Tickets back then were REALLY affordable. There were no seats for the field area, so all the tickets had the same price. If you wanted to get to the front, you had to go early enough to the stadium to wait at the gates to get in early. And you had to be able to outrun the other fans to get to the front. So as soon as I got my tickets, I started training for the concerts and went running every day!! I was literally the skinniest and in my best condition and shape when MJ was alive because of needing to be able to run fast, or able to stand at his hotel all day without food & water!! (So yes, being an MJ fan was healthy and kept you in shape! )



Since I had missed the Bad tour completely and was only able to go to 1,5 shows during the Dangerous tour, I knew I wanted to go to as many shows as possible this time and wanted to see the tour start and the first shows!!! So the first tickets I got were for the tour start in Prague and for the second show of the tour in Budapest. I booked my trips to both cities, including hotels , I bought maps and travel guides for both cities (no Google maps or internet to find information from back then so you had to get a real map and a physical copy of a travel guide (a small book listing all the main attractions, hotels, restaurants, general information..basically anything you needed to know before going to a destination)…So I was all set. I studied the stadium maps to see at which gate I should go wait at to get to the front the fastest. During the Dangerous tour, since I was clueless, I had just gone to a random gate to wait, which happened to be at the back of the stadium. So I had to run through the WHOLE field first to get to the front and since those who came in from the side gates and had a shorter way to run, they were able to get there quicker. So even though I still made it to the front, I wasn’t able to get in the 2-3 front rows because of that. So….this time I was going to be smarter, and was going to make sure I go wait at a gate that has the shortest and quickest way to the front of the stage.



So I had my tickets and all my trips booked and planned….but then I won a VIP trip from Sony for Prague. They told me I’m going to be watching the show from the best spot at the stadium, from before the front row and I’m going to get to meet Michael backstage. You can IMAGINE my excitement!!!! I’M GOING TO MEET MICHAEL!!!!! AAAAHHH!!!!!!!! ”But what am I going to say?“ I can’t say „I love your music!“ that’s so stupid because duh OBVIOUSLY..!!!! WHAT AM I GOING TO SAAAAYYY…???? And should I shake his hand or hug???? But if I just shake his hand…that seems too formal and cold so what if he thinks I’m not really a fan if I do that…??? But what if I try to hug and he’ll think I’m a crazy, hysterical fan and disrespectful????? WHAT AM I GOING TO DOOOO???” (I am reeeeeeeaaaally shy so my main concern was that I’m just gonna act like a mute when I meet him and just stare at him and smile like an idiot while hiding behind the Sony people and just lift my hand to say hi and go ”Hi.. Nice to meet you…” and that’s it…if even that..and then kick myself for the rest of my life for not saying anything intelligent (or anything, period)!! But BOY was I EXCITED!!!!!!! A DREAM COME TRUE!!!! I had been DREAMING of getting to meet him since 1987..and now FINALLY my dream was going to come true!!!!! I couldn’t believe my luck!!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!!! HOW LUCKYYYY WAS I?!!!! First the amusement park with him a year before and now I get to meet him!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!! I was pretty much on cloud nine permanently until the tour start!!! The experience I had had in 1995 when I had won the trip from Sony was soooo amazing, so I thought this one is going to be like that one too…with the exception that this time I WAS GOING TO MEET MICHAEL!!! So I cancelled the bookings I had made myself for Prague…my trips and hotels…because I wasn’t going to need them anymore.



FINALLY the day came that Michael was going to kick off his HIStory world tour. We went to the stadium with the Sony people…and I was like ”Hmmm…I wonder where the stage is?” Because we were at this place that looked more like a parking lot with a white tent on it and the back of the bleachers showing on one side. I thought..”Oh well, I guess we are going to stay here first and then go backstage. Or maybe this is backstage???” So we go to the VIP tent where there’s all kinds of free food and beverages and all the Sony people are there…press is there…so basically all the VIPs are there. Since I’m shy…I just once again stood there, squeezing my elbow black and blue, from being so nervous. Luckily there was this one little boy there,(also a huge MJ fan) with his grandma, and they had also won the trip from Sony, so I mainly just hung out with them. They were sooooo nice!!! Then Teddy Lakis comes in, holding our backstage passes in his hand, and comes to talk to us and the Sony people. So I’m like ”OMG!!! NOW!!! We’re gonna get to go meet Michael now?!!!!” He shows us the backstage passes but then says….unfortunately the organization screwed up and the VIP tent is too far from backstage. The way it’s set up is so that we’d have to DRIVE around the stadium to get to the backstage area and we wouldn’t make it before the show starts. So unfortunately we can’t meet Michael. „Wait…WHAT?!!!!!!” I just thought ”THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING……??!!!!” But since I’m shy, I didn’t say anything. But my face probably showed exactly HOW disappointed I was because I was about to start crying!!! To be told you’re going to meet Michael and to wait for it for DAYS while floating on air….only to be told that you CAN’T meet him after all….and because of a reason like that…..I was CRUSHED!!!! But, since I usually try to make the most out of a situation and try to see the positive, I was like ”Well, but at least I will be in the very front, in front of everyone else (as they told me when I won the trip), where I’ll be able to still at least see Michael and the show really well!!! So…THAT’S still going to be AMAZING since I’ve never been even in the first row before!! And now I’ll be in FRONT of the first row!! ” So even though I was crushed about not getting to meet Michael,, I was still excited for the show!!! Me, the little boy and his grandma were all like ”I CAN’T WAIT!! THIS IS GOING TO BE AMAAAAZIIING!!!” So…we finally go into the stadium…….and immediately I’m like ”NO!!!! NO!!!! NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Because the sight that I see is……..a sea of people…..and the stage far far FAR away….behind the sea of people. The stage is SO far away….that even the video screens are about the size of half an inch from where we are. You can hardly even see the video screens!!!! WE ARE LITERALLY AT THE VERY BACK OF THE WHOLE STADIUM!!! IN THE LAST ROWS!!!! Once again….I was literally about to start crying from disappointment!! But as I said….I usually always try to be positive and see the positive in the situation and make the most out of it so I was like ”Okay…but I’ll be able to hear the music and see the light show and maybe I’ll get to see a tiny bit of Michael on the video screen if they go to a really tight close up.” So I take out my banner and me and the little boy and his grandma are getting excited again….and then the show starts…..All three of us immediately get up…I’m waving my banner..me and the little boy keep cheering and singing along and jumping up and down and are all excited again….But all the people around us…the other VIPs…are sitting down….talking…and not even trying to enjoy the show and keep telling us to sit down…And at some point I just couldn’t enjoy the show any longer…Like, no matter what I did and how hard I try to make the most out of it….things just kept getting worse and worse until I just felt completely sad and crushed. When the show was over and I was back in my hotel room…I just threw myself on the bed and cried my eyes out. I had been fighting back the tears all evening from all the disappointment and once I was alone, I was finally able to let it all out. I swear I ”ugly cried” for two hours straight! I just felt absolutely CRUSHED from disappointment! I mean, had I KNOWN that I WON’T get to meet Michael and will be in the LAST rows…I would have said ”no thank you” to the VIP tickets and would’ve gone to the stadium EARLY and would’ve waited all day and would’ve been in the front. I wrote a letter for Michael on the hotel stationary about it all and said that if he sees this blonde girl with a pink Disney heart who is BEAMING and OVER THE MOON in the front rows in Budapest…that’ll be me, because I’m going to go to the stadium EARLY in the morning to get to the front!!! I put the letter between this little book I had made for Michael as a present. (A friend of mine had once given me a little book she had made herself for me as a present, where she had put photos and poems and all kinds of nice little stories and stuff and it was the most BEAUTIFUL present I’ve ever gotten (still my fave present to this day) because she had invested so much time in it and it was just such a thoughtful gift. So since I loved it and the idea so much…I made one for Michael.)



Luckily I had no time to be sad for too long though because I had to get to Budapest for the second show! YAY!!! I was once again REEEAAALLY excited!!!! Once I got to Budapest, I immediately went to Michael’s hotel, The Kempinski hotel in Budapest (back then, without internet…you pretty much had to ask around to know where he was staying…usually the locals would’ve heard it mentioned on the radio or generally knew in which hotel all the ”important people” usually always stayed in). The police had put up barriers in front of the hotel and I was able to get a place in front row at the barrier to the right from the hotel entrance (I later learned Michael’s windows were to the left from the entrance…all the way up). There were THOUSANDS of fans at the hotel. The whole front of the hotel was FULL of fans on all sides. I saw Teddy Lakis (who was the coordinator and fan liasion person for MJ) and he was handing out tour shirts for free for fans and I was able to get one. It was FREEZING cold outside that day so I put the shirt over my jacket. There were these guys behind me at the barrier who also got the tour shirts. They were huge fans too and really nice. MTV was filming the fans and they had this book with them where fans could write messages for Michael and they said they will give the book to Michael afterwards. I don’t know if Michael ever got it, but I loved the idea, and there were thousands of fans from ALL around the world, so I’m sure Michael would’ve loved the gift, so I hope he got it! At least I thought it was such a beautiful idea! Michael’s tour photographer was there too, photographing the fans. I had my King of Music banner with me again and the pink Disney heart that I had had with me at all the previous times I had seen Michael since 1992 and Michael’s photograher wanted to take a photo, but since I HATE being photographed…I hid behind my banner every time he tried and he was motioning for me to lower the banner so I’m in the photo too and I just shook my head like ”NOOOO I don’t wanna be in the photo!!” so he just took a picture of my banner. After a while…all the fans closer to the hotel entrance started screaming!!! Michael had come out of the hotel and walked to the barriers to greet the fans!! I could see a glimpse of him and I waved my banner and it looked like he wanted to come greet the fans at that side too, but since there was an opening where cars were driving to and from the hotel and where fans could run towards him, it was too dangerous so he couldn’t come to where we were. He then got into his van. Since I was in the first row on the barrier and on the side where the opening for the cars was….that meant that he will be driving RIGHT by me! So I waved my King of Music banner when the vans were driving toward us and then noticed that Wayne (MJ’s bodyguard) had the window open, so I quickly yelled ”WAYNE!!” (yes, I was surprised myself that I actually managed to do that! ),he turned to look at me and I reached out my hand with the book I had made for Michael and Wayne reached out his hand and quickly took it. I also had the pink Disney heart in my hand, so he grabbed the book AND the heart and I yelled ”Not the heart! Not the heart!” and he dropped the heart to the ground but kept the book..but the van drove over the Disney heart, so it got crushed. To this day I don’t know how I managed to get the courage (or the volume) to yell so that he can hear me..and that he also heard the ”not the heart” part too…while all the thousand other fans are screaming!! And how I was able to do all that within the SECONDS the vans were driving by. But…somehow I managed! A lot of it thanks to Wayne and his quick reflexes. I thought that was SOOO nice of him to do that!!! He didn’t have to, but he did! And I am FOREVER grateful for it! And after the HUGE disappointment in Prague…I really could use SOMETHING going right!!! Of course I have no idea if Michael ever really got the book and the letter or even looked at it, let alone read any of it (since they were in a van with tinted windows and Wayne was sitting in the front, so I had no idea if Michael was even in the same van with Wayne or in the second van, since they always had two black vans…). But even just Wayne being SO KIND and the idea that Michael possibly could’ve gotten the present made my day!! After MJ left the hotel, I didn’t really know what to do but the fans behind me that were really nice said that they are going to go eat and see Budapest a little bit, so if I want, I can join them. So I hung out with them and we wwnt to see the city and had a blast. We walked around Budapest all proudly wearing our HIStory tour shirts that we had gotten at the hotel! After a while, we came back to the hotel but we didn’t see Michael anymore. I then went to my hotel, which was around the corner and went to bed early. After all….I was determined to be at the stadium by 4 am at the LATEST the next day! So I had to go to bed early.



So the next day, show day, I took a taxi at 3:30am to go to the stadium. Remember…back then we had no cell phones…no internet…I was in a foreign city..going to the stadium to be dropped off there in the MIDDLE of the night all alone, while counting on not being the only one there. If someone would even suggest anything like that to me now…even if a friend would go with me…I’d be like ”IN YOUR DREAMS!!! NO WAY!!!”. But either the world just was safer back then or I was just too young and naive to even consider any dangers..I just didn’t think much of it then. It was just exciting. Or maybe it was that the adrenaline was SO high and I was SO determined to get to the front and see Michael that if anyone would’ve even tried to harass me or harm me and that way prevent me from seeing Michael, I would’ve been SO ANGRY that I would’ve turned into my own personal bodyguard and into a female Jackie Chan like ”DO NOT come near me!!! I AM going to the STADIUM and YOU CAN’T STOP ME!!” Luckily there already were some fans at the gates, so I wasn’t alone. I was also better prepared this time, with a warm windbreaker to keep me warm and dry and with some juice (just enough to keep me hydrated but not enough to make me need to pee because….no bathrooms anywhere) and I had some snacks and sweets with me. Again, just enough to get some salt and sugar and energy to not feel hungry or dizzy later on at night. And all of it in a plastic bag so that I can just leave it there if I don’t use it all. And a plastic bag to sit on, so that I don’t have to sit directly on the ground and it’s more comfortable too. I had a little wallet with safety pins inside my the front of my pants where I had some money for taxi for later. Having a bag would mean bag search at the gate, which would mean that it will take longer to get in and more fans can get in before you. So…no bag. So I hung out with the other fans and we exchanged our addresses to be able to keep in touch later on and talked about who had seen Michael where or met him etc. It was actually my first time really meeting other fans and making friends and really getting the full fan experience. During the Dangerous tour, I did talk to a couple of fans at the stadium gates while waiting, but it was different. Probably because I was so young and so new to the whole scene and didn’t even understand that one could actually see MJ at his hotel and hang out with other fans. So at some point the gates opened…and I RAN FOR MY LIFE!!! And I made it to the front!!!! Not front row or the second row but maybe 5-7 row..but right by the catwalk that goes out into the audience in the middle of the stage…on the right side of the stage (Michael‘s left). I was ECSTATIC!!!!! I was SOOOOO HAPPY I was literally BEAMING!!!! After the HUGE disappointment in Prague….this time I WAS going to see Michael…and see him REALLY WELL..from the FRONT!!! So the show starts….Michael comes out of the space ship and steps onto the stage..and just stands there motionless, looking at the audience..and I was jumping up and down like an excited little kid and cheering and just smiling so much my cheeks were hurting because I was SOOOO HAPPY!!!!! I waved the crushed pink Disney heart (the one that had a baby Mickey and Minnie Mouse on it and that got crushed because MJ’s van drove over it the day before ) and just smiled and sang along at the top of my lungs and cheered!! And MICHAEL looked SOOOO HAPPY that night and was LITERALLY beaming throughout the whole night too, which made ME smile even more because seeing HIM sooo happy made ME happy!! I mean, he kept smiling even through ”Stranger In Moscow”!! He just looked SOOO happy so that made me SO happy. (Later on when I heard on the news that he was going to be a dad, I immediately thought ”NOW I know why he looked happier than I had EVER seen him before!!! He was going to be a dad!!!” ) The show was AAAAMAZING!!! He played the Off The Wall Medley, The Way You Make Me Feel, D.S..songs that he unfortunately didn’t include during the second leg of the tour, so I was SO HAPPY I got to see them live before he ditched them!! It had been my dream to get to hear TWYMMF live and now that dream had come true too!! When the tank rolled on stage during Earth Song and that whole scene with the soldier and the child bringing a flower….I had to cry. It was such an emotional scene!! And I got teary eyed during HIStory because I knew it’s going to be the last song and who knows when I’ll get to see Michael next, so I already missed him!! But I also remember how SPECTACULAR HIStory was live too with all the flags and the confetti and all!! When the show was over, I stayed in front of the stage because me and a couple of fans from the gate earlier, had agreed to meet there after the show. Since there were THOUSAND of fans, it would’ve been impossible to find each other outside of the stadium, so we agreed that after the show, we just come to the front barrier on that side so that we can find each other while the others are leaving and going to the other direction. We wanted to get a taxi together to go to Michael’s hotel. So that’s what we did. There weren’t too many fans there since it was midnight already but I met a couple of fans from Japan who were really nice and we hung out with them. We didn’t see Michael though. On the other hand..his windows were so high up too, that I doubt we would’ve been able to see him either, even if he would’ve been at the window! I came to his hotel the next morning also and met the Japanese fans I had hung out with the night before but I didn’t see Michael. And I had to leave around noon so..I had to say goodbye to everyone. But I left feeling INCREDIABLY happy!!





During the second leg of the tour, I only managed to go to one show. I went to Michael’s hotel once again the day before the show but didn’t see him. They were handing out Mystery drinks to us for free at the hotel. I opened it to taste and….eeewww….it tasted AWFUL. So I didn’t drink it but I saved the can (after I had poured out the drink). I had the can in my old room at my parents’ house for years…until my mom decided to clean and threw it away thinking it’s trash. I hung out at the hotel with other fans and met really nice fans from Bulgaria and I also met a little boy who was dancing up a storm in front of us, doing all the MJ moves, and he said that he gets to be on stage with Michael during Heal The World the next day!! He was SOOOO excited!! And we all were so excited for him too!! I think I still probably have a picture of him somewhere doing the MJ signature „going on toes“ move!



The next day during the show day, I once again went to the stadium before 4am and hung out with the fans there. We noticed these signs outside informing everyone that the show will be filmed and that by going to the show, everyone automatically consents to being filmed. Since I HATE being filmed..I wasn’t thrilled..but I wanted to see Michael..so what can you do?! I met a couple of fans that I had met in Budapest too and it was nice to catch up again. When the gates opened, I once again RAN as fast as I could and this time, I made it to the second row!!! YAY!!!! Closer than I had EVER been before!! And the fans in front of me were so much shorter than me that I practically was like in first row because there was no one’s head in front of me!! The show almost got cancelled though and at first we weren’t even sure if we’ll get to see Michael. Someone said that Michael had had fever and was sick and I just thought…that would be SO my luck if the concert gets cancelled when I finally manage to get a better spot than ever before and would be able to see MJ better than ever!!! Of course I wanted him to be okay so I would’ve understood but I couldn’t help but to think ”That would be sooo my luck!!” Luckily the show didn’t get cancelled and I was able to see sooooo well!!! Another MEMORABLE, AMAZING experience once again for sure!!! The next day when I went to Michael’s hotel, we were told that Michael was on a drip and sleeping so we have to be quiet. If some fans tried to scream and shout the rest of the fans quickly told them to be quiet so that Michael can sleep. I didn’t stay at the hotel too long anyways because I had to leave, so I didn‘t see Michael anymore.



In 1998, I went to Michael’s hotel once when I heard where he was. I knew I was at the right hotel and that he was there because I saw Skipper, his bodyguard, but I didn’t see Michael, even though I waited in front of the hotel all day. There were only a handful of fans there, so I guess he was keeping it low key. Once again my luck because later on when he went to other places, I heard he had interacted a lot with all the fans.

 

[summer]

Sure! That was one of the greatest moments of my life.
I was in middle school, 6th grade. I was in "choir" and we had a musical performance one Saturday morning at an amusement park (King's Dominion) in Richmond, Virginia. I remember we had to leave super early on buses b/c it took about 90 minutes to travel to the park and we were supposed to be there an hour before opening. I think the park was to open an hour later to regular guests, so we were to get there early enough to rehearse before performing for the day. I think we had 2-3 shows scheduled. For some reason (I can't remember why), we were REALLY late getting to he park. I remember it was chaos because we were supposed to stay as a group to get through the ticketing area. But there were already LINEs of people and people were already heading inside. So it must have been right around opening hours when we finally arrived and were checking in. Because of the huge groups of people, I got separated from my main school group. But we all had on the same t shirts and I had my ticket, so I wasn't too concerned. I figured I would go through the entrance, give my ticket, and then see everyone waiting. I managed to get through security just fine and was then in a courtyard of sorts where everyone kind of begins their day in the park. It was flooded with people, all over. I was standing still, looking around for my group with people shuffling all around me.
SUDDENLY, two big black dudes come running toward me. I thought maybe they were security coming to find me. But instead, they were clearing people out the way. They were polite, but very loudly shouting "Move Aside" and "Excuse Us." They were coming right at me, but I was startled and just stood still. They moved around me, each going to separate side. I stared ahead, because now I could see clearly with the cleared path ahead of me. Suddenly, this figure is running right at me. I remember it vividly b/c it scared me. This person was dressed head to toe in black. Black pants, black buttoned dress shirt (un tucked) and some sort of weird black towel/scarf thing wrapped around their head and faces. There was a hand holding the face covering over their nose and mouth as they ran. But what stood out to me where these BRIGHT WHITE tennis shoes. I couldn't tell if this was a man or a woman, but the white shoes were running so fast, that's all I could keep my eyes on. And they were running right toward me! I didn't even have time to move this person was running so fast. And I think the person running was having a hard time seeing b/c of the scarf/towel thing on their head. Never thing I know, I go flying. I land straight on my back, starting up at the sky. Suddenly I hear..."Oh no! Are you okay?" And this person is reaching down with their hand extended toward me. The voice sounds soft and kind, but nervous. I look up and immediately know who it is. Michael Jackson's eyes are behind the face covering. I just see his hand extended toward me and his eyes staring at me! He says again..."Are you okay? I'm so sorry!" Suddenly, I'm lifted up to my feet. The big black dudes have come back and grabbed me under the arms. I am now standing, staring at Michael. I can't get words out. I nod. He puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "Okay. I'm sorry, I didn't see you." Then one of the black dudes says, "Mr. Jackson, we have to go!" Michael puts his hand on my head and rubs it and says, "Have fun!" Then he runs off.
Looking back, he must have been in Virginia doing something to do with Dangerous. Perhaps he was checking out Teddy Riley's recording studio in Va Beach? It would have only been about 90 minutes away. Or perhaps he was in Richmond for something. I have no idea. All I know is that it was him, without a doubt.
The second time I was in his presence, wasn't as direct, but just as cool. I'll write about that soon.

That was such an amazing story!!!! You were SO lucky!!

 

[Arklove]

HIStory tour era:


So in 1996 it was announced that Michael is going to tour!! YAY!!!! The excitement was REAL…..!!! Back then, you couldn’t buy tickets online. So I had found out a phone number to a ticket office from somewhere (I really cannot remember from where) to be able to get tickets. So the day came when tickets were going to go on sale…I called first thing in the morning and was able to get my tickets!!! Woohoo!!! Tickets back then were REALLY affordable. There were no seats for the field area, so all the tickets had the same price. If you wanted to get to the front, you had to go early enough to the stadium to wait at the gates to get in early. And you had to be able to outrun the other fans to get to the front. So as soon as I got my tickets, I started training for the concerts and went running every day!! I was literally the skinniest and in my best condition and shape when MJ was alive because of needing to be able to run fast, or able to stand at his hotel all day without food & water!! (So yes, being an MJ fan was healthy and kept you in shape! )



Since I had missed the Bad tour completely and was only able to go to 1,5 shows during the Dangerous tour, I knew I wanted to go to as many shows as possible this time and wanted to see the tour start and the first shows!!! So the first tickets I got were for the tour start in Prague and for the second show of the tour in Budapest. I booked my trips to both cities, including hotels , I bought maps and travel guides for both cities (no Google maps or internet to find information from back then so you had to get a real map and a physical copy of a travel guide (a small book listing all the main attractions, hotels, restaurants, general information..basically anything you needed to know before going to a destination)…So I was all set. I studied the stadium maps to see at which gate I should go wait at to get to the front the fastest. During the Dangerous tour, since I was clueless, I had just gone to a random gate to wait, which happened to be at the back of the stadium. So I had to run through the WHOLE field first to get to the front and since those who came in from the side gates and had a shorter way to run, they were able to get there quicker. So even though I still made it to the front, I wasn’t able to get in the 2-3 front rows because of that. So….this time I was going to be smarter, and was going to make sure I go wait at a gate that has the shortest and quickest way to the front of the stage.



So I had my tickets and all my trips booked and planned….but then I won a VIP trip from Sony for Prague. They told me I’m going to be watching the show from the best spot at the stadium, from before the front row and I’m going to get to meet Michael backstage. You can IMAGINE my excitement!!!! I’M GOING TO MEET MICHAEL!!!!! AAAAHHH!!!!!!!! ”But what am I going to say?“ I can’t say „I love your music!“ that’s so stupid because duh OBVIOUSLY..!!!! WHAT AM I GOING TO SAAAAYYY…???? And should I shake his hand or hug???? But if I just shake his hand…that seems too formal and cold so what if he thinks I’m not really a fan if I do that…??? But what if I try to hug and he’ll think I’m a crazy, hysterical fan and disrespectful????? WHAT AM I GOING TO DOOOO???” (I am reeeeeeeaaaally shy so my main concern was that I’m just gonna act like a mute when I meet him and just stare at him and smile like an idiot while hiding behind the Sony people and just lift my hand to say hi and go ”Hi.. Nice to meet you…” and that’s it…if even that..and then kick myself for the rest of my life for not saying anything intelligent (or anything, period)!! But BOY was I EXCITED!!!!!!! A DREAM COME TRUE!!!! I had been DREAMING of getting to meet him since 1987..and now FINALLY my dream was going to come true!!!!! I couldn’t believe my luck!!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!!! HOW LUCKYYYY WAS I?!!!! First the amusement park with him a year before and now I get to meet him!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!! I was pretty much on cloud nine permanently until the tour start!!! The experience I had had in 1995 when I had won the trip from Sony was soooo amazing, so I thought this one is going to be like that one too…with the exception that this time I WAS GOING TO MEET MICHAEL!!! So I cancelled the bookings I had made myself for Prague…my trips and hotels…because I wasn’t going to need them anymore.



FINALLY the day came that Michael was going to kick off his HIStory world tour. We went to the stadium with the Sony people…and I was like ”Hmmm…I wonder where the stage is?” Because we were at this place that looked more like a parking lot with a white tent on it and the back of the bleachers showing on one side. I thought..”Oh well, I guess we are going to stay here first and then go backstage. Or maybe this is backstage???” So we go to the VIP tent where there’s all kinds of free food and beverages and all the Sony people are there…press is there…so basically all the VIPs are there. Since I’m shy…I just once again stood there, squeezing my elbow black and blue, from being so nervous. Luckily there was this one little boy there,(also a huge MJ fan) with his grandma, and they had also won the trip from Sony, so I mainly just hung out with them. They were sooooo nice!!! Then Teddy Lakis comes in, holding our backstage passes in his hand, and comes to talk to us and the Sony people. So I’m like ”OMG!!! NOW!!! We’re gonna get to go meet Michael now?!!!!” He shows us the backstage passes but then says….unfortunately the organization screwed up and the VIP tent is too far from backstage. The way it’s set up is so that we’d have to DRIVE around the stadium to get to the backstage area and we wouldn’t make it before the show starts. So unfortunately we can’t meet Michael. „Wait…WHAT?!!!!!!” I just thought ”THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING……??!!!!” But since I’m shy, I didn’t say anything. But my face probably showed exactly HOW disappointed I was because I was about to start crying!!! To be told you’re going to meet Michael and to wait for it for DAYS while floating on air….only to be told that you CAN’T meet him after all….and because of a reason like that…..I was CRUSHED!!!! But, since I usually try to make the most out of a situation and try to see the positive, I was like ”Well, but at least I will be in the very front, in front of everyone else (as they told me when I won the trip), where I’ll be able to still at least see Michael and the show really well!!! So…THAT’S still going to be AMAZING since I’ve never been even in the first row before!! And now I’ll be in FRONT of the first row!! ” So even though I was crushed about not getting to meet Michael,, I was still excited for the show!!! Me, the little boy and his grandma were all like ”I CAN’T WAIT!! THIS IS GOING TO BE AMAAAAZIIING!!!” So…we finally go into the stadium…….and immediately I’m like ”NO!!!! NO!!!! NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Because the sight that I see is……..a sea of people…..and the stage far far FAR away….behind the sea of people. The stage is SO far away….that even the video screens are about the size of half an inch from where we are. You can hardly even see the video screens!!!! WE ARE LITERALLY AT THE VERY BACK OF THE WHOLE STADIUM!!! IN THE LAST ROWS!!!! Once again….I was literally about to start crying from disappointment!! But as I said….I usually always try to be positive and see the positive in the situation and make the most out of it so I was like ”Okay…but I’ll be able to hear the music and see the light show and maybe I’ll get to see a tiny bit of Michael on the video screen if they go to a really tight close up.” So I take out my banner and me and the little boy and his grandma are getting excited again….and then the show starts…..All three of us immediately get up…I’m waving my banner..me and the little boy keep cheering and singing along and jumping up and down and are all excited again….But all the people around us…the other VIPs…are sitting down….talking…and not even trying to enjoy the show and keep telling us to sit down…And at some point I just couldn’t enjoy the show any longer…Like, no matter what I did and how hard I try to make the most out of it….things just kept getting worse and worse until I just felt completely sad and crushed. When the show was over and I was back in my hotel room…I just threw myself on the bed and cried my eyes out. I had been fighting back the tears all evening from all the disappointment and once I was alone, I was finally able to let it all out. I swear I ”ugly cried” for two hours straight! I just felt absolutely CRUSHED from disappointment! I mean, had I KNOWN that I WON’T get to meet Michael and will be in the LAST rows…I would have said ”no thank you” to the VIP tickets and would’ve gone to the stadium EARLY and would’ve waited all day and would’ve been in the front. I wrote a letter for Michael on the hotel stationary about it all and said that if he sees this blonde girl with a pink Disney heart who is BEAMING and OVER THE MOON in the front rows in Budapest…that’ll be me, because I’m going to go to the stadium EARLY in the morning to get to the front!!! I put the letter between this little book I had made for Michael as a present. (A friend of mine had once given me a little book she had made herself for me as a present, where she had put photos and poems and all kinds of nice little stories and stuff and it was the most BEAUTIFUL present I’ve ever gotten (still my fave present to this day) because she had invested so much time in it and it was just such a thoughtful gift. So since I loved it and the idea so much…I made one for Michael.)



Luckily I had no time to be sad for too long though because I had to get to Budapest for the second show! YAY!!! I was once again REEEAAALLY excited!!!! Once I got to Budapest, I immediately went to Michael’s hotel, The Kempinski hotel in Budapest (back then, without internet…you pretty much had to ask around to know where he was staying…usually the locals would’ve heard it mentioned on the radio or generally knew in which hotel all the ”important people” usually always stayed in). The police had put up barriers in front of the hotel and I was able to get a place in front row at the barrier to the right from the hotel entrance (I later learned Michael’s windows were to the left from the entrance…all the way up). There were THOUSANDS of fans at the hotel. The whole front of the hotel was FULL of fans on all sides. I saw Teddy Lakis (who was the coordinator and fan liasion person for MJ) and he was handing out tour shirts for free for fans and I was able to get one. It was FREEZING cold outside that day so I put the shirt over my jacket. There were these guys behind me at the barrier who also got the tour shirts. They were huge fans too and really nice. MTV was filming the fans and they had this book with them where fans could write messages for Michael and they said they will give the book to Michael afterwards. I don’t know if Michael ever got it, but I loved the idea, and there were thousands of fans from ALL around the world, so I’m sure Michael would’ve loved the gift, so I hope he got it! At least I thought it was such a beautiful idea! Michael’s tour photographer was there too, photographing the fans. I had my King of Music banner with me again and the pink Disney heart that I had had with me at all the previous times I had seen Michael since 1992 and Michael’s photograher wanted to take a photo, but since I HATE being photographed…I hid behind my banner every time he tried and he was motioning for me to lower the banner so I’m in the photo too and I just shook my head like ”NOOOO I don’t wanna be in the photo!!” so he just took a picture of my banner. After a while…all the fans closer to the hotel entrance started screaming!!! Michael had come out of the hotel and walked to the barriers to greet the fans!! I could see a glimpse of him and I waved my banner and it looked like he wanted to come greet the fans at that side too, but since there was an opening where cars were driving to and from the hotel and where fans could run towards him, it was too dangerous so he couldn’t come to where we were. He then got into his van. Since I was in the first row on the barrier and on the side where the opening for the cars was….that meant that he will be driving RIGHT by me! So I waved my King of Music banner when the vans were driving toward us and then noticed that Wayne (MJ’s bodyguard) had the window open, so I quickly yelled ”WAYNE!!” (yes, I was surprised myself that I actually managed to do that! ),he turned to look at me and I reached out my hand with the book I had made for Michael and Wayne reached out his hand and quickly took it. I also had the pink Disney heart in my hand, so he grabbed the book AND the heart and I yelled ”Not the heart! Not the heart!” and he dropped the heart to the ground but kept the book..but the van drove over the Disney heart, so it got crushed. To this day I don’t know how I managed to get the courage (or the volume) to yell so that he can hear me..and that he also heard the ”not the heart” part too…while all the thousand other fans are screaming!! And how I was able to do all that within the SECONDS the vans were driving by. But…somehow I managed! A lot of it thanks to Wayne and his quick reflexes. I thought that was SOOO nice of him to do that!!! He didn’t have to, but he did! And I am FOREVER grateful for it! And after the HUGE disappointment in Prague…I really could use SOMETHING going right!!! Of course I have no idea if Michael ever really got the book and the letter or even looked at it, let alone read any of it (since they were in a van with tinted windows and Wayne was sitting in the front, so I had no idea if Michael was even in the same van with Wayne or in the second van, since they always had two black vans…). But even just Wayne being SO KIND and the idea that Michael possibly could’ve gotten the present made my day!! After MJ left the hotel, I didn’t really know what to do but the fans behind me that were really nice said that they are going to go eat and see Budapest a little bit, so if I want, I can join them. So I hung out with them and we wwnt to see the city and had a blast. We walked around Budapest all proudly wearing our HIStory tour shirts that we had gotten at the hotel! After a while, we came back to the hotel but we didn’t see Michael anymore. I then went to my hotel, which was around the corner and went to bed early. After all….I was determined to be at the stadium by 4 am at the LATEST the next day! So I had to go to bed early.



So the next day, show day, I took a taxi at 3:30am to go to the stadium. Remember…back then we had no cell phones…no internet…I was in a foreign city..going to the stadium to be dropped off there in the MIDDLE of the night all alone, while counting on not being the only one there. If someone would even suggest anything like that to me now…even if a friend would go with me…I’d be like ”IN YOUR DREAMS!!! NO WAY!!!”. But either the world just was safer back then or I was just too young and naive to even consider any dangers..I just didn’t think much of it then. It was just exciting. Or maybe it was that the adrenaline was SO high and I was SO determined to get to the front and see Michael that if anyone would’ve even tried to harass me or harm me and that way prevent me from seeing Michael, I would’ve been SO ANGRY that I would’ve turned into my own personal bodyguard and into a female Jackie Chan like ”DO NOT come near me!!! I AM going to the STADIUM and YOU CAN’T STOP ME!!” Luckily there already were some fans at the gates, so I wasn’t alone. I was also better prepared this time, with a warm windbreaker to keep me warm and dry and with some juice (just enough to keep me hydrated but not enough to make me need to pee because….no bathrooms anywhere) and I had some snacks and sweets with me. Again, just enough to get some salt and sugar and energy to not feel hungry or dizzy later on at night. And all of it in a plastic bag so that I can just leave it there if I don’t use it all. And a plastic bag to sit on, so that I don’t have to sit directly on the ground and it’s more comfortable too. I had a little wallet with safety pins inside my the front of my pants where I had some money for taxi for later. Having a bag would mean bag search at the gate, which would mean that it will take longer to get in and more fans can get in before you. So…no bag. So I hung out with the other fans and we exchanged our addresses to be able to keep in touch later on and talked about who had seen Michael where or met him etc. It was actually my first time really meeting other fans and making friends and really getting the full fan experience. During the Dangerous tour, I did talk to a couple of fans at the stadium gates while waiting, but it was different. Probably because I was so young and so new to the whole scene and didn’t even understand that one could actually see MJ at his hotel and hang out with other fans. So at some point the gates opened…and I RAN FOR MY LIFE!!! And I made it to the front!!!! Not front row or the second row but maybe 5-7 row..but right by the catwalk that goes out into the audience in the middle of the stage…on the right side of the stage (Michael‘s left). I was ECSTATIC!!!!! I was SOOOOO HAPPY I was literally BEAMING!!!! After the HUGE disappointment in Prague….this time I WAS going to see Michael…and see him REALLY WELL..from the FRONT!!! So the show starts….Michael comes out of the space ship and steps onto the stage..and just stands there motionless, looking at the audience..and I was jumping up and down like an excited little kid and cheering and just smiling so much my cheeks were hurting because I was SOOOO HAPPY!!!!! I waved the crushed pink Disney heart (the one that had a baby Mickey and Minnie Mouse on it and that got crushed because MJ’s van drove over it the day before ) and just smiled and sang along at the top of my lungs and cheered!! And MICHAEL looked SOOOO HAPPY that night and was LITERALLY beaming throughout the whole night too, which made ME smile even more because seeing HIM sooo happy made ME happy!! I mean, he kept smiling even through ”Stranger In Moscow”!! He just looked SOOO happy so that made me SO happy. (Later on when I heard on the news that he was going to be a dad, I immediately thought ”NOW I know why he looked happier than I had EVER seen him before!!! He was going to be a dad!!!” ) The show was AAAAMAZING!!! He played the Off The Wall Medley, The Way You Make Me Feel, D.S..songs that he unfortunately didn’t include during the second leg of the tour, so I was SO HAPPY I got to see them live before he ditched them!! It had been my dream to get to hear TWYMMF live and now that dream had come true too!! When the tank rolled on stage during Earth Song and that whole scene with the soldier and the child bringing a flower….I had to cry. It was such an emotional scene!! And I got teary eyed during HIStory because I knew it’s going to be the last song and who knows when I’ll get to see Michael next, so I already missed him!! But I also remember how SPECTACULAR HIStory was live too with all the flags and the confetti and all!! When the show was over, I stayed in front of the stage because me and a couple of fans from the gate earlier, had agreed to meet there after the show. Since there were THOUSAND of fans, it would’ve been impossible to find each other outside of the stadium, so we agreed that after the show, we just come to the front barrier on that side so that we can find each other while the others are leaving and going to the other direction. We wanted to get a taxi together to go to Michael’s hotel. So that’s what we did. There weren’t too many fans there since it was midnight already but I met a couple of fans from Japan who were really nice and we hung out with them. We didn’t see Michael though. On the other hand..his windows were so high up too, that I doubt we would’ve been able to see him either, even if he would’ve been at the window! I came to his hotel the next morning also and met the Japanese fans I had hung out with the night before but I didn’t see Michael. And I had to leave around noon so..I had to say goodbye to everyone. But I left feeling INCREDIABLY happy!!





During the second leg of the tour, I only managed to go to one show. I went to Michael’s hotel once again the day before the show but didn’t see him. They were handing out Mystery drinks to us for free at the hotel. I opened it to taste and….eeewww….it tasted AWFUL. So I didn’t drink it but I saved the can (after I had poured out the drink). I had the can in my old room at my parents’ house for years…until my mom decided to clean and threw it away thinking it’s trash. I hung out at the hotel with other fans and met really nice fans from Bulgaria and I also met a little boy who was dancing up a storm in front of us, doing all the MJ moves, and he said that he gets to be on stage with Michael during Heal The World the next day!! He was SOOOO excited!! And we all were so excited for him too!! I think I still probably have a picture of him somewhere doing the MJ signature „going on toes“ move!



The next day during the show day, I once again went to the stadium before 4am and hung out with the fans there. We noticed these signs outside informing everyone that the show will be filmed and that by going to the show, everyone automatically consents to being filmed. Since I HATE being filmed..I wasn’t thrilled..but I wanted to see Michael..so what can you do?! I met a couple of fans that I had met in Budapest too and it was nice to catch up again. When the gates opened, I once again RAN as fast as I could and this time, I made it to the second row!!! YAY!!!! Closer than I had EVER been before!! And the fans in front of me were so much shorter than me that I practically was like in first row because there was no one’s head in front of me!! The show almost got cancelled though and at first we weren’t even sure if we’ll get to see Michael. Someone said that Michael had had fever and was sick and I just thought…that would be SO my luck if the concert gets cancelled when I finally manage to get a better spot than ever before and would be able to see MJ better than ever!!! Of course I wanted him to be okay so I would’ve understood but I couldn’t help but to think ”That would be sooo my luck!!” Luckily the show didn’t get cancelled and I was able to see sooooo well!!! Another MEMORABLE, AMAZING experience once again for sure!!! The next day when I went to Michael’s hotel, we were told that Michael was on a drip and sleeping so we have to be quiet. If some fans tried to scream and shout the rest of the fans quickly told them to be quiet so that Michael can sleep. I didn’t stay at the hotel too long anyways because I had to leave, so I didn‘t see Michael anymore.



In 1998, I went to Michael’s hotel once when I heard where he was. I knew I was at the right hotel and that he was there because I saw Skipper, his bodyguard, but I didn’t see Michael, even though I waited in front of the hotel all day. There were only a handful of fans there, so I guess he was keeping it low key. Once again my luck because later on when he went to other places, I heard he had interacted a lot with all the fans.

I really enjoyed reading this! So exciting for you! Thank you for sharing

 

[Moviefan2k4]

I never got to see Michael perform live, mainly because it was so expensive, and I couldn't afford to travel or buy the tickets. But I do remember when the "This Is It" shows were first announced, and Michael described them as "the final curtain call" (obviously not knowing how prophetic that statement would be). When I saw on the news that all the tickets had sold out in a matter of hours, I was honestly surprised. He'd gone through so much in the 2005 trial, and with all the insane press coverage you'd have sworn most people in the world hated his guts. So my emotions over it were very mixed, and I was truly heartbroken when he passed shortly after that.

 

[summer]

I never got to see Michael perform live, mainly because it was so expensive, and I couldn't afford to travel or buy the tickets. But I do remember when the "This Is It" shows were first announced, and Michael described them as "the final curtain call" (obviously not knowing how prophetic that statement would be). When I saw on the news that all the tickets had sold out in a matter of hours, I was honestly surprised. He'd gone through so much in the 2005 trial, and with all the insane press coverage you'd have sworn most people in the world hated his guts. So my emotions over it were very mixed, and I was truly heartbroken when he passed shortly after that.

I can totally understand not being able to see him. I myself barely was! I mean, first when I was younger, my parents thought I was too young to go to a concert, period. And then when I was a bit older, I was allowed to go alone but I had to work hard to pay for my trip and my parents paid the ticket, so I could BARELY afford to go. And after that, I was a student and had absolutely NO MONEY and food was the only thing I could save money from so I literally only ate spaghetti (yes, just plain spaghetti..or spaghetti with ketchup ..if I could afford a bottle of ketchup..) for sic years straight! So that was the only way I was able to travel a couple of times and go to a couple of concerts. Tickets weren’t super expensive back then, but it was travelling that cost. I did fly to London in 2002 and ended up staying outside of Michael’s hotel the whole night because I had no place to stay. I was only able to afford the flights and wasn’t going to go first because I thought I can’t and a friend of mine talked me into it, so I did…and was supposed to have a place to stay but didn’t, so….the safest place to be wa in front of the hotel. That was an experience… But I’ll write more about that in the Sony demo era post. But yeah…I totally get how hard it was in every way to try to see Michael. Not only financially bit time wise. And I never understood how people were able to travel EVERYWHERE and so often! Didn’t know how they were able to do it! I mean, as a student I had no money, first of all, and I had to cut classes and while I was at my first university, it was easier and not as much of a problem..but when I changed my major and changed into another university, there was no way I could’ve been absent or else I wouldn’t have graduated. And later when I was working…I couldn’t just take off whenever I wanted to. Yes we get vacation but not whenever I want to, I have to let them know about 3 months in advance. Or right now we all have to let them know in the beginning of the year for the whole year when we’re intending to go on vacation so that we can plan because we don’t have enough staff as it is. I got really lucky in 2009 because I had already planned to have vacation in Match, so my vacation JUST started when Michael came to London for the press conference, so I was able to go. And I had also already planned to have vacation in July so when he announced ”See you in July!” I immediately knew I can go in July because I have vacation so I was just over the moon and jumping up and down like a little kid!! I mean, it was like it was MEANT TO BE! But when the tickets went on sale….that’s when I was crushed because the prices were INSANE!! Like, there was absolutely NO WAY of getting a seat at the front. I just didn’t have that kind of money! I hated that whole system and how ticket sales went down. It was SO disappointing. Before, it was the biggest fans in the front because they waited all day at the gates. And now it was the richest people in the front, fan or not. So that was SUCH a huge disappointment. And then when the shows got cancelled and moved to almost a year later and I would’ve lost all my money because I wouldn’t have gotten my money back for the flights or hotels I had booked fir July…and couldn’t afford to book new flights and hotels…so that meant I would’ve badically lost all my savings..and wouldn’t have been able to even see Michael, except once, instead of 4 times. So yeah…the disappointment was huge. Of course the second I heard Michael had died, none of that mattered any longer and I would’ve given anything to just have him be okay. Unlike you, I knew the tickets will sell fast because I had seen the love for Michael. But what did surprise me was how awful and impossible the tickey sale was and how ridicilous the ticket prices were.

 

[summer]

MJ & Friends era:


THE MUNICH PRESS CONFERENCE, JUNE 1999

It was 1999 and internet already was a thing, so getting information about Michael had become easier because you were able to chat with fans in chat rooms and on message boards.



Michael was supposed to go to Italy to some event with Pavarotti but then Prince got sick and was taken to the hospital due to a fever seizure during a viral infection, so Michael had to cancel. I hadn’t known about the Italy thing until he cancelled and read about it. I remember being SO SCARED when I heard about Prince being in the hospital and was SO WORRIED and could only imagine what Michael was going through, concidering how much he loved his children and how long he had had to wait to finally have his children. I wasn’t a nurse back then but my mom was so I talked to her about it and she comforted me by saying that if it really was a fever seizure, then Prince should be okay, because even though it looks dramatic, they usually are harmless and stop once the child gets older. So that made me feel a bit more relieved, but of course since I didn’t know the details, I was still really worried! And like I said, I also kept wondering how Michael was doing.



A little later on…I think it was like only a week later, we suddenly heard that Michael was going to be in Munich!!!!! THE NEXT DAY!!!!!! WHAT?!!!!!! AAAAHHHH!!! I immediately started calling hotels to find out if they had a room and how much it would cost. They were all either full or too expensive. Finally I got lucky at this one little B&B run by a very nice lady. So I had a place to stay and then booked my trip…spent all night making a banner…and by the next day, I was in Munich. I left my stuff in my room, had a quick chat with the B&B owner and showed her my banner and told her that Michael was going to be in Munich and she was like ”Are you sure…I haven’t heard anything…I hope you didn’t come all this way for nothing!” And I was like ”Yes, I’m sure! He’s here!”



So I headed to Michael’s hotel, the Bayerischer Hof in Munich (or Bay Hof as us fans would call it) and there were already some fans there. I was alone but quickly made some friends and met a couple of people I had been chatting with online and it was so cool to meet in person! I remember meeting Joanne and Afifa from the UK and marjo and Papa Bear from The Netherlands and Robin from MJNI also from the UK and also Joanna (Thomae) from France and a few others. Everyone was sooo nice! Michael’s windows were on the top floor of the hotel, but since the building wasn’t that tall, you could see him reeeeally well!!! (That’s why the Bay Hof hotel was my favorite! )



Michael came to the window again and AGAIN and would stay at the window for a looong time to watch us and to interact with us!!! He was practically at the window ALL night!!! It was the BEST!!!! We would do all the chants like ”Michael is the best!!! F**k the press!!!!!” and he’d pump his fist at the window or disappear inside only to come back with a banner HE had made himself out of pillow case (or a towel?) saying ”Burn all tabloids!!” . Or we would chant ”How is Prince?!!!!!!” (since he had been sick) and he would show us Prince at the window to show us he’s okay. And he also showed us Paris! That was the first time I saw Prince and Paris. We would also do the songs ”We love you Michael, we do….we love you Michael we do….we love you Michael we do….ooooh…Michael we love you!!!” And would then also sing it for Prince, Paris and Debbie too, (even though Debbie wasn’t there). And we’d sing ”We just came to say….we love youuuu…we just came to show how much we care…we just came to say….WE LOVE YOUUU…and we mean it from the bottom of our hearts” to the tune of Stevie Wonder’s ”I Just Called To Say I Love You”. Michael wrote ”I love you all so much” on a pillow with a longer message on it too and then threw it down to the fans. At one point some fan was blowing a whistle to the beat of our chants where we would clap and chant”………..…MICHAEL”…and I was standing next to marjo and I caught myself bopping my head to the beat and found it funny so I looked at marjo and started exaggerating and started wildly bopping my head to the beat, like almost headbanging and then cracked up because I thought it was funny! I love kidding around and marjo was such a cool person and always up for laughs and kidding around too so we were just having so much fun and were soooo happy!! That moment became one of my favorite memories later on too (in addition to it just having been such a funny memory, and remembering the ULTIMATE feeling of just pure happiness and JOY and fun) when I watched the footage someone had filmed of Michael that night at the window. Because he was doing the same thing I was…bopping his head to the beat first…and he was watching us fans and then suddenly also started wildly bopping his head, almost headbanging, like I did and you can see him cracking up too. So I’m guessing he saw me headbanging to the beat during our chants and fount it just as funny as I did because he was pretty much doing and thinking the same that I was. I mean, of course there’s no way of me knowing if he REALLY saw me or if it just was a ”great minds think alike” moment where he was doing the exact same thing I was doing at the same time and was also just cracking himself up over it like I was by myself. But no matter what the case, I just found it funny and it’s one of my favorite memories just for the fact that we all were so happy and having such a good time together (and with that I mean myself and all the fans collectively and Michael seemingly enjoying himself too). It was just the BEST night EVER!!!!! Definitely a HIGHLIGHT during all the years I’ve been a fan because Michael spent the WHOLE evening with us! He didn’t have to, but he did. At some point he came to the window with his bodyguard, Attila, and pointed out the banners he wanted to get and the fans he wanted to meet. (Sadly I wasn’t one of them. ) I had made another book for Michael, similar to the one I had given him in Budapest, so when Attila came down to where we were to collect gifts and banners for Michael, I mustered up all of my courage to walk up to him to ask him if he could give my book to Michael too. As I’ve said….I’m EXTREMELY shy…so I really had to force myself and do a lot of selftalk (”Should I? I’m too scared. But that’s the only way to get the book to Michael. But what if he won’t take it, you look like an idiot. Don’t go bother him. But I really would want Michael to get it and he’s taking other people’s gifts too..”). So I finally walked up to him and said ”Excuse me Sir”…and he turns to me and starts yelling at me and I almost started crying because I wasn’t expecting THAT. He did take the book in the end but yeah, of all the scenarios I had gone through in my head to try to figure out whether to walk up to him or not…getting YELLED and snapped at wasn’t one of them. Especially since I wasn’t pushing him or touching him it holding my gift at his face or anything like that like some other fans were doing but just politely said ”Excuse me sir”….but I’m the one who gets yelled at? I thought that was a bit unfair and made me sad. Needless to say, he isn’t one of my favorites when it comes to Michael’s bodyguards. The only bodyguards that I think were really nice were Wayne and Skipper. But at least Michael got my book again so …YAY!!! No idea if he looked at it but at least the chances that he got it were good since his bodyguard took it while collecting things for Michael. Anyways, a girl from the Netherlands (I think she was 17-20 years old) and a guy (I can’t remember if he was also from the Neatherlands or from Israel…but he was also around that age..) both got invited up to Michael’s room and they got to meet Prince and Paris and they said the kids weren’t wearing masks when they were there. (When they came back, everyone gathered around them to hear what it had been like and if Michael had sent us all any messages and everyone was always really happy and excited for those that got to go meet Michael. I never sensed jealousy, just a shared excitement! ) Michael stayed at the window until around midnight or 1am. And most of us fans left around 1am. Oh, one funny thing I forgot to mention….when Michael was at the window he kept doing this ”come here” wave to us, which I always thought was funny because I always thought ”Yeah haha Michael, very funny…HOW?!!”. Thinking he’s such a tease!! So I always waved ”come HERE” back at him as in ”You know we can’t just come up to your room…YOU have to come down to US!!!”



We had heard that Michael will be holding a press conference at the olympic stadium in Munich the next day, so that’s where we headed EARLY on the next day. I had met a really sweet fan from the UK at the hotel the night before and we immediately became best of friends, so we had agreed to go to the stadium together so that neither of us needs to go alone since we were both in Munich alone. So I took a cab in the morning, drove to her hotel to pick her up, and we then went to the stadium together. When we got there, Joanne and Afifa who were also from the UK were already there, so we hung out with them. We were waiting at a gate, thinking that’s where we’ll be let in but then at some point, I think it was around noon, someone came to tell us we should go to another gate and can get in there. So that’s what we did, and once we were in, we had to walk around half of the stadium at the top rows and it was soooo high up!



Finally we got to the section that was reserved for the fans. There was a little set up on the field in front of that section, so we figured that’s where Michael was going to be. Me and my friend were a bit further back since there were quite a few fans already and we figured we’d be able to see better uf we were a bit higher up. (Plus, neither of us wanted to be on any TV cameras..). But we would still be able to see Michael really well! They played Michael’s songs and at some point we noticed the jumbo tron at the stadium saying ”Munich welcomes Michael &Friends” (or Munich welcomes Michael Jackson or something like that..) and all the fans started cheering. Then finally these two black vans drive into the stadium and park right in front of the fans. MICHAEL!!!!!!!!! The fans go crazy!!!! I held my King of Music banner in the air (that also said ”Because of Michael children have hope for a better world.” and one news channel had the banner as their background photo during the news about Michael. (Yes, just the banner, not me. They filmed it at the hotel, while I was hiding behind my banner so that I’m not on camera myself.)). Michael stayed in the van for a few minutes and then FINALLY came out. The MJ & Friends concerts that were going to be about 2 weeks later were announced and Michael handed a check of around $50,000 to charity. Then Michael started walking on the field…all the press with cameras followed him ….and then fans stormed the field as well and ran to Michael. My friend (who was just like me: shy and quiet and calm) and I stayed where we were because we didn’t want to bother Michael and weren’t sure if we are even allowed on the field. Besides….if there are all the cameras around..I REALLY don’t want my ugly face on any photos or videos!!!



After the press conference we went back to Michael’s hotel for a short while, but didn’t see him again. I had to leave and go back home fairly soon after the press conference. But I was SOOOOO HAPPY that I had seen Michael so much during those two days and I COULDN’T WAIT until the end of June because I knew I got to see Michael again!!! I was floating on air until the shows, I was THAT happy!!!