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Any news on the This is it project?

About the live-singing.
As we could hear in "Human Nature" on This is It his voice sounded great. Compare it to the History Tour or 30th Anniversary.
Probably he knew that his voice, after YEARS of not giving concerts, did "recover". Probably that could be a reason why he thought about singing more live.
But i think it would have been similar to the Dangerous Tour. For sure not like the Bad Tour.
 
analogue said:
Seeing as how the majority of Michael's live performances were lip synced from 1995 onward, I find it surprising that Michael suddenly wanted to sing live as much as possible in 2009. Especially considering that he was obviously older in 2009 than what he was in the 90's.
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You can go even further back and say every single from 1989 onwards - there are no known examples of these songs being sung live in concert. 1988 is patchy.
 
People have been murmuring for years about a tenth anniversary re-release that would supposedly include walk-throughs of "Dirty Diana" and "Will You Be There," a vocal rehearsal of "Stranger in Moscow," and the full run of "Dangerous," among other things.

SmoothGangsta said:
I think Michael Prince said they started re recording SIM and WBSS but then MJ said he wanted to sing live as much as possible so they stopped. I very much doubt a full re recorded version of those songs exist.
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Yep, MP said that there are partially-recorded versions of a few songs (though he only named "Stranger in Moscow" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"). I'm dying to hear them.
 
AlwaysThere said:
People have been murmuring for years about a tenth anniversary re-release that would supposedly include walk-throughs of "Dirty Diana" and "Will You Be There," a vocal rehearsal of "Stranger in Moscow," and the full run of "Dangerous," among other things.



Yep, MP said that there are partially-recorded versions of a few songs (though he only named "Stranger in Moscow" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"). I'm dying to hear them.
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It really makes me sad the estate don't seem to give a rip about acquiring stuff like this.
 
IMWhizzle;4236081 said:
As far as my memory goes all the footage were shot digitally. They had only one or two HD cameras (I think it was a RED camera) and a cheap handycam which didn’t shoot in HD, but at a lower resolution (as seen in the film, the picture qualify differences between them). These “tapes” were not meant for a release, since it was a rehearsal.
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In reference to the tapes not being meant for release this isn't exactly true. The rehearsals were filmed so that they had stuff to put as bonus content on a possible concert dvd or making of documentary.
 
KOPV said:
Just to clarify, other songs were for sure 100% rehearsed. SIM, Dangerous, WYBT, Dirty Diana.. DD though never got it's full rehearsal with the bed, that was to be done the 25th.

Not all were rehearsed at the staple center but at the forum.. side note the way this is it was edited, they took alot from the forum performances and edited it with staple center and just advertised it as so.. with the songs that were not rehearsed at staple center theyd have to be forced to use only forum rehearsals which could also be not used in the film specifically because it becomes more obvious it was NOT within his last 3 days like they were trying to advertize..

Watch the movie again and see how the stage changes as do the color of the seats in the arena.. 1 is the forum and the other is staple center..
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True 90% of the film is from The Forum and they were pretty good. I believe MJ was at The Forum for three weeks and only at Staples for 2 days. I have a theory that they used these rehearsals as a method to save some of the better footage with the 3D LED screen for the future.

On a side note I think MJ's performance were better the last two days due to the meeting on June 20th. I'm guessing that motivated him to put in good performances at Staples the last two days.
 
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While I'll be interesed in seeing previously unseen Dangerous rehearsals and re-recorded versions of SIM, I think I'll be more happy if we get a 40th anniversary special for Off The Wall. 2019 will see Off The Wall turn 40 years and for me, it's Michael most important album, because without OTW, there would be no Thriller, Bad, Dangerous etc. Off The Wall made Michael into the artist that he became. And it deserves better than the crappy 2016 reissue. It should be reissued again in 2019, this time with a couple of unreleased songs from the OTW sessions, the demo versions of all the songs from the album and other songs that Michael did during the OTW era, such as the songs from the Wiz soundtrack. Plus a hybrid of Destiny and Triumph tours with performances of the songs from Off The Wall.

Honestly, I'll be more interested in Off The Wall 40 than This Is It 10. I rather celebrate a project that turned Michael into a superstar rather than a project that killed him.
 
SmoothGangsta said:
They were rehearsed but I personally doubt they were rehearsed with MJ there. Dirty Diana was but the others I doubt it.
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He was there for the other songs for sure.. he went to the forum daily and those songs were rehearse. He bein there for a good 6 hours or so..
 
Let’s not forget MJs terrible physical mental state during this period. His lungs were absolutely shot and he would’ve struggled to physically exert himself.

The OG film was their best shot at showing the rehearsals. The idea they saved anything for later is stupid. All the best bits were used in the film to show to the world they weren’t overworking MJ and he was ready for the shows hence the vocal fakery and often cuts.
 
SmoothGangsta said:
In reference to the tapes not being meant for release this isn't exactly true. The rehearsals were filmed so that they had stuff to put as bonus content on a possible concert dvd or making of documentary.
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Thats right. I remember back in 2009 hearing that the contract Michael had with AEG included a Live-DVD release after the shows.
 
Nite Line said:
While I'll be interesed in seeing previously unseen Dangerous rehearsals and re-recorded versions of SIM, I think I'll be more happy if we get a 40th anniversary special for Off The Wall. 2019 will see Off The Wall turn 40 years and for me, it's Michael most important album, because without OTW, there would be no Thriller, Bad, Dangerous etc. Off The Wall made Michael into the artist that he became. And it deserves better than the crappy 2016 reissue. It should be reissued again in 2019, this time with a couple of unreleased songs from the OTW sessions, the demo versions of all the songs from the album and other songs that Michael did during the OTW era, such as the songs from the Wiz soundtrack. Plus a hybrid of Destiny and Triumph tours with performances of the songs from Off The Wall.

Honestly, I'll be more interested in Off The Wall 40 than This Is It 10. I rather celebrate a project that turned Michael into a superstar rather than a project that killed him.
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Will not happen.. Off The Wall 50th Anniversary could happen..
 
KOPV said:
He was there for the other songs for sure.. he went to the forum daily and those songs were rehearse. He bein there for a good 6 hours or so..
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He sat and watched the dancers do it a lot. I guess we'll see if they ever release it haha.
 
analogue said:
When it comes to live singing, I think that This Is It would have been similar to the Dangerous Tour
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Disagree. Dangerous tour was 50-50 in terms of live singing and lip-syncing. History tour was 90-10 in ratio of lip-syncing to live singing. I think This Is It would have been in the middle. 70 percent lip syncing and 30 percent live singing. Michael was going to do songs like Human Nature, Dirty Diana and I Just Can't Stop Loving You and these are songs that he never lip-synced, so I think these songs would have been sung live at This Is It. And then you have Wanna Be Starting and the Jacksons Medley, that were also going to be sung live as they always were, so you already have more live singing at TII than you had at History tour
 
I doubt they will re release this is it again even if there is infact footage of dirty diana
 
I'm sure there will be a re-release of This Is It with bonus content at some point. Sony has made it clear that they regard that footage as highly valuable, and based on what Murray's lawyers said they saw, it seems clear that there is more than enough footage that shows MJ performing well and interacting with the band and producers.

However, I don't think they'll release something like this next year. Ten years seems like a long time to us MJ fans, but for the general public it has not been that long. Just think of a concert film of an artist you are a casual fan of that you watched +- 10 years ago - it's not that long. And with everything that has come out during the Murray and AEG trials, the reputation of the film and the entire TII project has also gone down the crapper among a large portion of the fanbase. All in all, I think it's more likely that we'll see something like this years down the line (e.g. 25th anniversary).
 
They better not wait too long to release it i mean waiting ten years is way too long
 
Plus let’s not forget a lot of people are watching and loving the film on Netflix as we speak.

Well marketed package might do good numbers.
 
I Think it was also mentioned that You are Not Alone was also rehearsed.
 
dam2040;4236227 said:
Plus let’s not forget a lot of people are watching and loving the film on Netflix as we speak.

Well marketed package might do good numbers.
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Netflix don't release viewing figures generally so how do you know "a lot of people are watching" it?
I haven't seen anything announced and can't find anything in a quick google search,




While I have always thought the MJ Estate should (and would) release a 10th anniversary package due to the overwhelming success of This Is It when it first released, I'm now not so sure they'll do that. It didn't show MJ in the best light. If there was anything truly outstanding to show they would have shown it in the original release. I think most fans have moved on and wouldn't buy a new version of the film. Perhaps the best thing for them to do would be to release new snippets on their official channels instead of milk us for another purchase of a film we already have.

I DO think they should do something this year though, either in June or in August.

I always wanted an officially sanctioned tribute single or concert.

The right time to do it would have been in 2009 / 2010 though so perhaps it's too late for those.

I always thought it a shame that songs like Better On The Other Side were never made officially available for sale (with profits going to charity) because they were genuine tributes by people who used their own time to create something special. There's nothing stronger than genuine emotion and genuine respect.
 
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MJTruth said:
Netflix don't release viewing figures generally so how do you know "a lot of people are watching" it?
I haven't seen anything announced and can't find anything in a quick google search,




While I have always thought the MJ Estate should (and would) release a 10th anniversary package due to the overwhelming success of This Is It when it first released, I'm now not so sure they'll do that. It didn't show MJ in the best light. If there was anything truly outstanding to show they would have shown it in the original release.
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Perhaps it was Sony's plan back in 2009 to give us weaker performances in the film in order to save the best ones as a future investment. It wouldn't surprise me at all.
 
MJTruth said:
Netflix don't release viewing figures generally so how do you know "a lot of people are watching" it?
I haven't seen anything announced and can't find anything in a quick google search,




While I have always thought the MJ Estate should (and would) release a 10th anniversary package due to the overwhelming success of This Is It when it first released, I'm now not so sure they'll do that. It didn't show MJ in the best light. If there was anything truly outstanding to show they would have shown it in the original release. I think most fans have moved on and wouldn't buy a new version of the film. Perhaps the best thing for them to do would be to release new snippets on their official channels instead of milk us for another purchase of a film we already have.

I DO think they should do something this year though, either in June or in August.

I always wanted an officially sanctioned tribute single or concert.

The right time to do it would have been in 2009 / 2010 though so perhaps it's too late for those.

I always thought it a shame that songs like Better On The Other Side were never made officially available for sale (with profits going to charity) because they were genuine tributes by people who used their own time to create something special. There's nothing stronger than genuine emotion and genuine respect.
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Lots and lots of social media posts. Reddit, Twitter, Instagram. Ranging from general public to celebrities.
 
mjawb2009;4236454 said:
Perhaps it was Sony's plan back in 2009 to give us weaker performances in the film in order to save the best ones as a future investment. It wouldn't surprise me at all.
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Doesn’t make any sense, at all. The money was in the film being released so close to his death. There were suspicions that MJ was not ready for this. It was in AEG, DiLeo and Ortega’s best interests to show MJ dancing and moving. They dubbed old demo vocals to pretend it was him singing. If they had anything worth using, they used it.

Of course, as MJ fans we want to see all of it but there’s a very strong possibility the best cuts were used already.
 
This is a snippet from an interview with Kriyss Grant from March 2010: "The release of This Is It also inspired mixed emotions. At the time of release he gave an interview saying he would wait for the DVD. Today he says he still finds it difficult to watch. He is also bemused by some of the choices that were made regarding what was and wasn't included. "It's funny because those bits you see, he's not doing the full out still. There were times where he was really, really doing it, like full out. There are a lot of things that weren't shown in This Is It. I really don't know why that stuff was left out."
 
dam2040 said:
They dubbed old demo vocals to pretend it was him singing. If they had anything worth using, they used it.
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From what I've heard, a fair percentage of This Is It was re-recorded and/or dubbed (including the band and background vocalists) because, since the footage was never intended to be seen by the public, there wasn't much effort put into properly capturing the audio.

There's also been claims that the estate overdubbed Michael's vocals for no apparent reason; apparently one of the earlier trailers features a live "Billie Jean" vocal snippet that wasn't present in the final film.

As far as existing footage, several people have discussed things that were left out. There's at least one full rehearsal of "Dangerous," a vocal run through of "Stranger in Moscow," walk throughs of "Will You Be There" and "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" (likely without vocals), etc. Some figure that Sony had been planning reissues from day one and held back specifically to maximize future profit. They could also present full, unedited performances of songs like "Beat It" or "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" -- one full run rather than splicing between 2-3.
 
SmoothGangsta said:
He sat and watched the dancers do it a lot. I guess we'll see if they ever release it haha.
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You do relize some of these songs were sung live right? And footage/pictures have been released of him rehearsing some.of.these songs..

Let's do this, there are dangerous rehearsal pics! In that same day dirty diana would be rehearsed.. so are you saying he sat down and had them do it all for dirty diana but got up just for dangoerus..

That doesnt make sense.
 
KOPV said:
You do relize some of these songs were sung live right? And footage/pictures have been released of him rehearsing some.of.these songs..

Let's do this, there are dangerous rehearsal pics! In that same day dirty diana would be rehearsed.. so are you saying he sat down and had them do it all for dirty diana but got up just for dangoerus..

That doesnt make sense.
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People involved with the show have said that he often did a few songs and then watched the rest of the show. I'm just being skeptical lol, obviously we'll find out at some point. I did say that I think he did a quick run through of Dirty Diana though.
 
AlwaysThere said:
From what I've heard, a fair percentage of This Is It was re-recorded and/or dubbed (including the band and background vocalists) because, since the footage was never intended to be seen by the public, there wasn't much effort put into properly capturing the audio.

There's also been claims that the estate overdubbed Michael's vocals for no apparent reason; apparently one of the earlier trailers features a live "Billie Jean" vocal snippet that wasn't present in the final film.

As far as existing footage, several people have discussed things that were left out. There's at least one full rehearsal of "Dangerous," a vocal run through of "Stranger in Moscow," walk throughs of "Will You Be There" and "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" (likely without vocals), etc. Some figure that Sony had been planning reissues from day one and held back specifically to maximize future profit. They could also present full, unedited performances of songs like "Beat It" or "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" -- one full run rather than splicing between 2-3.
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I think that's not true, about the audio. The footage was definitely intended to be seen, in the contract I'm pretty sure it said that they would use it for making of or bonus content a concert dvd. That is the main reason they were being recorded.
 
SmoothGangsta said:
People involved with the show have said that he often did a few songs and then watched the rest of the show. I'm just being skeptical lol, obviously we'll find out at some point. I did say that I think he did a quick run through of Dirty Diana though.
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I get it lol.. we didnt see everything, just remember that fans were outside of that forum every single day.. listening, talking to Alberto (security) and so on..
 
The audios recorded by fans dureing this is it rehearsals are 100% real. No question about that! The only debate can be I'd it was sung live or not..
 
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