Organizers cancel Jackson Vienna tribute concert
VIENNA (Reuters) – A scheduled Michael Jackson tribute concert in Vienna has been canceled and the event will be shifted to London next year, Organizers said on Friday.
Concerns over whether artists such as Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown and Natalie Cole would perform in Vienna had fueled speculation the gig would be canceled for lack of interest.
Organizer Georg Kindel blamed negative treatment by the Austrian media for the cancellation and told reporters that the tribute would be held at Wembley Stadium in London in June 2010, to mark the first anniversary of the pop star's death.
"The artists were disrespectfully treated as B-list artists by the media," Kindel said.
Tickets for the Vienna concert will be refunded, he said.
Vienna city council said earlier on Friday it would not support the concert. Organizers had hoped the city would provide up to 600,000 euros ($876,200) in funding for the event at the capital's Schoenbrunn castle.
"A cancellation is better than something that is bad and that doesn't interest anyone," said Robert Nuernberger, spokesman for the Vienna tourist board.
Organizers had expected artists to reinterpret Jackson's greatest hits including Billie Jean, Thriller and Bad, in front of an audience of 65,000. Tickets had been on sale for 63 to 518 euros ($91-$745). It was not certain how many tickets had been sold.
Tickets for the London concert will start at 44 pounds ($73) and the line-up will be announced in December.
(Reporting by Petra Spescha and Alexandra Zawadil; Writing by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Paul Casciato)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090911/music_nm/us_jackson_tribute
