Which song was Michael going to sing live in This is It

Svis

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I know he could still sing very well. But it still frustrates me to not hear him sing fully live. So what song do you think he was going sing live in This is it ? I would like him to the sing he sung live in the DWT basically (although I'd love Smooth criminal and Man in the mirror live)
 
I think he would have sang more than on HIStory Tour. He probably wanted to sing live but I don't think he was in shape to do it while dancing for the whole show.
 
He apparently wanted to try and sing as much live as he could, keeping in mind the various problems he had at the time I doubt it would have worked out that way, though.
 
Probably the same old 80s song he usually sang live like WBSS, ICCSLY and Human nature. When you are rehearsing and you aren’t singing during rehearsals then I am fairly sure he was never going to sing live anyway on the vast majority of the setlist.
 
Probably the same old 80s song he usually sang live like WBSS, ICCSLY and Human nature. When you are rehearsing and you aren’t singing during rehearsals then I am fairly sure he was never going to sing live anyway on the vast majority of the setlist.
He dance live in all the rehearsal, just not fully as he said he wanted to keep his voice for the shows
 
I think he would have sang more than on HIStory Tour. He probably wanted to sing live but I don't think he was in shape to do it while dancing for the whole show.
Yea I think more than HIStory, it was a bit of an exception. Makes sense he wanted to sing more live songs
 
I've thought about this a bit and here's my general assumption based on the films audio mixing. using MJ's mic feed vs not, and how they edited it (and whether they edited it to sound live or not). The * will indicate uncertainty btw:

Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - live
Jam - half playback
They Don't Care About Us - lip synced until ending ad-libs
Human Nature - Live
Smooth Criminal - mixture of playback/ live until after the lean where its fully live
TWYMMF - intro is live, main song playback, live vocals after dance-break
* SIM - I bet it would have been like it was in the Prague '96 rehearsals, mostly playback until the end ad-libs
J5 Medley - Live
IJCSLY - Live
* OTW Medley - half playback, half live
Black Or White - Live
* Dangerous - Playback
* Dirty Diana - Playback until the ending ad libs
Beat It - Live
Thriller / Threatened - Playback
Earth Song - Live until the "What About Us" part
* Heal The World - Playback until the end
* Will You Be There - Live
* You Are Not Alone - Playback until the end
Billie Jean - Live
Man In The Mirror - Playback until the bridge (like on the Bad Tour)

- thats 8 full songs live
- 19 songs where there are live vocals in some way
- and 2 songs with full playback

But thats my theory, I'm uncertain on Billie Jean though.... I feel like it would have been lip synced.... or maybe with another vocal take? IDK what are your guys' thoughts?
 
I've thought about this a bit and here's my general assumption based on the films audio mixing. using MJ's mic feed vs not, and how they edited it (and whether they edited it to sound live or not). The * will indicate uncertainty btw:

Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - live
Jam - half playback
They Don't Care About Us - lip synced until ending ad-libs
Human Nature - Live
Smooth Criminal - mixture of playback/ live until after the lean where its fully live
TWYMMF - intro is live, main song playback, live vocals after dance-break
* SIM - I bet it would have been like it was in the Prague '96 rehearsals, mostly playback until the end ad-libs
J5 Medley - Live
IJCSLY - Live
* OTW Medley - half playback, half live
Black Or White - Live
* Dangerous - Playback
* Dirty Diana - Playback until the ending ad libs
Beat It - Live
Thriller / Threatened - Playback
Earth Song - Live until the "What About Us" part
* Heal The World - Playback until the end
* Will You Be There - Live
* You Are Not Alone - Playback until the end
Billie Jean - Live
Man In The Mirror - Playback until the bridge (like on the Bad Tour)

- thats 8 full songs live
- 19 songs where there are live vocals in some way
- and 2 songs with full playback

But thats my theory, I'm uncertain on Billie Jean though.... I feel like it would have been lip synced.... or maybe with another vocal take? IDK what are your guys' thoughts?
I think it makes sense to have more live songs, though Black or White would be surprising to be sung live, so I don't know if he wanted to change what he usually lip syncs. I think there's a good chance he'd sing Billie Jean live.
 
Maybe of Smooth Criminal is that early in the setlist maybe he'd try to sing some part live ?
 
I think he would have sang more than on HIStory Tour. He probably wanted to sing live but I don't think he was in shape to do it while dancing for the whole show.
He said it himself iirc, he wanted to sing more songs live, maybe full numbers
 
I'm sure Beat It would have been live. J5, WBSS, IJCSLY and Human Nature. That's it I guess. Still more than History Tour..
 
Probably HIStory Tour level, with maybe Human Nature, IJCSLY, Dirty Diana and the intro to TWYMMF. WBSS and J5 too.

Assuming he was healthy enough to do it, I could see him re-recording vocals or adlibbing at the end of tracks like, Smooth Criminal, Billie Jean, Beat It and Man In The Mirror

With This Is It, honestly it wouldn't have mattered to me what was playback or live. Just the thought of seeing the greatest live performer in history, back on stage, doing what he does best was enough.
Hopefully they'd be live vocals throughout but I would have been as disappointed as I would have been attending the HWT
 
Probably HIStory Tour level, with maybe Human Nature, IJCSLY, Dirty Diana and the intro to TWYMMF. WBSS and J5 too.

Assuming he was healthy enough to do it, I could see him re-recording vocals or adlibbing at the end of tracks like, Smooth Criminal, Billie Jean, Beat It and Man In The Mirror

With This Is It, honestly it wouldn't have mattered to me what was playback or live. Just the thought of seeing the greatest live performer in history, back on stage, doing what he does best was enough.
Hopefully they'd be live vocals throughout but I would have been as disappointed as I would have been attending the HWT
I feel the same, but I believe he wanted to be closer to DWT, which is to me the right balance (to not kill his voice). He wanted to sing more live so we can only speculate. Black or White proved he could sing amazingly at 50
 
The only thing that never sat right with me is that during rehearsals Michael started re-recording parts of some songs to be used to replace the album recordings for playback... including Startin' Somethin'. I know Michael scrapped doing most of these recordings and supposedly expressed a desire to sing live more (or just use the album playback) later on in rehearsals, but surely the fact they even considered this implies Startin' Somethin' may have been on playback for the first time on any tour?
 
The only thing that never sat right with me is that during rehearsals Michael started re-recording parts of some songs to be used to replace the album recordings for playback
What part of the film was this?
 
It wasn't in the film. Michael Prince said MJ started re recording Stranger In Moscow and WBSS to use as vocals during the shows but ended up scrapping it and saying he wanted to sing live as much as he could and if he needed help they'd just use playback as they had before.
At least he had the sense to record new vocals so we wouldn't have another OTW Medley situation like we did on the HIStory Tour.
 
It wasn't in the film. Michael Prince said MJ started re recording Stranger In Moscow and WBSS to use as vocals during the shows but ended up scrapping it and saying he wanted to sing live as much as he could and if he needed help they'd just use playback as they had before.
We need to hear SiM and WBSS 2009! His voice was awesome during TII.
 
It wasn't in the film. Michael Prince said MJ started re recording Stranger In Moscow and WBSS to use as vocals during the shows but ended up scrapping it and saying he wanted to sing live as much as he could and if he needed help they'd just use playback as they had before.
Sounds legit, it makes sense, he wanted to give his best to his fans and probably wanted to sing live as much as possible that's why he didn't sing much during the rehearsals
 
Honestly, I think it would've been like the History Tour. WBBS, HN, IJCSLY, and the J5 Medley would've been the ones fully live. Billie Jean, Beat It, You Are Not Alone, HTW and maybe TWYMMF would've been half live.
 
Honestly, I think it would've been like the History Tour. WBBS, HN, IJCSLY, and the J5 Medley would've been the ones fully live. Billie Jean, Beat It, You Are Not Alone, HTW and maybe TWYMMF would've been half live.
That frustrates me
 
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