andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Bravado International Group is suing Dollar Days International, Alan Shrem and Kennedy-Shrem International for millions, claiming they are illegally using the names of Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, the Doors, Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, reports TMZ.

Bravado says they have the exclusive right to merchandise related to these artists, and the other companies have violated this right by selling shirts, watches, posters and other items. They are seeking $2 million per violation.

Billboard will now be including catalog releases when calculating the best-selling albums, which were previously decided based on record sales from the past 18 months, reports Perez Hilton. The Nov. 25 chart will be the first to reflect these changes.

Taylor Swift is the only artist who sold more albums this year than Michael Jackson. Rihanna previously held the record for digital songs, selling 9.9 million, but Swift, Jackson, Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas have all broken that this year.

What better way to honor the prince?

“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” made motion picture history as the highest grossing concert film of all time. That’s not all. The two-disc companion to the movie released by Sony Music’s Epic Records makes its first week debut in the #1 spot on Canada’s Nielsen SoundScan Top 200 album chart, the U.S. Billboard Top 200 chart, as well as the Soundtrack album chart in both countries.

Sales totaled 44,441 in Canada and 373,100 units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, and this figure does not include significant sales from non-traditional retailers. In Canada, “This Is It” is Jackson’s first number one album since the establishment of SoundScan in 1997. With over 40,000 in first week sales, the album claims the third best sales week of 2009, trailing only behind U2 and Eminem’s releases. It’s no surprise that “This Is It” also claimed the #1 spot in 15 other countries, including Japan, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the Middle East and Colombia. It was also top-3 in the UK, Australia, Argentina, Austra, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain. Furthermore, a simultaneous #1 album and #1 documentary film as not happened since 1971 when the Rolling Stones did it with the album “Sticky Fingers” and movie “Gimme Shelter.”

Michael Jackson albums now occupy the top five spots of Billboard catalog album chart at #1, #3 and #4; his Number Ones album is this year’s best-selling overall album year to date. Michael Jackson’s accomplishments continue in Canada with eleven albums charting in Nielsen SoundScan’s Top Catalogue Albums including Thriller (Remastered), Thriller 25^th Anniversary Edition, Essential Michael Jackson, and Number Ones. Throughout his career, Michael Jackson has spent a total of 51 weeks at #1 on the Billboard album chart. Only The Beatles and Elvis Presley have spent more weeks at the top.

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Though Michael Jackson may have passed on, his ability to entertain and astound certainly has not.

Following on the heels of Tuesday night’s $2.2 million haul at a series of midnight showings, “This Is It” took in another $7.4 million in its first full day of release and another $12.7 million overseas. According to mtvnews.com, overall the film tallied a worldwide total of $20.1 million, a jaw-dropping amount for a midweek release, specifically a documentary.

According to distributor Sony, Wednesday’s total is the best daily gross for a film on a Wednesday in October. Placing nearly $1.5 million ahead of last weekend’s box-office champ “Paranormal Activity,” the movie about the King of Pop now seems poised to reign supreme at movie theaters nationwide on Halloween weekend. It is setting its sights on the all-time champ “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,” which tops the list with $65.3 million.

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Dunno if you heard, but a concert documentary, starring a little-known performer who died recently, opened across the country at 12:01 this morning.

This performer, Michael Jackson, would likely have been plagued by scandal through much of his adult life had anyone actually heard of him, so perhaps it’s just as well.

To Sony’s credit, This Is It does not feel like a quickie cash-in on Jackson’s death. A bit over-adulatory perhaps, but that’s to be expected. It must be said, however, that Jackson’s death casts a pall over the movie’s early proceedings; to me, his fake cleft chin and overly manufactured nose make his face look like melted wax, his voice occasionally lilts – not in a good way – and some of his dance moves look robotic.

But as time passes, the rehearsals have an obvious effect on him; his dancing becomes smoother, his singing becomes stronger, and he appears to become younger. Performing came as naturally to Jackson as breathing, and while his voice occasionally disappears, he’s never off-key (and explains more than once that he’s trying to save his vocal cords), and every number yields enthusiastic applause from the gathered technicians and back-up dancers.

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People all over the world tried to break the Guinness World Record for the most people dancing simultaneously to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” reports CBC. Saturday night, approximately 20,000 people in more than 200 locations in 37 countries performed the famous dance.

230 people gathered in downtown Vancouver for the event. Participants brought food and monetary donations for the city’s food bank.

“When we take our first step, people in China will take their first step,” said Graeme Lea, who co-ordinated the event. Cell phones were used to ensure groups around the world began dancing at the same time.

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Michael Jackson was in the midst of planning his sold-out comeback shows in London when his untimely death shocked the world. But thanks to a film crew that documented the rehearsals, the world will once again be able to fall in love with the King of Pop. And now fans can start to get excited, because Sony Pictures has released four preview clips from “This Is It” to the media, reports MTV News.

The clips have been released to help promote the documentary, that will be out on Oct. 28.

MTV News describes the four clips:

“‘Human Nature’ — Making comments like ’something there,’ Michael choreographs his dance moves for a performance of ‘Human Nature,’ the fifth hit single off his 1983 Thriller album. As he points and does some of his signature footwork, the band kicks in behind him with the beloved tune.

‘Human Nature Extended’ — A longer version of the earlier clip, this one cuts Michael’s footage with shots of his backing musicians, then extends into a shot of MJ performing in front of a lit stage, making it seem as though we’re in the crowd watching the legendary performer in concert.

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Debbie Rowe, the mother of the late Michael Jackson’s three children, is seeking $490,000 in a defamation lawsuit against Rebecca White, a close fried of Debbie Rowe, reports TMZ.

Rowe says White was lying when she said in a television interview that she had an e-mail from Rowe stating, “Do I want the kids? Hell no. Does it look good for me to ask for them? Absolutely.”

Rowe filed the suit in July. A hearing is scheduled for November.

A glove worn by Michael Jackson on his 1984 Victory Tour sold for $70,800 at a Los Angeles auction last week, reports Perez Hilton.

Also on the auction block was the Martin D-28 guitar Elvis Presley used in his final Las Vegas performance, which sold for $106,200, and Harrison Ford’s bull whip from Indiana Jones, which brought in $56,050. A velociraptor from Jurassic Park was purchased for $76,700.

Michael Jackson fans rejoice.

No, the King of Pop has not been resurrected, but his presence can be felt on October 12 at midnight through his latest never-released single, entitled “This Is It.”

The single will be unveiled to the world on www.MichaelJackson.com. According to Sony, the press release states that “This Is It” marks “yet another exciting moment in music history for one of the world’s most revered artists; featuring backing vocals by Michael’s brothers The Jacksons, the song plays during the closing sequence of Sony Pictures’ forthcoming film MICHAEL JACKSON’S THIS IS IT and is on the 2-disc CD set Michael Jackson’s This Is It, which is the stand-alone companion to the motion picture.”

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