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EXCLUSIVE: MESSAGE FROM MICHAEL TO THE FANS
Details of Michael's phone call by MJNI President Gloria Haydock
The below text has been approved for publication today, 11th November, 2005.
As MJ News International announced on Tuesday, 8th November, 2005 - I received a phonecall that day, seemingly out of the blue, from Michael. This telecon will certainly go down in MY MJ calendar as a milestone and is definitely up there with MJNI’s Killer Thriller party in 2002 (where i'm pictured left with Michael and my granddaughter Jade), our 40th Birthday Tribute published in Billboard magazine in 1998 and my personal encounters with Michael since 1993.
From a selection of messages I’ve seen on the MJNI.COM Messageboard, some fans don’t understand why Michael would ring me. Because of this, I would first like to take a moment to explain the background to the phonecall.
As the trial approached we wanted to launch a campaign that would enable fans from around the world to show their support for Michael. So, on 13th November 2004, the MJNI team launched the MJNI.COM Support Michael pages.
These pages included - amongst other things - an ambitious new petition. We invited fans and website visitors from around the world to add their names to our Pledges of Support.
The idea was simple; anyone who wanted to show the world that they believed in Michael and wanted to show their loyalty and love for him could do so in the simplest manner possible - by just adding their name to the Pledges at
http://www.mjni.com/support/pledge.aspx. This was especially important to the vast majority of fans who simply couldn't afford to travel to America to show their support in person.
It was an ambitious project because our goal was to achieve at least 10,000 pledges by the end of the trial, a target which - together with the support of dozens of fan clubs from many countries around the globe - we easily achieved.
The Pledges were just one of many features in the Support Michael pages of MJNI.COM. As well as articles, commentary and news bulletin round-ups, we also created a living Timeline of events that began in November 2003 and ended with Michael's vindication in June 2005. By the end of the trial, the Timeline had been updated more than four hundred times and viewed by many hundreds of thousands of visitors to the website.
In addition, we researched and published over 75 profiles on each of the main players in the case - something no other website had tried to do, but which was essential in bringing some clarity to the constant flood of news reports we were processing every day. Our specially-dedicated ‘Support Michael’ mailing list delivered daily news bulletins and updates to the tens of thousands of fans from around the world who were desperate to get unbiased, fair and sensitive coverage of the trial.
Although this is the immediate background to the recent conversation with Michael, it is not the first time he has acknowledged the work of MJNI. Back in 2002, when Michael needed a platform to speak to the fans, he accepted our invitation to visit the UK and we organised our Killer Thriller party and a March through London, resulting in a 2,000-strong show of fan support! Who can forget Michael’s fifteen minute speech at Killer Thriller? It was monumental!
MJNI has been running campaigns for many, many years, and Michael has been very generous in his gratitude for our work on behalf of his fans.
During his recent visit to London, Michael received a letter from me explaining our campaign during the trial, and it was on reading this that he called to express his thanks and gratitude to us, the fans, in his words, for our “support, love and loyalty.”
With Michael’s visit to London fast becoming a recent memory, I had almost forgotten about the package and didn’t expect to hear anything about it without doing some further work! But then the phone rang...
“Hold on for Mr. Jackson...” the voice on the telephone announced. Before I could collect my thoughts, there was a male voice on the line, and I heard myself saying, “Michael?”
“Nice to hear from you...” Michael replied in a warm and friendly manner which immediately made me feel comfortable and relaxed.
Michael was very gracious and complimentary about my letter and began expressing his appreciation and gratitude for the endeavours of all his supporters. He emphasised the point by saying to me, “Please understand my appreciation for everybody’s love and all the loving support... because I really appreciate it... appreciate everything... really I do.”
As Michael was speaking, I was immediately struck by his heartfelt sincerity. I remember how often in the past my friends and I had joked about what we would say to Michael if we ever had the chance. Friends of Michael often said to me things like, “Next time I’m with Michael, I’ll call you and put him on the phone...” I used to wonder what would I say, if that ever happened! I mean, what do you talk about when the King of Pop calls you... As it happens, the call came so unexpectedly that I had no time to stress about the details, because he was already on the line...
Fortunately, Michael was very fluent and did all the initial talking, which made it easy for me to join the conversation. My first response was to thank Michael sincerely for his call and express how honoured I was that he would take the time to acknowledge our work, especially as I was aware of the great demands on his time. Michael was very kind and reciprocated my sentiment.
Throughout the telephone call, Michael was extremely repetitive in the proclamation of his love and appreciation to his fans for everything that they have done for him over the years; their undying love and support. I suddenly realised just how important it is to Michael that we know that he cares about us. He seemed to want to make it very clear that he is aware of our efforts on his behalf. He wanted the message to go out to all of the fans and emphasised that I should let everyone know how he felt.
Later in the conversation, Michael wanted me specifically to thank the fans who came to see him recently in London. He explained how he had wanted to greet the fans personally but that the restrictions imposed on him by the police made it difficult for him to do so. He also made special mention of the fans who had travelled to and supported him in Santa Maria, and wanted me to let them know how much he appreciated their support and that he drew strength from it.
Throughout our conversation, Michael continually made reference to one main subject, which is something I have been aware of both as a fan and a Fan Club President for almost 20 years: he recognises the support and contribution from ALL his fans, be that the fan who has little opportunity to travel to the city when Michael is in town – or perhaps can’t afford concert tickets and travel when Michael is touring the world – or maybe doesn’t even have internet connection to enable messageboard discussions. But they support Michael in their hearts, follow the documentaries on television, join the fan clubs and buy his records and merchandise when it is available. Michael was saying thank you to these fans, just as much as he was reaching out to those who at great personal and financial sacrifice, travelled halfway across the world to camp out in Santa Maria during the trial, so that Michael would know that he was not alone.
Michael then became very excited as he told me about a new song which he had written and which he wanted the fans to know about, saying, “I can’t wait to record it. I wrote it during the trial. You could let them know...” The song Michael was inspired to write for the fans during the trial is titled ‘You Are So Beautiful.’ I asked him to clarify for me - would this song be on the next album? And, this is a different song to the as-yet unnamed charity single? He confirmed "yes" to both questions.
Then, suddenly, Michael became very playful as he excitedly spoke about MJNI’s KING! magazine. He told me how much he loved KING! and mentioned a couple of his favourite articles (in particular, one about Neverland.)
I was very touched that Michael mentioned the magazine, because we are all very proud of it. I explained that we are looking forward to publishing again and I was pleased for the opportunity at this point to talk about some of the other projects we are ready to start as soon as he is.
Having already mentioned the new music, I asked Michael if he knew when the album would be released, but he wasn’t sure. He said, “I am writing constantly...” He said that it wouldn’t be too much longer and that he was in the studio.
I then asked Michael if he would be performing in concert, and that we would love to hear him sing live. Again, he answered that he wasn’t sure about that, and that he would probably be doing film. I told Michael that one of the reasons he had so many loyal fans was because of his amazing talent and that it would be wonderful to hear him singing live again. Recalling the time I became a fan myself during the Bad tour and the sheer enjoyment of hearing Michael perform live, and pushing the point – maybe too far – I suggested that a handful of concerts in small venues would be fantastic and that it didn’t necessarily have to be a grand world tour.
Michael accepted my comments with grace and humility – an attribute which, when describing Michael, can’t be emphasised strongly enough - but I’m not sure that he appreciates just HOW hungry we all are to have him back on stage. I could fantasise all day about Michael singing ‘Speechless’ to a ‘by special invitation only’ event for us - his loyal fans... but, back to reality!
Michael once again brought the conversation around to talking about his love for his fans, saying: “I love them and everything they do... everything. I see everything they do, I don’t miss anything. I notice and feel everything, from their letters and posters and signs and gifts...”
There was a sense of urgency in Michael’s voice and by this time, I was really beginning to become aware of a feeling of frustration in Michael at his inability to convey to his tens of thousands of fans across the globe, just how much he cares for them – that he would love to be able to show to them more, his gratitude and appreciation for their years of loyal support.
...And with that, the conversation was at its end. With sincerity in his voice, Michael bid farewell by saying “God Bless You” several times, and then excused himself. The conversation that will last for eternity in my memory was over.
As I mentioned at the opening of this report, this experience will stay with me as one of the highlights of my career as a Fan Club leader. It was quite a surreal experience, probably because it was so unexpected, but at the same time, quite natural, for the same reason. Since the call, and having spoken to my closest friends about it (some of whom are friends of Michael’s), I’m beginning to realise just how special this call was. Special, in particular, because it is very unusual for Michael to do this, so I am told. And, for that reason, it will be all the more cherished as I look forward to the next opportunity where MJ News International can do something extraordinarily special for Michael on behalf of his loyal fans...
MJNI
