This Is It was a planned series of 50 concerts by Michael Jackson to be held at the The O2 arena in London. The shows were scheduled to begin in July 2009 and continue through March 2010, which would have totaled over a million in attendance and injected a billion into the UK’s economy. It was an enormous boost for London, and ticket sales surprised everyone – it’s impossible to deny the cultural phenomenon for Michael was back after all tickets sold out in mere hours. Sales of King of Pop were up 400% and sales of Thriller were up 200%. Tickets appeared on eBay for as much as £10,000.
Christian Audigier, a fashion designer (and personal friend of Jackson), worked on the clothing for the shows. Jay Ruckel from La Crasia Gloves created Jackson’s iconic single glove for the concerts. The costumes he was set to wear during the shows were encrusted with 300,000 Swarovski crystals. In May 2009, thousands of dancers flew in from all around the world to audition for Jackson, who helped select the 12 finalists in person. Kenny Ortega, who had collaborated with Jackson previously, was to work on the overall design and direction of concerts. Ortega said that the final product would have been a “theatrical musical experience”. Each concert was expected to have 18-22 songs, with different sets for each.
AEG Live (the concert promoters) recorded one of the last rehearsals, held the day before his death, “in multi-camera high-definition video and multi-track surround-sound audio”. Sony has put $60 million towards this footage and will be releasing a concert film on October 30th. There is over 80 hours(!) of overall rehearsal footage, such as the video above where Michael sings, “They Don’t Care About Us.”
Michael Jackson had commented in regards to this tour, “I just wanted to say that these will be my final show performances in London. When I say this is it, it really means this is it”, adding that it was his “final curtain call”.
