The Years 1999 to 2001
[Michael on Wetten dass]
More details about this program (click here)
It was announced on this show that these two charity concerts, titled “Michael Jackson and Friends,” would be held on 25 June 1999 in Seoul — South Korea, and on 27 June 1999 in Munich — Germany.
By appearing on this show, Michael, just like his first appearance on 4 November 1995, once again broke a record.
His presence on this show was a very important event for both fans and the press, and just like the first time, he put eighteen million people in front of their television sets—only in Germany.
In the final court session that had begun in 1995, Michael was finally completely cleared of the charges of literary theft that had been brought against him by the Italian songwriter Albano, in 1992. The Rome court announced that Michael had not used Albano’s song, titled «I Cigni Di Balaka», released in 1987, in the making of his own song «Will You Be There».
In 1999, a lower court found Michael guilty of literary theft and imposed a cash fine on him. Michael’s lawyers requested an appeal. In the end, the Milan court also ruled that Michael was not guilty.
In the same year, Michael was invited to South Africa by Nelson Mandela to take part in his wedding ceremony.
On 10 June 1999, Michael Jackson’s first dance studio—referred to in the news as “Michael Jackson’s Fun School”—was inaugurated in Tokyo — Japan.
Two days later, on 12 June, Michael bought the small Oscar statue that had been awarded at the 1939 Academy Awards to the classic film Gone with the Wind, as the best classic film of all time, at Sotheby’s auction in New York for the amount of 1,542,500 US dollars.
This Oscar award had been given to David O. Selznick, the producer of Gone with the Wind (released in 1939).
The person in charge of the Sotheby’s auction, quoting Michael—who had announced his bid amount by phone—said that he had always wanted to have this Oscar award.
For that reason, Michael offered the highest price ever paid for Hollywood memorabilia.
[The previous record was from 1996. The amount of 607,500 US dollars was paid for an Oscar award given to Clark Gable for the film It Happened One Night.]
The concert “Michael Jackson and Friends” — [The Power of Humanity / What More Can I Give — Part Two] — filled the Enchanted Stadiums with crowds. All the tickets for the first concert in Seoul [25 June] and the second concert in Munich [27 June] sold out, as expected.
[Michael Jackson and Friends concert in Seoul — South Korea]
In Munich, Michael performed in front of a crowd of sixty thousand people—equal to the maximum capacity of the Munich stadium—and in the Seoul stadium, in front of the maximum capacity of forty-five thousand people.
Mariah Carey, Vanessa Mae, Slash, Ringo Starr, Boyz II Men, and Andre Bocelli were among the people who performed in this concert.
And this was the 1999 charity concert.
[Michael Jackson and Friends concert in Munich — Germany]
Many national and international stars, such as Oprah Winfrey, were among the audience, as well as many of the stars who had performed in this concert. And all of them were waiting to see Michael Jackson “the King of Pop” walk onstage.
This charity concert was able to raise 3.3 million US dollars to help needy children around the world. This money was delivered to UNESCO organizations, Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund, the World Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.
By streaming the film of the concert “Michael Jackson and Friends” on the internet, Michael once again set a new record in history.
The site M.C.W., the company that had obtained exclusive internet broadcasting rights for the concert “Michael Jackson and Friends” in Germany, announced in the press that the internet broadcast of the concert had more than ten million viewers and had broken the world record that belonged to the broadcast of a single music single.
It had been reported in the press: “Until now, there has never been a case where an internet broadcast of a program attracted this many viewers.”