Lighting Up Michael Jackson

English lighting designer Mark Cunniffe was supposed to be the lighting designer for Michael Jackson’s This Is It concerts in London. Concerts that, after the King of Pop’s death, became a dream—but their memory was preserved by the film released from Michael’s rehearsals, titled This Is It. In a new interview, Mark Cunniffe said that Michael was more than ready to perform 50 concerts in London, starting in July 2009, and that the tickets had sold out within just a few hours. He said that at first, like many people, he had doubts that a 50-year-old Michael—whose last concert tour had been 82 shows in 1996—could be ready to perform 50 concerts. But then he saw with his own eyes that Michael could. “If he had died two weeks before the day he passed away, I would have said he would never have done it. But he performed two full concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday (Michael died on Thursday, June 25), and he succeeded in both.” “His death devastated me. I wish he could have performed at least one of the concerts in London—watching his performance and seeing him praised for it would have been incredible. I think it would have been one of the most beautiful moments.” Having worked with some of the biggest names, including Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Rod Stewart, and George Michael, he says that to not miss the chance to work with the biggest artist, he cleared his schedule. “It’s one of those situations where when you answer the phone, you don’t even think about saying you don’t have time—you cancel your other plans. Working with one of the biggest artists the world has ever seen is a chance that comes only once in a lifetime.” Mark says that after a brief greeting, he quickly got to work. “In our first meeting, he explained to me the lighting he wanted for the song Billie Jean. That was six weeks before his death. We hadn’t even gone to the Staples Center yet for the final rehearsals. He was telling me, ‘I’m coming on stage, I tilt my hat, and then a beat break—then a light has to come on.’ - I was writing all these instructions like crazy—‘then I move, I hit the beat break, the light comes on. I turn toward the audience, look this way, look that way, the light comes on.’ - It was a surreal moment.” “Then I told him, ‘Thank you so much, Michael.’ I went back to the control room and immediately called my kids. I said, ‘Guess who I was just talking to!’” Source: eMJey / dailyrecord.co.uk