ケニー・オルテガ、A.J.法廷セッション 44: マイケルはやはり素晴らしかった

今日のセッションの後半は、マイケルの友人であり協力者であり、映画監督でもあるケニー・オルテガの証言に捧げられた。ディス・イズ・イットツアー。

オルテガが証言を始める前に、ジャクソン夫妻の弁護士ブライアン・パニッシュは判事に対し、オルテガを「矛盾した」証人としてレッテルを貼るよう求めた。同氏によると、オルテガはA・J・ジャクソンの代理人であるためだという。同社の弁護士はこれに反対した。裁判官は、当初はオルテガ氏を通常の証人として受け入れるだろうと述べたが、彼が矛盾しているとマークされるかどうかは、質問にどう答えるかによって決まると述べた。おそらくパニッシュ氏は、A.J. の CEO であるランディ・フィリップス氏との経験が繰り返されるのではないかと心配していたのでしょう。フィリップスは素早い答えで裁判官の不満を引き起こし、パニッシュに嫌がらせをし、法廷時間を無駄にした。

尋問中、同社の弁護士であるマービン・パットナム氏は数回異議を唱えたが、裁判官はそれを受け入れなかった。パニッシュさんは証言台に座ったオルテガさんに対し、「彼らは反対し続けている。気を散らさないでください」と語った。オルテガ氏は、前回のインタビューの本文は見直したが、2011年にマレー博士が法廷で行った証言は読み直しなかったと述べた。オルテガ氏は、今回の事件に関するメディアの記事を読んだと述べた。彼はまた、カレン・フェイの証言の本文と、彼女が何度も彼に言及した内容と、彼の過去の電子メールを見直した。オルテガはこのツアーに関連したロンドンロイズ保険事件でも数日間尋問を受けた。

パニッシュはオルテガにA.J.との契約について尋ねた。オルテガ氏は、ポール・ゴングワー氏とランディ・フィリップス氏とさまざまな問題について文通していたと述べた。彼の代理人および弁護士がA.J.を手配した。契約。ゴングワーはA.J.の代表者だった。オルテガの代理人は、交渉はA.J.からリダイレクトされたと彼に告げた。マイケル・ジャクソンに向かって。オルテガは詳細を知らなかった。

オルテガはパニッシュの質問を聞くのに苦労した。 「実は私は難聴なんです。あなたには何も問題ありません。」と彼は言いました。オルテガさんは弁護人にもっと大きな声で話すよう求めた。パニッシュは声を荒げたが、緊張は解けた。

オルテガは、自分は監督であり、振付師であり、時にはプロデューサーでもあると語った。

TIIツアーについて、彼は「私はマイケルのパートナーとしてショーを作り上げた」と語った。彼はマイケルとA.J.に報告した。予算と計画について。オルテガ氏は、A.J.マイケルのパートナーとしてツアーのプロデュース、プロモーション、演出を担当し、予算を提供してくれました。

After TII, which ended without being completed, Ortega rejoined A.J. for the Rolling Stones tour. He was invited by Mick Jagger. To take part in the Rolling Stones tour, Ortega made a deal with Gongwer.

Ortega is friends with Phillips and Gongwer. Panish asked Ortega whether he was also friends with マイケル・ジャクソン. The answer was yes.

At first, Katherine Jackson had also sued Ortega in the A.J. case, but later she struck his name from the case and removed the burden of accusations from his shoulders. Panish asked Ortega why.

Ortega: “Because I’m not an A.J. employee.”

Ortega began dancing at age four. He saw his parents dancing. At eighteen, he founded his own show company.

Ortega said that as a child, in 1963–64, he went to watch a concert by the Jackson Five (Michael and his brothers). After the show, he met Michael.

Ortega: “Michael was walking backstage and made eye contact with me. He looked at me and smiled. I was impressed. I was truly overwhelmed by his presence and that of his brothers. It was a very important moment for me—like a star had touched you.”

Panish then asked about Ortega’s background. Having worked in the entertainment industry for more than forty years, Ortega is the director of films such as High School Musical and Newsies, and he choreographed Dirty Dancing, Madonna’s music video Material Girl, and the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He has also created dances for people like Cher, Kasey, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, and others. Panish showed a short video of some of Ortega’s works in court. Ortega also choreographed the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, as well as the Super Bowl show and the FIFA World Cup.

Ortega was not the choreographer for the TII tour. That job was handled by Travis Payne. The tour choreography was a mix of Michael’s old and well-known moves plus some new moves that Michael worked on with Payne.

When the High School Musical concert tour came to Las Vegas, Michael took his children to watch. Panish asked Ortega what that felt like for him.

After a long pause, Ortega said: “My tongue is tied—I don’t have anything to say.”

Panish: “Was it a big excitement for you?”

Ortega: “More than that.”

He then described the reaction of Michael’s children to the concert: “Paris was singing. They were all standing and enjoying the movie. They were singing and clapping.”

After the show, Michael went backstage to meet the actors and crew. They were stunned by the meeting.

Ortega: “The actors were all crying, screaming, and their tongues were tied.”

Ortega described Michael’s personality: “Michael was very generous, lovable, and kind to everyone.”

The first collaboration between Michael and Kenny Ortega began during the Dangerous tour.

“In 1990, MJ called me to help on the Dangerous tour. I felt incredible. He was the best stage manager on earth. The best singer and dancer.”

Ortega co-directed the Dangerous tour with Michael. Michael had many ideas and asked Ortega to bring them to life.

“It was exciting, interesting, and full of awe.”

Ortega said about Michael: “A musician, a global singer, an unparalleled dancer—the best.”

When Panish asked how Michael influenced other dancers, Ortega replied: “No one of his generation had such an impact. I think he was the most influential dancer for children across several generations.”

Panish showed part of the introduction of the documentary This Is It, in which the tour dancers talk about Michael’s influence. Ortega said that TII was originally Michael’s idea.

“He wanted to shake the world. He wanted the world to know that he was back. He wanted to bring the biggest show anyone had seen up to that point onto the stage.”

Panish showed the opening of the Dangerous tour. Michael jumps on stage and stands motionless. Ortega explained the scene. Michael was launched from beneath the stage using a device called a “toaster,” landing on stage like a piece of toast. Then, in front of the relentless, never-ending cheering of the audience, he would show a long pause. Ortega said Michael had named this moment “milking the audience.”

“He had the pulse of the audience better than anyone else.”

Ortega said Michael was different from other stage directors. He wanted his show openings to be enormous. He wanted people to think about how to build something more magnificent than that.

“He was always looking for something exciting, global.”

Ortega called the opening of the Dangerous tour “one of the most magnificent openings that had been seen,” and said it “took the breath away from people.”

Panish asked Ortega whether he knew that Michael had donated the Dangerous tour revenue to charities. Ortega said he didn’t know. Panish also asked Ortega about Michael’s trip to Romania and visiting an orphanage there. Ortega said Michael didn’t want to perform his concert before addressing the orphanage’s situation. He wanted to make sure every child in the orphanage received what they needed. Ortega said Michael wanted to improve the living conditions of children around the world.

Panish asked Ortega whether, during the Dangerous tour, he knew that Michael used painkillers. Ortega said no. Ortega said he had been unaware of this until today. Michael had addressed his use of painkillers in a public statement after the Dangerous tour.

Ortega said he knew Michael was in pain, but he had never seen him take medication. He also knew about the 1984 Pepsi fire incident and the burning of Michael’s scalp.

Ortega talked about Michael’s 1995 HBO concert in New York. In that year, Ortega worked as Michael’s consultant for the show that was performed at the Beacon Theatre for HBO. That concert was never held because during rehearsals for it, Michael fell to the stage floor, lost consciousness, and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. You can read about this incident here.

Panish: “Did you ever realize that he wasn’t doing well?”

Ortega: “He was upset. He called me because he was unhappy with changes made to his classic dances. He didn’t want them to change.”

Ortega said about the reason Michael fainted: “It could have been exhaustion—I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

The next collaboration happened during the History tour. Ortega said that he had never had any problems during his collaboration with Michael. Ortega said the two didn’t always agree, and Michael referred to differences in taste as a “creative battle.” During the History tour, both of them were creators and directors of the tour.

Ortega had almost watched the first six concerts of the Dangerous and History tours live. He said that number was normal.

Panish showed the opening of the History tour, which is an animation, in court. In the animation, Michael is armored and travels through time inside a spaceship. After the animation ends, the spaceship shoots out from the stage floor and armored Michael comes out, removes his armor, and starts performing dance and song.

Ortega said Michael wanted his music to inspire positive changes in the world.

“The best example is the song ‘Man in the Mirror.’ To make a change in the world, you have to start with ourselves. ‘Earth Song’ shows Michael’s deep concern about rebuilding the planet.”

Panish showed parts of the Earth Song video.

Panish then asked Ortega about the 1999 concert incident of “マイケル・ジャクソン and Friends” in Munich, Germany. Michael performed from a moving platform that collapsed and hit the ground hard. Michael returned to the stage without showing the slightest sign of pain and continued the performance. In court session 8, Karen Faye testified about it, and Panish had shown a video of it. You can download the video shown here.

Today, Ortega said that after the concert ended, Michael was taken to the hospital due to back pain.

Ortega: “In Munich, MJ was standing on a platform held up by cables. At the end of the song, the platform was supposed to float and come down. Because of a mistake in connecting the cables, the platform came down at a speed that was too high. I know his back was injured. But Michael jumped on stage and continued.”

Ortega said that after that, Michael had a back pain problem—though he never saw him taking medication.

In response to Panish, Ortega said he had observed that after Michael visited doctors, his behavior was different and he was “shut down.”

Ortega said that after London, there was hope that the This Is It tour would go around the world.

Panish presented several emails that had not been shown earlier. Ortega said that Paul Gongwer and John McClain from A.J. contacted him to work on the tour. Ortega was working on the film Footloose at the time and was supposed to direct it.

The first email Ortega remembered was from Gongwer to Ortega dated February 10, 2009. Ortega said Michael kept referring to the tour as This Is It, and Ortega suggested that the tour should have that name.

In one of the emails, Gongwer wrote to Ortega: “Today we burned the tickets for 30 concerts. I should say the tickets are hot—I’ve said too little.”

Ortega had replied: “I should say it was a great start. Congratulations to everyone at A.J.”

In another email dated March 13, Gongwer wrote to Ortega: “We stopped ticket sales for 50 concerts. There was demand for the next 50 concerts too. This is the date, and you are part of it.”

Ortega’s reply: “Yeah! Great job. God is my witness—he’s been dealing with negative stories too much. This is great news. I can’t be happier for the group.”

They also agreed to meet Michael at Sony’s studio and show him the new special effects.

The company’s lawyer objected to showing the emails, saying they were not on the list of exhibits. Panish said they had been included.

Ortega said Randy Phillips had never spoken to him about the events of the London conference day. Ortega said that if he had known, it might have influenced his decision to work on the tour. Randy Phillips had described Michael’s physical and mental condition in an email that day, in detail.

Panish: “Did his behavior or creative drive change?”

Ortega: “He was still amazing. He raised the standards for himself and for the people he worked with. In the video shown during this tour, messages like ‘Love one another,’ ‘Keep the earth,’ and ‘Take care of the children’ were shown as subtitles.”

Source: eMJey.com / AP & ABC News