The final video of Michael Jackson rehearsing for his comeback concerts has been released. Photo / AP, Kevin Mazur, AEG, Getty Images
Footage of
Michael Jackson
rehearsing for his comeback tour just two days before his death has been released.
The video, released by concert promoters AEG, shows an agile, healthy-looking Jackson, performing some of his signature moves with a troupe of dancers while rehearsing at the Los Angeles’ Staples Center.
Jackson, while demonstrably thin, is seen wearing a dark suit and red shirt, and dancing in a choreographed sequence as he works through the song
They Don't Really Care About Us
, a track from his
HIStory
album.
The footage was reported to have been shot on June 23.
Grammy executive producer
Ken Ehrlich
, who was present at the rehearsal, said: "He wasn't giving it full out. But vocally he had started to really project. I thought he was in great form."
A photographer who was there when the footage was shot said Jackson looked like his old self.
"I watched in awe. From what I saw, Michael was back - and in real style.
"He was amazing, happy and energetic. He performed virtually non-stop for two hours and ran through about a dozen greatest hits. He stopped just a couple of times to tweak arrangements and work on moves with dancers.
"Every track he sang sounded terrific. I honestly could not wait to see the show," he told the
New York Post
.
It's actually hard to believe that he died two days after this was filmed.
Sources say that the rehearsal was shot in multi-camera high-definition video and multi-track surround-sound audio, and AEG are believed to be considering releasing the footage as a "live" album and DVD.
Memorial
Meanwhile, the family of late pop star Michael Jackson have finalised arrangements for a public memorial service, it has been claimed.
Online reports say fans will farewell the icon at a memorial scheduled for 10am on Tuesday, July 7, (5am, July 8 NZT) at the Staples Center - the same venue where Jackson had been rehearsing for his comeback gigs - in downtown Los Angeles.
Custody
And Jackson's ex-wife
Debbie Rowe
said she would fight for custody of her two children
Prince Michael
, 12, and
Paris Michael
, 11.
"I want my children," she said in an 90-minute interview with the NBC TV network in Los Angeles.
Jackson's mother
Katherine
has been granted intermin custody of all three of the star's children.
Rowe also said she would seek a restraining order against Jackson's father,
Joe
, to stay away from the children.
"I am stepping up, I have to," she said.
Blogger Bites Back
She wanted to keep things under wraps, but got very excited.