It’s been 25 short years since Michael Jackson released Thriller and changed the music industry forever. In the intervening years, the self-appointed King of Pop has undeniably been plagued with problems, but notwithstanding his biography, Thriller, which has gone platinum an astounding 27 times, remains an incredible collection of hit singles. You can’t deny it. And if you try to deny it, we’ll play you “P.Y.T.” or something and dare you not to dance. Good frickin’ luck.

The 25th anniversary edition of the album will feature the videos, the music, a live performance, and the help of a few friends: Kanye West, will.i.am and Akon. We’re looking forward to “Billie Jean 2008″ with Kanye in particular, though hearing what Akon has going on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” is a fairly intriguing proposal as well. In unrelated news: the Francis Ford Coppola-directed masterpiece Captain Eo will not be included, much to all of our sadness.

In the December issue of Ebony, Michael Jackson grants his first magazine interview in 10 years and boy, is it…boring. You should start reading any superstar interview expecting a very guarded self-portrayal, but this one is virtually missing all signs of Jackson-family nonsense. Sadness! According to Mike, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown are “wonderful,” Stevie Wonder is a “prophet,” global warming is scary and presidential elections aren’t worth following. Fas. Cin. A. Ting. The only shred of dirt comes via the nickname Quincy gave Mike during the creation of Thriller, as alluded to above. Says M.J.:

“Quincy calls me a nickname, ‘Smelly’…Back then, especially back then — I say a few swear words now — but especially then, you couldn’t get me to swear. So I would say, ‘That’s a smelly song.’ That would mean, ‘It’s so great,’ that you’re engrossed in it. So he would call me ‘Smelly.’“

Now when people call Michael Jackson “Smelly,” they’re referring to the formaldehyde that’s preserving him. You know, the more things change, the more they stay the same. For the complete interview and more airbrushed-to-womanhood pictures, hit up ohnotheydidnt.

For the last couple of days, we’ve been having some good laffs at the way the jailbirds of a certain Phillipines detention center have spent their time recreating Jacko and company’s 1983 video opus. John Landis spent $800K making his dance troupe and camera operators get everything coordinated. Methinks that it wasn’t quite so expensive for the orange-clad scalawags who populate the prison.

You read that headline correctly. The King of Pop is checking out vacation homes on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. His publicist told the Washington Post, "He’s always admired the properties on the East Coast because they have
a lot of land. Neverland has 3,000 acres?he
likes privacy. You can’t find as many properties like that on the West
Coast."

Get your evacuation plans ready, Maryland residents! You’re about to be flooded – with craziness. But hey, maybe Michael is a good neighbor. At least your kids could go next door and play in his amusement park.

Today, the Jackson Family Auction kicks off, which means people with too much money will be able to take a little piece of the Jackson home. For the rest of us, it means that we get to virtually rummage through the Jacksons’ crap as shot after shot of the auction lots are posted online. We win! I mean, try to not gawk at this:

What is it? Probably some film prop. Why did Michael Jackson own it? A few thousand plastic surgeries ago, it provided a model for the face MJ would come to own:

And there’s more beauty below!

Read more…

Radar points to an interesting – if also confusing – Fox News segment about the Eighth Annual Most Foolish American poll, which this year was won by Britney Spears in a landslide. (The winner of the previous four polls? Michael Jackson.) In the Fox segment, however, something?s gone wrong: Britney?s listed at capturing 33% of the vote, while President Bush held onto 40%. Clearly something?s up here, and it?s not just foreign policy or an aversion to underpants. We want to know what you think: Does Bush beat Britney for brainlessness? And will someone at that Fox affiliate been asked to go ?hunting? with Dick Cheney?

The buzz about Michael Jackson‘s possible long-term, nightly concert series at a Las Vegas casino has been building for months, but it just became a little more exciting: Mike’s residency may coincide with the construction of a 50-foot robotic replica of himself. Yes, that’s right — Michael Jackson’s face will be immortalized in metal, not its usual plastic.  A consultant reports that the robot would shoot lasers (!) and be the first thing those flying into Vegas would see. Because nothing says, "Welcome to Vegas!" better than a giant version of MJ’s face. It’ll be the perfect preview for the impending freak show that is any Vegas vacation.

Really, this is exactly what MJ needs to top Celine Dion as the city’s resident spectacle. I hope RoboJacko ends up fighting crime or Mothra or something. Your move, creep. [New York Daily News]

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