The Fake Michael Sightings When Michael Was Alive

(my reply to a post on a forum discussing people who did "fake" Michael sightings, tricking people into thinking they were the real Michael when Michael was alive) 

Unfortunately stuff like this was very common. People would FAKE "Michael appearances" all the time, especially between 2000 and 2009. For us, the active fan community Michael had never disappeared, we always knew where he was, what he was doing, he kept in constant contact with the fan community and regularly met fans all over the world. But to the general public he was a mystery, his whereabouts unknown, so many would stage these elaborate fake sightings.

There was

one in Canada, "Michael and a mystery girlfriend" FAKE....

one in New York, "Michael shopping in Barnes & Noble" FAKE

one in South of England "Michael gives secret concert performance" Navi aided by "bodyguard" Matt Fiddes

Almost once a month "fake" sightings would pop up on fansites and forums. It was something we expected.

You have to remember that times were very different before 2009. Other than the active fan community online, no one cared about Michael the person. Michael Jackson the person, with straight hair and regular clothes was associated with the 1993 allegations and Santa Maria trial. If Michael the person, who had straight hair, wearing regular clothes was in London, doing regular stuff like visiting his friends, going to dinner etc only the hard core fans, maximum 50 people would be there, there would be no huge media scrum, no photos in the papers, etc.

On the other hand if "Michael Jackson" (Navi hired by SONY) with long curly hair , wearing a well known stage costume went shopping in HMV in Oxford Street at 3pm on a Friday afternoon, then there would be cameras & photographers (also hired by SONY) then there would be general public going crazy, ringing their friends, telling them "omg dude get down here Michael Jackson is in HMV", and huge crowds, people being held back by security , and so much more.

(above is what happened on the launch day of Thriller 25 in February 2008, I was there)

another example, also from THRILLER 25 promo, was Navi doing a flashmob in Leicester Square. This was even more insane. Again he was dressed in a very recognizable stage costume with long curly hair. This got even more crazy. He did a walkabout first, and gathered a huge crowd, with people screaming Michael Michael, pushing to get to him, on their phones telling their friends. Us hardcore fans knew it was Navi, in fact word had gone round the fan community beforehand with the time and place. We were all on the edge of the crowd , laughing at everyone making a fool of themselves. What made it even more ridiculous was the fact that the REAL Michael, in regular clothes and straight hair was on the front of the evening paper, having been papped at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas. People were walking around, carrying the evening paper with a photo of the REAL Michael, screaming Michael at Navi!!

Ask yourselves honestly, if you were not on the fan sites and did not see regular photos of Michael out and about with straight hair and regular clothes, did not know about Navi, if you had been in HMV and suddenly saw this, would YOU have thought it was Michael too???

That's just the way it was, something we dealt with on a daily basis, the sad fact that only the hardcore fans on the fansites actually knew what Michael looked like between 2006 and the press conference in 2009. Why do you think that all the rumours about it not being the real Michael at the press conference started?? It was because so many fans dropped him when the allegations happened. For over 20 years they had this image of their Michael, with a high pitched voice and curly hair, yet in 2009, they were confronted with a man they did not recognise, who had straight hair and a deeper voice.

The Story Behind My First Tattoo

I used to think I would never get a tattoo. I have a birthmark on my face and have dealt with the stares, the pointing, the rude comments all my life. I never thought I would be strong enough to deal with all that again by deciding to permanently put something on skin.

HIStory era came along and I  became obsessed with the symbol. Then I found the fan community and my self esteem and self confidence grew and being a fan was something I didn't have to hide as there were so many like me out there. My confidence grew , and I started thinking maybe having a tattoo would not be so bad after all.

For about 4 years in the summer I would get Henna Tattoos of the HIStory symbol. To my surprise, the reactions were no where near what I was expecting. Maybe because it was my choice to mark my skin, maybe I was becoming a stronger person, maybe it was because tattoos were becoming more mainstream, maybe all the above, but when the Henna eventually faded I started missing my "tattoo" .

By 2003, I had finally decided to get a real proper tattoo, and I was looking for "my" design, something which had personal meaning, something Michael or connected to him, but which told a story. Like everyone, I had heard all the stories of people getting random designs, just cos, which they later regretted. I didn't want that to happen to me. I knew that when I found "my" design, it would be something I would be proud of years later, that it would not be a stupid mistake I make in my 20's which in my 30's /40's would be removed by laser.

I decided I wanted the dancing feet image, like on the MJJ PRODUCTIONS logo, but I didn't want the exact same design as MJJP. This image has alot of personal meaning. I knew that I would find a design of this image I liked somehow, somewhere and I wouldn't just rush into getting a real tattoo.

November 2003

Excitement in the air, new music sort of, The Ultimate Collection is released. Everything is great in the world of Michael Jackson, fun times on the fan sites.

17 November 2003

One More Chance CD single is released.

18 November 2003

After work I go to HMV and buy OMC CD single. On the bus on the way home, I excitedly examine the new CD My heart leaps as I see the cover photo, THIS is the image I have been waiting for. I can't wait to get home and play the CD as I had forgotten to bring my portable CD player with me. I had not listened to any leaks online so I had not heard the new song yet. I sat on the bus, all excited, when my phone rang. It was one of my friends, crying , very upset. Suddenly my world is turned up side down. How can this happen again??? An arrest warrant has been issued for Michael and Neverland is being searched......

I start crying too, I'm still on the bus, still holding my brand new unplayed OMC CD, while trying to make sense of what my friend is telling me. I get home and my flatmate is crying too, she is also a fan. We turn on the TV to watch the news. That first night that's all we had. Back then we did not have a laptop or home internet, mobile phones did not have internet and the internet cafe was closed. So the two of us just sat then, getting text updates and watching the hourly news bulletins.

That night I knew the time had come for me to get my tattoo. When news broke about Michael going to court for the first time in January 2004, I knew I had to be there, my first trip to California with my friends. So I had to plan my tattoo carefully. With my friends help I found a good tattoo shop and decided when to get it.

I believed in Michael so much that on 29 December 2003, 41 days after the allegations broke, 10 days before heading to California for Michael's arraignment. I got his name permanently tattooed on my arm......

WHY DID FANS FAINT AT MICHAEL JACKSON CONCERTS?

It’s a combination of many different things.

The concerts where the there is footage of people fainting are mostly standing concerts.

This means that all the concert tickets were the same price, and to get to the front row / section you had to be at the top of the queue. Fans would often sleep on the street overnight, outside the venue, in order to be at the top of queue.

When you sleep out, in a queue, you really don’t get much sleep, and it can be very uncomfortable as you are sitting /lying on the ground in just a sleeping bag, leaning against a metal barrier and surrounded by people talking.

This means that by the time it’s the day of the concert, you are already tired, and you still have many hours before you enter the arena.

On the day of the concert, many people don’t eat or drink normally because they don’t want to leave the queue in case they lose their place.

When you are queuing, you try to sit down as much as possible, but as the time gets closer to when the gates open, the queue gets tighter and tighter as people try to push forward and you have to stand.

By the time the gates open, you will most likely have been standing for many hours, being pushed and squashed in an excited atmosphere.

Once the gates open and you finally make your way into the stadium and find your "spot, you still have another 2 or 3 hours before Michael is actually onstage.

All of this plus the excitement of seeing Michael is why people faint. It’s because they are dehydrated, exhausted, being pushed and squashed and overcome with seeing Michael.

One of the reasons I always tried to be at the front is, despite what you might think, it’s actually the safest place. When you are are the front, security can see you easier and can help you quickly and when they hand out water you are more likely to get some if you at the front.

For the World Music Awards, in London in November 2006 I went to the venue at around 1am the night before, and was number 25 in the queue. Me and my friend had sleeping bags with us and we sat on the ground, leaning against the metal barriers to try to get as much sleep as possible.

At about 7am, my friend stayed in the queue and I took our sleeping bags back to our hotel and got some food etc. When I got back to the queue, my friend went and did the same.

We queued up all day outside and then inside the venue, and at about 5pm they let us into the arena and I managed to get at the front barrier. You can see me in the crowd footage, at the very end as Michael leaves the stage.

That particular time was very hard and you had to be strong to survive all the pushing and shoving and the heat of everyone being packed soo tightly. Just after Michael left the stage after getting the award and as Rihanna started singing, it got really crazy around me. You can see it if you look very closely at the front of the crowd. People started fainting all around me and security and paramedics gathered really quickly and started pulling people out of the crowd. About 10 people got pulled out; cos it was very very hot and people were really pushing a lot and Michael had just been onstage.

When you are still queuing outside the venue, you start talking to people near you. It’s better if you are with friends but even if you are on your own, it’s very acceptable to say to the either the person in front or behind you "do you mind if I go to the toilet and can you keep my place for me". After queuing for hours and hours, most people have no problem with this, as more than likely they will want to do the same.

There comes a point in the day, when you know that you can’t leave your place in the queue. By talking to security you will find out when they will let you into the venue and you know you have to take one last pee break. After the last pee break, we normally decide not to eat or drink anymore. Once the venue is open and you have your spot, you won’t be able to pee for many hours, most likely until after the concert.

As for leaving venues after concerts, its doesn’t take that much time to leave. Concert venues are very organised venues and have many exits out of the building. The stewards at the venue will assign a particular entrance to each section and it’s a one way system.

After the World Music Awards, some of my friends made it back to Michael’s hotel at the same time as he did and saw him go into the hotel. I took a little bit longer but still managed to see him again that night as he came out onto the balcony