14 DAY TRIAL // Michael Jackson is afraid he will not be able to keep the wow factor at acceptable levels throughout his 50 live dates that he will start performing at London’s O2 Arena this summer. Therefore, sources claim, he has turned to Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, asking them to appear as guest stars on his “This Is It” tour, an offer that both are now seriously considering.
According to DigitalSpy (quoting TheLondonPaper), the King of Pop is getting nervous about the opening date, thinking that fans might be disappointed with his performance because their standards are set too high. Moreover, insiders claim, Michael is thinking that he will not be able to keep things interesting throughout the 50 dates, which is why he has asked Britney and Justin to tag along for the ride.
“Michael knows that stretching out all those shows and keeping it fresh is going to be hard, and one way to do this is to collaborate with some other big stars that he admires.” the unnamed – but reportedly reliable – source says for the aforementioned publication.
Even more, the spy claims, Michael has also approached another big name on the music scene right now in view of a future collaboration. “The idea would be for them to do five dates each with him. As well as Britney and Justin, he’s in talks with producer Timbaland about doing some of the dates too.” the spy explains.
However, one might as well add, if this rumor is accurate, it would come to contradict another report surfaced earlier this month, which had it that the singer was thinking of making a splash on his comeback tour with the help of several stunning special effects and a group of very skilled backup dancers. Magic tricks and illusions would also be part of the show, Kenny Ortega of the VegasDeluxe pointed out a short while back.
“A small army of Michael Jackson look-alike dancers might be recruited as a backup troupe to handle the more challenging routines so the 50-year-old singer won’t be strained during the nightly 100-minute production, his first since 1997.” Ortega, who has met Michael several times and knows all the ropes in showbiz, shared. Other stuff would include illusions in the manner of Criss Angel, where Michael would be floating above the stage only to land on a specific spot and, according to recent reports, real life elephants brought on stage.