Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2009 (21. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)
2009-07-03 / 24. szám
Michael Jackson Dead at 50 'King of Pop' leaves huge legacy LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop” who once moonwalked above the music world, died Thursday as he prepared for a comeback bid to vanquish nightmare years of sexual scandal and financial calamity. He was 50. Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center after being stricken at his rented home in Holmby Hills. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him at his home for nearly threequarters of an hour, then rushed him to the hospital, where doctors continued to work on him. “It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known,” his brother Jermaine said. Police said they were investigating, standard procedure in highprofile cases. Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier allaround performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage. His 1982 album Thriller - which included the blockbuster hits “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” - is the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide. At the time of his death, Jackson was rehearsing hard for what was to be his greatest comeback: He was scheduled for an unprecedented 50 shows at a London arena, with the first set for July 13. As word of his death spread, MTV switched its programming to play videos from Jackson’s heyday. Radio stations began playing marathons of his hits. Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital. In New York’s Times Square, a low groan went up in the crowd when a screen flashed that Jackson had died, and people began relaying the news to friends by cell phone. “No joke. King of Pop is no more. Wow,” Michael Harris, 36, of New York City, read from a text message a friend had sent him. “It’s like when Kennedy was assassinated. I will always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died.” The public first knew him as a boy in the late 1960s, when he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the singing group he formed with his four older brothers out of Gary, Ind. Among their No. 1 hits were “I Want You Back,” “ABC” and “I’ll Be There.” He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his backward-gliding moonwalk, his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched singing, punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were DUNA Travel 8530 Holloway Dr. M02 W. Hollywood, CA 90069 Spa, Hotel foglalások, Kocsi bérlés Kedvezményes repülőjegy árak LAX-BUD-LAX $535.-toi +Tax +Fee április 1-től Információért hívják ZSUZSÁT TEL: (310) 652-5294 FAX: (310) 652-5287 1-888-532-0168 trademarks, as was his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance. “For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words,” said Quincy Jones, who produced Thriller. “He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.” Jackson ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time. He united two of music’s biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, and Jackson’s death immediately evoked comparisons to that of Presley himself, who died at age 42 in 1977. As years went by, Jackson became an increasingly freakish figure - a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grown-up life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice. He often wore a germ mask while traveling, kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions, and surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, a storybook playland filled with toys, rides and animals. The tabloids dubbed him “Wacko Jacko.” “It seemed to me that his internal essence was at war with the norms of the world. It’s as if he was trying to defy gravity,” said Michael Levine, a Hollywood publicist who represented Jackson in the early 1990s. He called Jackson a “disciple of P.T. Barnum” and said the star appeared fragile at the time but was “much more cunning and shrewd about the industry than anyone knew.” Jackson caused a furor in 2002 when he playfully dangled his infant son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony in Berlin while a throng of fans watched from below. In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him, and of engaging in strange and inappropriate behaviour with other children. The case followed years of rumours about Jackson and young boys. In a TV documentary, he acknowledged sharing his bed with children, a practice he described as sweet and not at all sexual. Despite the acquittal, the lurid allegations that came out in court took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble. Michael Joseph Jackson was born Aug. 29, 1958, in Gary. He was 4 years old when he began singing with his brothers - Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie and Tito - in the Jackson 5. After his early success with bubblegum soul, he struck out on his own, generating innovative, explosive, unstoppable music. Jackson’s death reaching the Southern Hemisphere on Friday prompted broadcasters from Sydney to Seoul to interrupt morning programs, while fans remembered a “tortured genius” whose squeals and sliding moves captivated a generation and who sparked global trends in music, dance and fashion. Several world leaders weighed in, such as Britain’s prime minister Gordon Brown, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, former South African President Nelson Mandela, and former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who said: “We lost a hero of the world.” BISHOP LÁSZLÓ TŐKÉS AWARDED TRUMANREAGAN FREEDOM MEDAL BY VICTIMS OF COMMUNISM MEMORIAL FOUNDATION Bishop Tőkés (right) with Mrs. Edith Lauer, Mr. John Lauer, Mr. László Hámos and Mr. Maximilian Teleki Dr. Lee Edwards, Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, recalled the Foundation’s mission and explained the purpose of the award: “The Foundation awards the Truman-Reagan Freedom Medal to those individuals who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to promoting freedom and democracy and opposing communism and tyranny.” In her introduction of Bishop Tőkés, Edith Lauer, Chair Emerita of the Hungarian American Coalition and Board Member of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, commented on his 20 years of leadership in Romania and noted that he has recently called on his fellow members of the European Parliament to condemn Communism. She recalled his heroic resistance against the Romanian secret police in 1989, which culminated in the outbreak of the Romanian Revolution: “In 1989 László Tőkés risked his life to challenge the power of Ceausescu, one of the most infamous communist dictators in Europe. In spite of being unarmed and inexperienced in this confrontation, he possessed two superior weapons: an abiding faith in God and the moral conviction that by resisting tyranny, he could make it fall.” In his acceptance speech, Bishop Tőkés pointed out that remnants of Communism survive to this day in Romania and elsewhere, and commended the work of Dr. Edwards and the mission of the Foundation as timely and necessary: “The wrongdoers and the privileged of the former dictatorship saved their power and transplanted their influence into economics. Then, they converted it back into political power. That is the very reason why justice for the victims of Communism and their descendants was not granted up to this day. However, without justice and equity, there is neither freedom, nor permanent peace and stability.” ‘Charlie's Angel9 Farrah Fawcett Dies of Cancer at 62 LOS ANGELES - Farrah Fawcett, a 1970s sex symbol and TV star of “Charlie’s Angels,” died Thursday morning at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, after being diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006. The news came just a month after the airing of “Farrah’s Story,” a documentary in which she made public her painful treatments and dispiriting setbacks — from shaving her golden locks before chemotherapy could claim them to undergoing experimental treatments in Germany. On Thursday, Fawcett was with Ryan O’Neal, her longtime companion who returned to her side when she became ill. He is the father of her 24-year-old son, Redmond. This month, O’Neal said he asked Fawcett to marry him and she agreed. They would wed “as soon as she can say yes,” he said, but it never happened. Ed McMahon Dies At 86 Ed McMahon, the greatest second banana in show biz history, died last week in Los Angeles after a long illness. A big convivial man known for his booming laugh, and the most famous two words in television history - “Heeeeere’s Johnny! ” - spent the last months of his life a visible symbol of a collapsed economy and the housing crisis that precipitated it, when the bank foreclosed on his $4.8 M mansion in Beverly Hills. Donald Trump saved the mansion from 'foreclosure by buying it and leasing it to McMahon. He did not know the television personality but used to watch his show every night. "'«■I ■'»»> ■ mm mm mmmm mmwmmm. mmmm • m »mmmmmmmm ■ i... i» ■ ■■'» « mm ...1 ■ . ■ ■■ »1 iiiii.m m .111.11 » » » p ■ » " American msmm Hungarian Journal júiíus 3.2009
