uh...ok.

[acroyear]

Jackson's 50-gig London UK run sells out:

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. pop star Michael Jackson's run of 50 comeback concerts in London starting on July 8 sold out about five hours after tickets went on sale, the promoters said Friday.

The 50-year-old announced last week that he would return to the stage 12 years after his last series of concerts, although the original commitment was to 10 gigs at London's O2 Arena.

That has now expanded to 50, ending on February 24, 2010.

Hundreds of thousands of tickets went on sale to registered fans earlier in the week, and ahead of Friday's general release hundreds of people queued at the O2 Arena to ensure they made it to the eagerly-awaited shows.

I hadn't even heard he was doing 10 shows, nevermind 50. Odd that, since most "residencies" usually are in Vegas, but I guess he figures (perhaps correctly) the Brits have more money to waste on him than the Americans do right now.

Still, nearest I can figure given that 50 * 20,000 == 1,000,000 attendees and I'm pretty sure London doesn't *really* have a million people who want to see a 50 year old impersonate a 28 year old of the same name that they only dimly remember, is that a huge chunk of tickets went to scalpers hoping to cash in on American tourists.

Then again, the Londoners do keep going to see some practically brain-dead chaps impersonate the Rolling Stones every year, so who can say...

Comments

[dawntreader]

maybe he's banking on his popularity and press not being quite as bad off in London as it is here. i don't know if he could scrounge up enough people willing to pay to go see him (and not throw things or write tabloidy trash reviews) if he put on concerts here.