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

[shalandara.livejournal.com]

Maybe they are just gruesomely morbid and are awaiting a replay of the Pepsi Burn incident?

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

No, but there are probably a million people in the UK and part of europe who would probably travel to go see him. Despite his wierdness, he still has a following.

[3fingeredsalute.livejournal.com]

You can't rule out those from surrounding countries who consider London "a day trip", or those from around the world (can you say Japan?) who might also look for an excuse to visit London. Add on to that those devoted fans who would buy tickets to see the King of Pop each night he appears.

No doubt there are unscrupulous scalpers everywhere, but there are more undoubtedly more explanations than just "screwing the Americans".

[vconaway.livejournal.com]

The Brits have one of the sickest economies in Europe right now, actually, so it's probably not that. However, it might be because London is one of the cheapest places to fly to from anywhere in Europe and most places in North American and Asia. Also, with the current weakness of the pound, Continental Europeans have been flocking to the UK for bargain deals for the past several months, which might also give him a boost.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

which increasingly leads me to think that the vast majority of this sell-out is to scalpers looking to get the tourists when they come later on, since by your description, trips to the UK are more impromptu and so few foreigners are actually PLANNING on seeing the Jackson shows enough to want to be awake and online during that very brief window (mere hours) before the sell-out happened.

[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.

[vconaway.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that was the intent, but you're almost certainly right about the main beneficiaries.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't it be sweet if it is scalpers, and he doesn't have the draw to actually fill the venue? Let them get stuck paying him a huge vanity bonus to play a lot of shows in a half empty venue.

I can't comprehend at all why he is still able to fill a room, much less sell out a lot of arena shows.