The biggest "Idol" news of the year broke yesterday, and some of us are now left to wonder: Did Michael Jackson have something to do with this?
Ryan Seacrest broke that news on his radio show yesterday morning, saying that Sony/ATV has FINALLY given "American Idol" the rights to perform songs from the Beatles' catalog.
That's just under 200 songs, and some of them - OK, many of them - the greatest of the 20th century.
It's a huge break for "Idol" (as if "Idol" needs a huge break) because it has tried to get 'em for years but has met resistance for reasons both mysterious and obscure. "When the Top 12 sing for the first time this season, it will be the music of Lennon and McCartney," top boss Nigel Lythgoe told Seacrest (as quoted in RealityTVworld.com.) "We've given them a list because it's all of the early songs -- from 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' to 'Got to Get You Into My Life.' These fantastic songs. It's one of the few areas that everybody knows."
Why now, after all the foot-dragging? Said Lythgoe, "I think it was the talent this year. They see that it's real talent, and hear it. Everyone's so good this season, that they're saying, 'Yeah, go ahead. Sing the songs.'"
Well...ummm...ahhh...As we say in the TV trade, that sounds bogus (no offense, Nigel.) Money certainly changed hands - lots and lots of green - and the banks apparently are about to auction off Neverland, so...back to that question about MJ.
Yes, the first thought you may have, or at least I did: What did Michael Jackson have to do with this? Neverland was, in fact, scheduled to go to auction in mid-March but CNN is now reporting that Jacko has kept the wolves at the door by raising a loan and will now avoid foreclosure.
Jackson appeared poised to sell his share of the catalog (total value around half a billion, with 251 songs, although Lythgoe used the 180 figure) back to Sony a couple of years ago. Because of the legal problems, the gloved one's financial condition was so desperate that it looked like he was about to part with one of the world's greatest cultural treasures. There was a flurry of press at the time (2005) that it was even a fait accompli.
But...it's unclear whether he actually ever did sell.
If sold, he likely had nothing to do with the "Idol" Beatles deal; if not sold, maybe he did, and "Idol" has saved Neverland.
I'll try to get to the bottom of this curious story, sports fans.
In any event, yesterday's coincidence is certainly interesting...
Illustration, top: Günter Edlinger
Comments (3)
Here is a U-Tube Site where you can see
Neverland footage.
Neverland Valley Ranch is a little bit of Heaven
on Earth.
God Bless Michael Jackson and his
Neverland Valley Ranch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3htnP4tMEL8
Give Me A Break! You know good and well that a deal of this magnitude must have taken months and months of wheeling and dealing, before it was decided that Sony/ATV would lease the Beatles' songs to American Idol.
I'm sure Mr. Jackson had to sign off on this deal, but he certainly didn't just walk into the Sony/ATV offices and say "let AI use the songs, I need money for Neverland." LOL!
I know Mr. Jackson is powerful, because of his music holdings, but is he really that powerful?
New Yorker!
thanks for the great comment, but...this is HOLLYWOOD!!
Believe me - crazier things have happened. And let me assure you, there have been years and YEARS of wheeling and dealing already. But don't you find it intriguing that this deal was suddenly announced on exactly the same day that MJ secured a loan to save Neverland? I sure do. (And deals do have a way of coming together quickly, when they have to.)
Anyway, I love the idea of AI saving NL. Don't you?