No party for Jacko

The gates of Michael Jackson’s Neverland were locked this week. The funfair was idle and the animals from the private zoo were long gone. The former King of Pop marked his 50th birthday recently. It seemed fitting that the estate built as his homage to a fantasy of childhood remained empty. This was meant to be Jackson’s refuge – a place where he could play with children who were the age he was when he became a professional singer at 11. His goal seemed to be to recover that lost childhood.

He was accused of two instances of child molestation at Neverland, in 1993 and 2003. He settled the first case without any admission of wrongdoing and was cleared of all charges in the second. But the ordeals wrecked havoc on his fragile psyche.

So there were no parties there this week, no stadium concerts like Madonna who turned 50, 13 days before he did.

Jackson has blamed his problems on the challenges of being a child star. His songs redefined the modern music video and forced music channels to start showing black performers. But gradually, Jackson created more tabloid headlines with his odd behaviour and plastic surgery. His two-year marriage to Lisa-Marie Presley sparked speculation. Then he married his nurse Debbie Rowe. The mother of his third child has never been identified.

His most recent public appearance saw him confined to a wheelchair on a Las Vegas shopping trip with his three children.He was wearing slippers and pyjamas, and the mask.

The most persistent rumour suggest residency concerts in Vegas. Others involve the construction of a Thriller casino and, or a Cirque du Soleil show based on his hits. But deals have fallen through because of Jackson’s weak mental state.

He appeared briefly for a performance at the World Music Awards in London in 2006 for which he was reportedly paid $400,000. But he was two-and-a-half hours late and only sang a few lines from We Are the World, before the sound was cut off and he was booed by the audience.