Jackson's estate, Cirque to extend Jackson legacy
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Michael Jackson's estate and Cirque du Soleil will collaborate on a series of projects designed to extend the late pop star's legacy across several media, according to media reports Wednesday.
Chief among them is a reality TV show tied to a concert-style touring production and a permanent show in Las Vegas akin to existing Cirque productions built around the music of the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
The parties say that the collaboration recognizes Jackson's longtime fascination with Cirque's signature blend of music, dance and theatrical spectacle.
The reality show, intending to air early next year, would be along the lines of "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars," created as a platform for discovering a choreographer to help develop the touring and permanent shows built on Jackson's music, dancing and life story.
The Cirque deal is yet another step in an aggressive series of grand-scale projects the Jackson's estate has undertaken in recent months.
Among them are the concert film and DVD "This Is It," featuring rehearsal footage for a planned London concert series from shortly before his death last June; and a new long-term contract with Sony Music, said to be worth as much as 250 million dollars, covering reissues as well as new compilations of previously unissued recordings and potentially video games.
"We have to use all the technology there is, and develop new technologies with those two shows to create a breakthrough as Michael did when he was touring," Cirque President and CEO Daniel Lamarre said Tuesday.
The idea for the TV show, in the discussion stage, grew out of the planning for the arena tour and the permanent show in Vegas.
The partners in the venture plan to hire three choreographers to create dance routines on a par with what Jackson employed on his own tours.
The plan is to hire two professionals and then, through the reality show, find the third. The winner will join the team assembling the arena tour and the permanent show, which Lamarre said "will be very, very different."
