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Parliament Visit and Exeter Charity Event
Michael Jackson, speech transcript
Hello everybody. Hello to you wonderful people of Exeter. And to you great supporters of the Exeter City Football Club. Welcome to the all great fans that have come from near and far. And to all you children.
I’m very happy, very happy to be here with you today. Today, today we come here to support children. We come here to support children with AIDS. We share our love for the children. To help, to help the youngest of those affected by HIV and AIDS.
We will help them to build a good future. All of us working together for them. A future without prejudice. For these children and their families.
We are here to support and to help the people of Africa to find a solution in the fight against the spread of HIV AIDS … and malaria … through education and awareness, we aim at prevention but we help with cure.
We are here to support you, the supporters and players of this great football club.
Sadly, sadly, we live in a state of fear. Everyday we hear of war on the news, on the radio and television and the newspapers, always of war. We hear of nations hurting each other, of neighbors hurting each other, of families hurting each other and of children killing each other. We must learn to live and love each other before it’s too late. We have to stop! We have to stop the prejudice, we have to stop the hating, we have to stop living in fear of our own neighbours.
I would like all of you now to take the hand of the person to the left and to the right. Go ahead! Right now! I mean it! Don’t be shy! Do it! It starts now! To the person next to you. To the left and the right. I mean it. Right now! Go ahead! Don’t be shy. Do it! Do it! Now, tell the person … tell the person next to you that you care for them. Tell them that you care for them. Tell them that you love them. Tell them that you love them. This is what makes the difference.
Together … together we can make a change in the world. Together we can help to stop racism. Together we can help to stop prejudice. We can help the world live without fear. It is our only hope, and without hope, we are lost.
England is gonna win? I believe you, I believe you. You know … I know nothing about sports but I believe you. Hmmm, thank you all, thank you Exeter. I’m very proud and happy to be here. Thank you Exeter Football Club. Thanks to all the wonderful fans… I see Israel, I see Spain, I see countries all over the world. I love you!
Thank you to all my team. And a special thanks to David Blaine …the world’s greatest. To Patti Boulaye and to the great Uri Geller and Matt Fides …the man. We thank them and all the other performers. Please join me in giving them a great cheer.
Most importantly–
[He cuts off when he notices an enormous mass of balloons being released from the stadium.]
That’s beautiful. That’s a sign of hope right there. That’s for all the children of the world. I love you, and thank you for everything. All my love and God bless.
BBC News (Parliament Visit)
Pop star Michael Jackson toured the Houses of Parliament on Friday.
He was accompanied by close friend and psychic Uri Geller and magician David Blaine - and a hairdresser whose sole job was to brush his locks every now and again.
And at the invitation of Magic Circle member Lord Janner, Jackson dropped in on a surprise birthday party being held for MP Paul Boateng.
Geller told BBC News Online: "The trip to Parliament was fantastic - Lord Janner was very gracious.
"We had a chat with the Lord Chancellor then we went on to the terrace.
"We surprised Paul Boateng who was absolutely blown away when Michael Jackson sang Happy Birthday to him."
...Accompanied by Uri Geller and magician David Blaine, Jackson was given a tour of the Commons and Lords by Labour peer Lord Janner.
He then moonwalked in the Royal Gallery and Robing Room before attending the surprise birthday party of Paul Boateng, MP--Britain's first black Cabinet Minister--joining in the singing of "Happy Birthday". Boateng, unsurprisingly, was astonished by the presence of Jackson, who regularly dabbed his face with a makeup sponge while an assistant brushed his hair.
"What a fantastic birthday surprise--I can't believe it. It is the most incredible surprise. It's the best present ever", Boateng said.
CNN News (Exeter Charity Event and Parliament Visit)
The pop star, on a brief trip to Britain after asking to see the "mother of parliaments," was puzzled when told not to sit on the green leather benches in the House of Commons where British MPs often gather for marathon debates.
The singer also stopped to marvel at the towering Westminster clock known as Big Ben. Blaine, who recently leapt off an 80-foot (24-metre) pillar he had been balancing on for 34 hours in New York, said he would like to climb up it.
Michael Jackson was later sent flying by excited fans fighting to touch the pop legend at a London railway station on Friday.
The American superstar, jostled and pushed in the melee, was lucky to escape injury as mass hysteria gripped his die-hard admirers.
"It was just horrifying ... he was knocked to the ground," said spoon-bending psychic Uri Geller who had invited the King of Pop on a fundraising charity trip to the southwest English city of Exeter.
"I honestly thought we wouldn't make it and we would end up in hospital," Geller told Reuters after battling to get aboard the 'Jackson Express.'
"For a moment I thought he would faint. But then he suddenly looked at me and said 'I love these people' and I said 'Are you okay?' He said, 'I am okay' and kept waving to his fans," Geller added.
Geller, who is hoping to raise money for a children's charity and his third division English soccer club Exeter, said he had never before experienced anything like the screaming mob.
"I have been around for 35 years. I have met Elvis Presley, Elton John, John Lennon, all the Beatles. I have never ever seen anything like that and I hope I never will see it again. Michael was crushed," Geller said.
Bedlam erupted as Jackson and his entourage arrived at London's Paddington station to board the train to Exeter as a screaming mob of fans from all corners of the globe tried to get close to their idol.
Each excitably clutching a $150 "ticket to ride," 100 die-hard Jackson fans clambered aboard the train for "country way day" with the star.
The scene at the station was pure chaos, recalling Beatlemania back in the 1960s. Scuffles erupted and extra police were called as the fans surged forward on the platform.
The chaotic scenes was in stark contrast to a tour the Jackson team took through the echoing halls of the Houses of Parliament in central London.
The King of Pop, accompanied by Geller and U.S. illusionist David Blaine, declared the gothic palace "a miracle" and gazed in awe at Queen Elizabeth's golden throne.
"I want that," the pop legend told his entourage as he admired the throne where Britain's monarch sits once a year formally to open parliament in the ornate House of Lords.
"Can you get it up to the ranch?" one of his assistants asked three burly bodyguards.
Jackson's unannounced visit took many tourists by surprise. "It's totally amazing," Emilie Williams, 20, from Cedar Falls, Iowa, told Reuters. She added that seeing Jackson had eclipsed any of the marvels in the historic parliament.
The star also met Britain's top legal official, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, and attended a birthday party for the country's first black Cabinet minister, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Paul Boateng, who was promoted last month.
Before his trip to Exeter City's ground, asked if he liked football, the American superstar replied: "I know nothing about it."
Patti Boulaye, singer/actress/artist, Telegraph (published by Mick Brown)
In 2002, Michael came back to England. Uri was chairman of Exeter City Football Club, and he wanted to take Michael there.
At Paddington Michael was knocked down by the fans and disappeared under this crowd of bodies. His bodyguard was peeling people off him.
He phoned me and said, ‘What else can we do with the day?’ I suggested we tie it up with something worthwhile, so I got my charity, Support For Africa, involved. We have five healthcare clinics and a school in Africa; the school is now one of Prince Harry’s charities. We hired the royal train and took Michael and 100 singers and dancers to Exeter.
It was very bizarre. We turned up at Paddington, and Uri had forgotten to notify the police. There were hundreds of fans and just three policemen. Getting to the royal train, Michael was knocked down by the fans and disappeared under this crowd of bodies.
His bodyguard – a big, gentle giant – came running past us saying, ‘I’ve got to get to my boss…’ And the next thing I know, he’s peeling people off Michael. It was so surreal. Eventually Michael got on the train and said, ‘Gee, that was fun! It had energy!’
Matt's known the [Jacksons] family for years, having worked as Michael Jackson's bodyguard.
"It sounds mad, but the Jacksons love north Devon.", Matt explains. "Michael, Tito, and Jermaine have all visited me and my family here. They love the peace and beautiful scenery. After everything Michael's been through in recent years, they've had such negative publicity in California. They appreciate the fact that they can walk along the beach here, eat an ice cream, and have a really chilled-out lifestyle. When Michael first visited Devon, he watched local team Exeter City play football in a tiny stadium and really enjoyed it. Despite all the adverse publicity, he's a really lovely guy and his children are completely normal kids. I totally trust him around my children [Madison, four, Lola, two, and Savannah, nearly one]."
...Tito says: "Matt's a very dear friend to me and my brother Michael. This area's perfect for the Jacksons because we're not bothered too much by the media or public. My family love north Devon and the wonderful countryside and friendly people. I'm really looking forward to buying a home here. Michael likes it here, too, because no one bothers him. I'm looking forward to living in Barnstaple and I hope the Barnstaple public will respect our family's privacy."
Having minded the megastar Michael Jackson on several occasions, Matt Fiddes insists that he's proud to count him as a personal friend. He says: "Michael must be the most misunderstood man in the world. He's such a nice guy behind closed doors. Once you get to know him, you see that. During a visit to London in 2002, Michael took my two stepsons Archie and Charlie on a shopping trip to Hamleys toy store. I didn't have a problem with that at all. The boys were much too shy to choose anything expensive, but they both came home with a few fun little bits and pieces."
Matt met Michael Jackson in 2002 through spoon-bending mystic Uri Geller, after Uri and Matt had worked together on a fitness video. Matt says: "One night, Uri called me at 2am and said: "You have to come to my house now, or you'll regret it for the rest of your life." I made the three-hour trip from Devon to Sonning-on-Thames, Berkshire. I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked into Uri's living room and Michael Jackson was sitting there on the sofa. From then on, I became Michael's bodyguard on trips over here. He'd come up with elaborate plans to escape the crowds. He asked me to dress like him to distract the fans and he'd sneak out the back. Another time, Michael and I ordered takeaway curry and escaped to Uri's house in Berkshire. I had to pinch myself when I was sitting on the floor with the king of pop, eating a curry and watching Bruce Lee movies."...
