Michael Jackson's Dangerous Taipei 93'

Michael Jackson's Taipei Dangerous tour 93' at the Taipei Municipal Stadium

In the previous article "Michael Jackson Embarked on The Asia Dangerous Tour with China Airlines", Bill Bray was referred to as Michael's agent, as many of you already know he was in fact Michael's head of security and had been since the early 1970's before retiring in the mid 1990's. Bill was almost like a father figure to Michael and can often be seen everywhere with him. The photo of him accompanying Michael and his nephews (3T) shown in the previous article was taken as they were leaving Taiwan for Fukuoka, Japan in September 1993. The caption has been corrected as it was not part of the same story.

As I had written in an earlier blog the unprecedented press attention Michael received in Taipei was largely due to Michael's super star status and the fact that he was holding concerts on the island for the first time. Unfortunately it was a difficult time for Michael because the news of the first child abuse allegations had just come out, which had been causing lots of emotional distress to Michael, good friend Elizabeth Taylor and some family members flew out to be with him. Despite the allegations, it seemed to do little to affect his popularity in Taiwan. Michael was soon back to his feet and delivered two very successful concerts in Taipei. However, he didn't make many public appearances during his visit apart from two hours shopping at a local Toys R Us store with his nephews which caused quite a bit of stir in the capital.

There is footage of a news report (1st vid below) featuring Michael leaving Taiwan for Japan the day after his final show. Press from all networks were deployed, with TV crews pursuing him all the way to the airport. They had a brief encounter with the King of Pop at the China Airlines VIP suit before boarding his private jet to Japan. There was an interesting disagreement between Michael and Bill Bray in the VIP suit, when Michael surprisingly agree to the request of the press for some live TV appearances. Maybe being protective of Michael, Bill kept interrupting the filming process by blocking the camera trying to stop the filming. Michael seemed both annoyed and amused, but insisted on finishing the filming."I love you Taipei and I miss you very much, see you next time! Love the children!" he spoke.

The public were pleasantly surprised seeing the friendly and gracious side of the King of Pop. Just before boarding the plane, Michael made a real effort to greet people around him and generally show his appreciation to all the fans that came to see him off, with smiles and flying kisses.

©2011 PeiLing

Michael arrived at Taipei for his first concert tour in the country. 03 September 93'

Bill Bray led Michael through the cheering crowd to check in
to the Grand Regent Formosa Hotel

Michael waved to the fans from his hotel room

Michael shopping at the local Toy R Us store with his nephews

Michael leaving Taipei at the airport heading for Japan, 07 September 93'

Michael Jackson's farewell to Taipei


TV preview of Michael's first Taipei concert opening with stunning live
performance 'Jam'. (With rather frenzy background commentary!)

Michael Jackson Embarked On The Asia Dangerous Tour With China Airlines

       

China Airlines Oct. 1993 "Dynasty" magazine featured Michael Jackson 

                   
             

Many thanks to "MJinmyheart" for sharing this great magazine article about Michael Jackson on the Taiwan MJ fan site last year. The article was published in Chinese in 1993 and gives some rare glimpses of the King of Pop days before the news of the 1st child abuse allegation broke. This was soon to overshadow the rest of his Dangerous tour. I've summarised the article in English below:

The background:

As people know Michael Jackson came to Taiwan in 93' for the Dangerous Tour. What many people may not be aware of was that before he began the Asian leg of the Dangerous tour, he briefly flew into Taiwan before departing to Bangkok for his first concert. He flew China Airlines, a Taiwanese based company.

The China Airlines "Dynasty Magazine" featured Michael in their October issue, it was not only about his Taipei concert, but also revealed details of him as the the airline's secret VIP passenger.

Possibly to confuse the press, instead of flying his own private jet to Bangkok, Michael set off for Bangkok a day earlier than planned, via San Francisco to Taipei for the connection flight to Bangkok. To avoid the unnecessary press attention, the schedule was kept confidential, it was only leaked to the Taiwanese press the next day by passengers who recognised Michael, and later confirmed by the Airlines.

Extracts from the article reveal the cabin crews on meeting Michael Jackson...

Without anyone noticing, Michael Jackson was the last passenger at the last minute to board the China Airlines CI-003 from San Francisco wearing his hat and surgical mask. He sat at the front by the window in the first class cabin with his agent (Michael's security Bill Bray). He arrived at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport around 19.30pm on 21st August. Michael was greeted on board by the company head of the public relations Mr. Luo and other senior members before they briefly took a walk "sightseeing" the transfer area.

Luo recalled that Michael kept praising the display of the hallway, walking back and forth a few times, excited like a big kid, he seemed to be very happy to be on the island of Taiwan for the first time. Mr. Luo spent nearly an hour talking with Michael, he later spoke of his amazement at how child like, well mannered and easy going that he was. Michael's long thick eyelashes and charming big brown eyes were most memorable.

At 20.30 before all other passengers, Michael boarded the next plane CI-065 heading to Bangkok, unknown to the cabin crew. As usual they were busy preparing for taking off, when they unexpectedly saw Michael, the whole crew were in complete disbelief! Michael who apparently owned 4 private jets, recognised the plane that he was traveling in as the brand new MD-11!

However, the first crew members on the CI-003 included chief cabin Mr. Zhang, air attendance Ms. Zhu and Ms. Liu who had flown in with the pop icon via San Francisco, they felt exceptionally honoured to meet Michael. All complimented on his charm and good manners after spending time with him on the long haul flight.

Zhang recalled that after Michael boarded the plane, he expressed his wish to catch up on some sleep, as he had not slept the previous night due to various things to do with his tour. After the plane took off, he soon fell asleep for 5-6 hours. Zhang was surprised that a super star such as Michael Jackson, appeared to be so kind, pure and innocent, which was beyond his expectation. After Michael woke up, he went into the kitchen to check things out and chatted to everyone, he even got himself some children's toys and stickers. There was no doubt that he really adored children, when he was asked to sign a photo of an air attendant's two year old daughter, Michael took as long as 5 seconds looking at the photo before putting the pen down.

Zhu said that the crew were excited to meet Michael, but only herself alongside with colleague Liu were privileged to look after him. Michael chatted to them a lot, and often showed his appreciation for their work. Michael was not a big eater, he preferred vegetarian food, so he didn't eat much on the flight. He mainly accepted almonds and peanut type snacks. Zhu said Michael wasn't fussy about wine glasses, he had white wine in a coffee cup, and only had an apple and yogurt for breakfast. The crew also noted his caring side, when he woke up in the dark just before breakfast, trying not to disturb other passengers while looking out of the window, he thoughtfully covered up his head and the window with a blanket to stop the light coming in.

Liu also recalled some memorable moments with Michael. She gave Michael orange juice after he asked for her recommendation, she also let Michael borrow her "Polo" fragrance to spray himself, and even gave Michael her China Airlines Eagle badge, pinning it on Michael's shirt after he had shown his admiration for it. But for Liu, the most memorable moment with the King of Pop was when she was putting a blanket on him ready for sleep, and wished him a good dream, Michael was moved by the gesture, sincerely like a boy, and said to her "I love you", which really warmed her heart....

Apart from a few hours sleep, the rest of the time Michael was actively chatting to the crew, looking through the window, playing poker with his agent and reading the airline magazine. He even bought a toy plane watch.

The plane journey went very smoothly, Michael didn't forget to pay compliments to the chief pilot Mr. Cao. He cheered as soon as the plane landed, his child like spirit was contagious, all the other passengers were soon cheering along with him!

Before getting off the plane, lots of passengers and the crew couldn't resist asking Michael for his autograph which he was happy to give. Senior air attendants later commented about their years of experience in dealing with international stars, Michael was the most sincere and approachable, something they would never forget!

It was a very rare occasion for Michael to be on board a commercial flight. He was especially grateful for the excellent service he received from the flight attendants, and expressed that he would fly China Airlines again if the opportunity arose. In fact, his agent did just that the next day, by cancelling his original booking with other airlines and again flying with China Airlines back to the US!

©2011 PeiLing
                 

Above: Michael with chief pilot Mr. Cao
Below: Michael leaving Taiwan at the airport after the Taipei Dangerous tour
in September 1993

                   

Michael with Chief cabin Mr. Zhang and air attendant Ms. Zhu 

             

Michael leaving Taiwan at the airport for the next Dangerous tour city Fukuoka, Japan
on September 07, 1993.

The magazine coverage of the Taipei Dangerous tour concerts in Taiwan
that took place on 04, 06 September 1993.

               

                  
       

(Update) A precious photo for the Airlines and its members to remember Michael

The Taiwanese Connection

Cindera Che with Michael Jackson in "Smooth Criminal" music video

We all know that Michael Jackson was the first black artist to break down racial barriers with his iconic "Billie Jean" on MTV's playlist. It was a huge break through in the early 80's, his influence in music videos changed the way people listen to music, it also helped popularise the newly established and relatively unknown MTV channel that ironically had perviously ignored the work of black artists.

After his unforeseen success for his "Thriller" album, Michael became an international super star, despite his often misunderstood image troubled by vitiligo, he very much took pride in his background. In his own words "I'm a black American, I am proud of my race, I am proud of who I am, I have a lot of pride and dignity." And his love for all people, "I love the people of all races from my heart, with true affection." He once said during an interview with Oprah in 1992. In fact, he had long ago conveyed his belief in racial diversity and equality in many of his music videos involving people from different ethnic background.

Also not to forget one good example is his 1991 music video "Black or White", which he displays and celebrated cultural and racial diversity. Another that stands out for me is his 1987 piece "Smooth Criminal", with his famous iconic anti gravity lean, as part of the short film "Moonwalker". Michael indicated it as one of his favourite, and the most talked about piece than any others that he's done ( in MJ's Private Home Movie). It featured an Oriental female dancer, in an underground 1930's nightclub sep up.

          

This mysterious Oriental dancer is Cindera Che, original from Taipei, Taiwan. She is a professional dancer and choreographer, "Smooth Criminal" was her best know appearance as a lead dancer. To me this shows Michael's vision of bringing people from different background to the main stream, especially after his own struggle to break into the music business.

                          


Cindera was born in Taiwan and started dancing at the age of 6, she moved to the US when she was 14 to carry on her dream of dancing. Working with Michael Jackson was undoubtedly a dream came true for her. In a recent interview, she commented about working with Michael: "Michael was a perfectionist, one thing that I always remember about Michael was he was always on, and how hard he worked, and rehearsed, if he missed something, he never get frustrated and never complain, he just does it again and again...". She probably never thought at the time that the music video she took part in would go down in history as one of Michael's most memorable and iconic pieces, certainly Michael's hard work had paid off. Apart form working with Michael, she also worked with other legends in the music world, including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and all the Jackson brothers.

After Michael passed away in June 2009, the Rev.Al Sharpton payed his tribute: "Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of colour way before Tiger Wood, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama. Michael did with music what they later did in sports, in politics and in television. And no controversy will erase the historic impact."

Michael Jackson was truly an innovator, apart form his great musical talent, he indeed inpacted a new era of pop culture which influenced a new generation of artists from Justin Timberlake ot Usher and Chris Brown (see article). All these came from just one person in a 50 years of life span. Certainly without his legacy and influences, the world could be very different today.

A Rare TV Commercial By Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was the spokesman for the "Esonic DiscBaby" 

Michael did quite a few TV commercials, What many people may not know was that he also did a TV commercial for a Taiwanese high tech company, promoting a portable disc player called "Esonic DiscBaby" in 1997.

According to the CTI News source the disc player was first developed by a company called "Esonic"( 億碩 ), and it was a first of its kind at the time. Michael was given the new player to try out during his History tour in Taiwan in 1996, he loved it! Unsurprisingly the company wasted no time in asking the King of Pop to be the spokesman for its product. Michael agreed and the pay deal was a record breaker at the time, said to be the highest for a TV commercial in the country, rumoured to be over 10 million NT dollars, around 350,000 US dollars for less than a minute long commercial.

The twins Prety and Morly also appeared in the TV commercial 

In fact, according to another source, Michael's Taiwanese friends Mrs. Ma and her husband were said to have pulled a few strings to make the deal happen. They and their twins were following Michael at the time, during the 2nd leg of the History tour. Michael signed a three-year contract with an Esonic representative in June 1997, while on tour in Bremen, Germany.


The commercial was filmed in the US in October, 1997, mainly for the Asian Market. It also featured the young Omer Bhatti, and Ma's twin daughters Prety and Morly (Video below at 0.49)


Time has moved on, the product is long outdated and Michael Jackson the Pop icon is no longer with us....

©2011 PeiLing

Source: Taiwan CTI News,  Michael Jackson, A visual documentary 1958-2009 (Book)
             1997年 Esonic 億碩 影音播放機 代言


Michael Jackson's TV Commercial for Esonic DiscBaby



Taiwan CTI News report (Mandarin audio, includes unseen clips of Michael Jackson)
             

Music Promoter in Taiwan Remembers Michael

Yu Kuang is a pop music promoter and concert agent, who invited Michael Jackson to Taiwan for the Dangerous tour in 1993. He appeared visibly upset during a TV news appearance when the news of Michael Jackson's death broke last June. He expressed that he was in shock and very upset at the news of Michael's passing. and paid his tribute to Michael Jackson as one of most iconic and influential artist in the music world. A rare talent that may not happen again for generations.

Dangerous tour Taipei promotional poster

During Yu's career, he was the first person to bring Western pop music to Taiwan since the 1960's. He began with radio and television and also had a music magazine. From 1982 onwards the government began to liberalise the political system, rules were gradually more relaxed in various social and culture aspects. Yu started to bring in European and American big name pop and rock bands. However, he's best remembered for bringing Michael Jackson to Taipei for the Dangerous tour in 1993, in which time, the culture climate was ready to embrace him.

Yu put in great effort to secure the opportunity of Michael Jackson coming to Taiwan for the first time. He did everything he could to meet all the requirements including sorting out a large capacity stadium, and sponsors, which convinced the agent and finally enabled the concerts to take place and be a huge success.

However, the Dangerous tour in Asia was eventful. Just after Michael kicked off the Asian leg of the tour in Bangkok on the 24th August, the first child abuse accusation against him was made public. Two performances in Thailand and Singapore had to be cancelled because Michael suffered from acute dehydration and exhaustion due to the emotional stress cause by the accusation. Though the tour was heavily insured. Yu was relieved when Michael finally landed at the airport in Taipei on 3rd September, with his friend Elizabeth Taylor who had flown out to support him. The original dates for the Dangerous tour concerts in Taipei were rescheduled for the 4th and 5th September.

Yu Kuang music magazine MJ's Taipei
Dangerous tour special edition

Being the most iconic pop star to ever visit the country at the time, the media frenzy and coverage was unprecedented. Screaming fans surrounded Michael's hotel, calling his name and pursuing him everywhere he went, hoping to get a glimpse of him. Michael's amazing super stardom and presence had made a real impression, he was back at his best in Taipei. His outstanding live performances set a new standard in the country and he certainly lived up the name 'King of Pop'. Even after the event, Michael was talked about in the media for 3 months!

After the Dangerous tour in Taipei, Michael showed his appreciation by sending Yu a copy of his favourite portrait of himself 'The Book' as a gift to thank Yu for all his effort and help. Michael came back for the History tour 3 years later in October 1996, which was then organized by anther agent in Taiwan. There were two performances in Taipei, and one in Kaohsiung, which was to become Michael's final world tour.

Yu met Michael on 3 different occasions. He recalled when meeting Michael for the first time, noticing his nose was just like the Disney cartoon character Peter Pan's, with the tip of nose slightly tilted, Michael did refer to himself as Peter Pan in the past. "He was very friendly with a very soft voice, like a whisper, and very shy, like a little boy." The Michael Jackson he knew was simple, pure and had a childlike innocence, but on stage Michael was a super star. He remembered that Michael especially requested the 'King of Pop' title had to be included on the promotional posters, clearly showing that Michael was very confident that he was definitely the 'King of Pop'! Yu remember bringing some children to meet Michael after he expressed his wish to meet some local children. With the children Michael has a "natural, heartfelt joy that came from within" said Yu.

Yu even met with Michael's family, when his parents and brothers flew out to Taiwan to offer support due to the accusation. Yu recalled how he waited in a room with Michael's Dad and brothers for 'an appointment', which was the extent of protection from his bodyguards. To Yu, loneliness seemed to play a prominent part in Michael's life.

After Michael's sudden death, Yu's biggest regret was that he was not able to help Michael tour China, Yu felt he had let Michael down. Michael had briefly visited mainland China and Hong Kong as a tourist during the Bad Tour back in the late 80's, he was fascinated by the culture and people. According to Yu, Michael had very strong desire to perform in China, during his 93' Dangerous tour in Taiwan, Michael had personally asked for Yu's assistance to help him achieve this ambition. When Michael returned to Taiwan 3 years later for the History tour, he arranged to meet with Yu, again raising the proposal of going into China, and even signed contract with Yu as indefinite priority agent to co-ordinate his future performance in China.

In fact, according to insiders there was a Chinese Mainland company in close contact with the Dangerous tour organizer. Beijing was going to be one of the stops along side Taipei, (even Hong Kong was on the list but was later cancelled, the reasons may have been because of not having a big enough stadium, or the noise concern by local residents) in the end, the Beijing tour did not happen. It was in a different time and there was lots of speculation as to why, but one reason known to Yu was that after the relevant authority had seen Michael's music video and material that had forwarded to them, the response was that they didn't think that one of Michael's dance routines (grabbing his crouch) was in line with Chinese Custom! Yu exclusively told the Chinese Nanfang Daily reporter during an interview.

Since the announcement of Michael's O2 'This is it' concert, Yu had been in talks with a Chinese concert agent that intended to bring the show to the mainland. Yu suggested to wait until the end of the London concerts before pursuing it further. Yu never thought Michael would pass away so suddenly, the Chinese tour would sadly never become a reality for Michael. Taiwan turned out to be the only Chinese country and region that Michael had performed in. Millions of mainland Chinese fans regretfully will never see the King of Pop live in concert on Chinese soil.

Rest in peace, forever the King of Pop!

©2010 PeiLing

Source: Taiwan CTI News, Taiwan Liberty Times. Chinese Nanfang Daily

Relevant reading : When Michael Jackson Visited Mainland China

                

                          

The story as told 14 years ago...

                        

A Taiwanese newspaper article was published 14 years ago on 21st October about Michael Jackson with Mrs. Ma's family. It was the Ma's family 2nd encounter with Michael since the Dangerous Tour in 1993. I have translated the main part of the article here:

Remember the moving story of lucky twins Prety and Morlys' meeting with the King of Pop in his pyjama's at the Taipei Grand Formosa Hotel room 3 years ago?

This time, the family are invited to follow the King of Pop on tour in the country after the couple made contact with Michael after his arrival in Taipei to begin his 3 History tour concerts. He immediately arranged to meet the family, Michael said, 'the girls have grown up!'

Ma and her husband touched Michael with their sincerity 3 years ago, not only had they met Michael in his private hotel room, he also invited their twin babies to meet him. The couple gave Michael a wooden caved leopard artwork as a thank you gift for his kindness, ever since then, they had built up the friendship by keeping in touch. Michael has never forgotten them, he even invited them on holiday in the U.S, but because the twins were so little at the time, and due to Mrs. Ma's husband's busy work schedule they were not able to make the trip. 

The lovely twins are mixture of Indian and Chinese. They had an early birthday present from Michael by joining him on stage in his Kaohsiung concert yesterday. The most special moment has to be that Michael personally celebrated the twins' 4th birthday in his hotel room after the concert, as they had previously arranged. The couple were said to be overwhelmed by Michael's kindness toward their family, which made the twins the envy of all the MJ fans in the country!

©2010 PeiLing

Source: Min-Shang News 
Photo: dyuisu73

My Blog So Far....

After all the chaos of moving house, I've finally got a bit of time to come back to my blog.

Before writing more stories about Michael, maybe I should mention the background to this blog.

I was watching a Taiwanese TV talk show via the internet, about Michael Jackson's passing and his legacy last year. One of the guests was Mrs. Ma who knew Michael personally and had formed a long lasting friendship with him. Due to the TV's tight schedule she only talked briefly about her family's amazing encounter with the King of Pop. That was when I started to dig deeper into her story, I found her another TV appearance and news articles that provided more insight to her story.

I had hoped to share this story on Michael Jackson.com, but it was not easy, as there was no links in English. When the first anniversary of MJ's passing was approaching, I decided to translate and share this largely unknown story with the MJ community, as my tribute to the King of Pop.

I posted it on Michael Jackson.com forum on June 26 this year, title " A fan's beautiful memories of Michael as a friend", got some great reactions from fans. But two days later when the forum was still on going, the story was pretty much copied and pasted to someone's Twitpic that I happened to follow! And further more it was credited to the person who had forwarded the story! It was difficult not to feel annoyed by it, when it had taken me time and effort to put it all together. So after a few emails the situation finally got resolved a week later, she responded with an apology, and updated the credit and redirect people to my link on the forum.

That was when I realised that more and more people started reading my original post on the forum, I must admit that the story that I had written wasn't in perfect English. When my husband knew about it, he suggested that I put it in a blog, and with a bit of help with my English. (He's English and not a big fan of MJ) So all of a sudden I found myself writing a blog about Michael Jackson. It's been a challenge, and a bit of leaning curve for me, but the blog allowed me to go deeper into the story.

Thank you all for your comments here and on twitter, I'll continue to write about Michael as long as I've got something to contribute to remembering him as this amazing human being that sadly had gone too soon.