There's been more speculation that the upcoming Michael Jackson residency at The O2 is turning into a shambles.

Following last week's announcement that the first four dates of the residency will be postponed, three of them into 2010, one of those sources has told the Daily Mail that the official reason for the delay - that more time was needed to make the ambitious spectacle of a show that has been planned a reality - isn't true.
The problem, they claim, is Jackson himself, who is consistently failing to show up at rehearsals.

The source says:

"The suggestion that they need more time to set up the show in London is a joke. I think the fans who have already bought tickets should hold their breath and cross their fingers, because there is no guarantee any of this is actually going to happen. There is a possibility that this will still happen, but it is up to him to get his act together. Michael has only been to two days of rehearsals for the show. His dancers have been working on it every single day for 45 days at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, but Michael has been nowhere to be found".

But not everyone is predicting doom and gloom for the Jacko comeback.

50 Cent, presumably asked by a passing reporter what he thought about the postponed Jacko dates (he was speaking at the Cannes Film Festival), said that he reckoned the delays in starting The O2 residency were just the result of Jackson's characteristic perfectionism, something he'd be willing to forgive because of Jacko's legacy.

Fiddy told reporters:

"Michael Jackson is such a perfectionist, you know? He is the King Of Pop. Until someone tops 'Thriller' he's going to have that, and the odds are it ain't gonna happen no time soon".

Story credit CMU Network

photo credit: London Daily News