LZ, the following is a report, which is very reliable. The person who received it personally said that there was a video, and I forgot where it was, but I watched it myself. After reading the following report, you will find that Mai has deep feelings for China, and he has always wanted to hold a concert. He also said that after the concert in London, he would come to China to play, slide on the Great Wall and hug the giant panda. However, because the country was not fully open at that time, and the government's thinking was still relatively old, Mai was refused the door to enter China, and now he has no chance. If a concert had been held, China's influence would be much stronger now.
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"At that time, the oral reply given to us by the competent authorities was only four words' more harm than good'. We are not surprised, because Beijing is ready, but China is not. "
China Weekly reporter Liu Jun reports from Beijing.
"The Beijing Workers Stadium was dark, and 40,000 fans held their breath. The raging fire suddenly burst into flames in the center of the stage. 10, 9, 8, 7 ... A black figure rose from the bottom of the flame seven or eight meters high. The background music started slowly, and there was a deafening cry from the audience:' Michael, Michael …' "
Such a scene was expected to be staged on the evening of1September 22nd, 993.
This scene did not appear in the end. China turned down Jackson.
Beijing needs Jackson
199 1 year, 33-year-old Jackson released the album Danger, which set a sales myth of 3 1 10,000. He struck the iron while it was hot and started a "dangerous journey" world tour concert, but Beijing was not one of the stops.
1993, China has entered 13 years of reform and opening up. Western pop culture has already been supplemented by young people in China for several times, and Jackson, who is in full swing, has a large number of China fans.
Jackson's world tour concert didn't stop in China, which made the boss of Saite Culture Development Company (hereinafter referred to as "Saite") feel very sorry. Heizi himself is also a Jackson fan. "At that time, no one in the world could surpass his shocking power, especially when he came to China. I don't think there is a better way to promote China. "
1993, Seth officially sent an invitation to Jackson to hold a concert in Beijing, which quickly received a warm response from the Jackson team.
"Many of our singers are imitating his singing and dance steps. Whether he comes or not, you can't stop the influence on China. But his arrival will make the West pay attention to China's positive and cultural views, which may reverse the mainstream Western media's views on China. " Zhang Yang said. As a copywriter of Saite, he was an insider who invited Jackson to perform in China.
Seth has less than 20 people, from drivers, logistics to copywriters, who are all fans of Jackson. "Inviting your favorite singer to your favorite city is actually to fulfill the dream of our generation." Zhang Yang said.
From 65438 to 0985, Zhang Yang, who was still a senior in Beijing No.3 Middle School, fell in love with Jackson. Many of his classmates are children of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his parents can often send back some videos of Jackson from abroad. "As soon as school is over, I will go to my classmates' house to watch. Anyone who can imitate Jackson's dance steps will be sought after in school as artists are now. "
The once unreachable stars are now in front of us, and the feeling of excitement is still fresh in Zhang Yang's memory: "You have been climbing Xiangshan, and suddenly one day, you find yourself standing at the foot of Mount Everest, and all the conditions tell you that you can continue climbing."
1993 In the spring, on the first day Zhang Yang went to work in Saite, the whole company was busy with Jackson's Beijing concert. At that time, his colleagues called Jackson "Michael". Zhang Yang's first job was to translate the US 160 concert cooperation plan into Chinese.
He invited Huang Feng, a circle friend who is proficient in English, to operate, but Huang Feng, who is also obsessed with Jackson, seems to have seen a sealed book. The logistics support is so detailed that even the auxiliary materials such as nails needed for stage construction have strict specifications. One of the most unforgettable details for Huang Feng is that Evian mineral water with a constant temperature of 25 degrees Celsius should be placed at the entrance of the dressing room, and the chef should continuously make fresh orange juice with a constant temperature of 25 degrees Celsius for Jackson to drink at any time. If Beijing doesn't have it, it will be airlifted from the United States.
At that time, there was no such French luxury brand mineral water in China market. Huang Feng has no idea how to translate Evian. Zhang Yang started the whole company to find out that it was a French word.
Without a computer, Huang Feng translated the performance "Bible" by hand for seven days and seven nights, which has benefited him and Zhang Yang a lot so far. Unfortunately, after more than ten years, that top standard is still useless. "The current China market can't accept such a large-scale performance." Huang Wei said.
Green light all the way
From the beginning, sunspot knew it was destined to be a gamble.
Not to mention whether the cost of $6.5438+0.5 million can be recovered, the biggest worry is that Jackson has not performed in China before. Can the Ministry of Culture approve the performance?
With a step-by-step attitude, Heizi began negotiations with Jackson Performing Arts Group for half a year. The first request made by the United States embarrassed Sunspot-it was held in China's landmark venues such as Tiananmen Square.
In Jackson's world tour, it is normal to choose the square as a performance venue. Red Square in Moscow and Madison Square Garden in new york all left his footprints. But in China, no one thought of holding a commercial concert in Tiananmen Square. Heizi explained to the US: "Tiananmen Square is the center of political activities in China, not a place for cultural activities."
Heizi gave four alternative venues: Wumen Square, ancestral temple, Temple of Heaven and Workers Stadium. The other party finally chose the most luxurious and huge workers' stadium in China at that time, but it was not easy to convince the managers of the workers' stadium.
At that time, the workers' stadium was comparable to the current Bird's Nest. Three years ago, the Asian Games was successfully held here, but there was no experience in holding concerts. Managers are worried that the lawn will be destroyed, and hope that Saite will pay a deposit of 6.5438+0 million yuan in advance.
The American staff on the side told them not to worry. They rented some plastic beer boxes and put them on them so that the lawn could breathe and not die. "When they learned that the protagonist of the concert was Jackson, they suddenly said that they could consider exempting the deposit and immediately reported it to the competent authorities." Zhang Yang said.
The second request of the United States was smoother than the first breakthrough.
Jackson's concert equipment needs at least three large C- 130 transport planes. I hope China will open a special route called "Michael Jackson's Beijing Tour". Zhang Yang did not expect that, under the coordination of the relevant departments of national air traffic control, the competent authorities actually agreed to this application of Saite.
"It's normal to think of it now. It was a special plane route, but it was really strange at the time: Oh, how is it possible? ! "Zhang Yang said.
The impossible also happened to the Beijing Olympic bid Committee. Since it's not about making money, both sides hope to set the concert on a special day, so as to give full play to its maximum effect of promoting China. 1On September 23rd, 993, the Olympic bid committee competed for the right to host the 2000 Olympic Games in Monte Carlo, Morocco, and was determined to win.
Seth thought of this special day. The two sides agreed to set the date on the eve of the Olympic bid. At that time, at the concert site, Jackson will appeal to global fans to join him in supporting Beijing's bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympic Games through more than 330 TV stations participating in the live broadcast.
For this idea of Saite, the China Olympic bid committee gave great support, but did not stand at the front desk. "This will become a government act, so Jackson will face more pressure in the United States because he chose Beijing. At that time, the West did not want China to have the opportunity to show itself. " Zhang Yang said.
Progress is faster than expected. 1993 In May, at the World Music Awards Ceremony in Spain, Jackson announced that he would come to Beijing to give a concert in September: "Be sure to be there!" In the following two months, he continued to release goodwill to Beijing: he donated $65,438 +0.5 million yuan from Pepsi to five China charities, including China Youth Development Foundation and China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation; Spielberg and other 10 Oscar-winning directors will be invited to shoot short films promoting Beijing, and the production expenses will be borne by him personally. ...
In Zhang Yang's view, Jackson's enthusiasm for China is in the same strain as some prejudice.
"In Jackson's subconscious, he thought that China should not be the China on CNN and BBC. He wants to see for himself the most populous country in the world. He firmly believes that the prejudice of the world can be changed. " Zhang Yang said that Jackson's expectations of Beijing at that time were far greater than those of Beijing.
For the United States, China is responsive, and for China's concerns, the United States is also very cooperative. The United States promised that China only needed to ensure that every step was implemented and approved, and did not need to pay Jackson any fees. Because the TV broadcast income belongs to Jackson Company, this cost alone offsets all the expenses of the concert. The United States even agreed that if the audience was not enough, China could organize its own audience.
At this concert, Jackson will also make an amazing decision: take the "Beijing Tour Concert" as his final work, end his global tour for more than a year, and announce his retirement from Beijing entertainment circle. This means that Jackson will give up his trip to Taipei in early September, and this trip to Taipei is one of the stops of the original "dangerous trip". Jackson Company promised that if he got permission to perform, Jackson would go to Hong Kong first, and then to Beijing instead of Taipei.
If he doesn't get the performance license before September 1, Jackson will fly directly from the United States to Taipei.
Beijing or Taipei?
At the end of July, all the negotiations between the two sides ended, just waiting for a formal approval from China.
"The disadvantages outweigh the advantages"
"The Ministry of Culture, which carries out the examination and approval procedures, can't actually do it. They said they would send it to their superiors and wait for their superiors to reply. " Zhang Yang and his colleagues don't know how far they are going, so they have to wait.
For the next month, everyone stayed in the company, hoping that one day a miracle would knock on the door. "At that time, when the phone rang, everyone ran to answer the phone, like a neurotic person."
The phone is full of all kinds of inquiries. The reporters asked, is there a play? The staff of the Olympic bid Committee asked how it was going, and they were going to Monte Carlo soon ... Zhang Yang and his colleagues, who had been anxious for a long time, had to pretend to be calm and take pains to reply one by one: "Trust us, please continue to wait."
The United States has no choice but to wait with China. Sometimes, they will call with concern and kindly remind China of what they need to do. "What you do is useless. Give us more time. Let's wait together. " Make public the tone of time is full of helplessness.
When waiting impatiently, Seth will ask the people in the Ministry of Culture what they are doing recently through friends. Suddenly one day, the staff of the Ministry of Culture called and said they wanted to see Jackson's video.
This is good news. Seth's people immediately collected Jackson's concerts and sent them the award-winning clips of MTV, Grammy and Billboard.
In order not to arouse the suspicion of the approvers, Saite deleted all scenes that did not conform to the values of China people. "Some scenes of ghosts and human rights, as well as scenes of foreign concert fans fainting, will definitely worry about causing riots after reading them." Zhang Yang said.
However, the scene of Michael Jackson's classic dance-covering her private parts with her right hand has not been deleted. In Yu Guang's view, this may be an important reason for Jackson's miscarriage in Chinese mainland. Yu Guang is the planner of Jackson's "Dangerous Journey" concert in Taipei. He once recalled to the media that he had sent Jackson's relevant video materials to the relevant departments in the mainland, and the reply was that this action was considered "not in line with mainland customs."
Zhang Yang, who witnessed the whole incident, disagreed with Yu Guang. "The reason is not as simple as Yu Guang imagined. It is impossible for the Ministry of Culture to reject Jackson because of one action. "
Obviously, the Ministry of Culture is also very cautious. They learned through friends in the Ministry of Culture that the Ministry of Culture also specially invited three top musicians in China to "review" Jackson's video. "In retrospect, it seems a bit ridiculous. Those three are all masters of Chinese classical music, but it is up to them to decide whether a western pop king can come to China. " Zhang Yang said.
At the end of August, the day of the concert in Taipei on September 4 is approaching, and music peers are constantly coming from Taipei. Preparations for the Taipei concert are in full swing, and even tickets have been sold. The United States once again called the Chinese side, stressing that once Beijing decided to hold the concert, they would immediately cancel the Taipei concert and compensate Taipei for its losses.
Make public a presentiment that things have become irreversible.
A few days after Jackson's concert in Taiwan Province Province, the oral reply from the Ministry of Culture came by telephone-the harm outweighed the benefit.
Just four words contain endless wisdom.
"I don't know what Jackson will bring to China when he comes. This is the terrible thing about Jackson. At that time, no one could imagine the impact he had brought to a society. In a relatively unstable political and external environment, it is terrible to let an uncontrollable thing happen in China. In addition, they will also see Jackson's performance materials in Moscow's Red Square from other channels. " Make public afterwards analysis said.
On the evening of September 23rd,1993-the second day of Jackson's concert in Beijing-came another bad news. Beijing narrowly beat Sydney by two votes in its first Olympic bid. "In fact, we have always thought that the only thing that can reverse this situation is the Jackson concert." Zhang Yang said.
After abortion
1993 When Jackson and China passed by, it was a watershed in the development of western artists and ancient oriental countries.
1September 1993 15, Jackson's acting career began to lose ground because he was involved in a case of sexual harassment of a boy. Pepsi canceled the sponsorship contract and was still entangled in various scandals until his death.
The company that suffered the most was Saite, which spent almost all its money to prepare Jackson's trip to Beijing. "That a few months, the company put down all the business, everyone is busy with this one thing. At that time, regardless of the cost, all the money earned went to fill this pit. We go to the United States, they go to China, and they have to spend a lot of money, at least tens of millions of RMB. As of the end of 1994, Saite's book loss was more than 800,000 yuan. " Zhang Yang said, don't forget that before 1994, Saite had signed a large number of top artists like Na Ying.
After losing the election, Seth was no longer interested in similar performances.
The news of Jackson's death spread to China, and various rumors circulated on the Internet. One view is that Jackson couldn't come to China at that time because he wanted to replace the portrait of Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Gate with himself. Make public that this speculation is nonsense.
In retrospect, Zhang Yang said that he also thought it was premature. "As practitioners in the pop music industry, we are ready. Beijing is going to use him to bid for the Olympic Games, but our country has not. " Zhang Yang said that in one of the most sensitive times, the most representative performances in the West, which concentrated all kinds of advanced factors, were placed in front of China, and the influence and destructive power of pop music were far greater than that of books and media. "Up to now, I think our competent department is very serious. It is precisely because all of us are too serious that a commercial performance carries too many responsibilities, which makes this concert a bubble. "
In sunspot's view, it was because China was not developing so fast at that time. "I accepted this form at once, and I am still a person. I really can't stand it. It is true that we talked too early. If it is now, this thing will definitely be done. "
Actually, not necessarily. 1993 after the abortion in mainland China, the news that Jackson would come to China kept coming out. Until his death, there were still media reports that Jackson had planned to go to China and Shanghai to cheer for the World Expo after the concert in London.
1999, sunspot left the pop music industry, and Zhang Yang continued to work hard in this industry. At that time, he secretly made up his mind: take over the baton of sunspot and make the regret of that year come true one day. But this is no longer possible. What he regrets most is that after the abortion in mainland China, Jackson personally promised to donate 5 million dollars to build a fantastic Hope Primary School in Beijing, but after the boy was sexually assaulted, the matter went away.
When hearing the news of Jackson's death, Zhang Yang deceived himself like this: I hope Jackson's death is a commercial performance plan, and he will come out of the coffin at his first concert in London in July 13, giving the world a huge surprise. But he knew that Jackson would never come back, and he would never come to China again. "This may be the tragedy of our generation."
We love you, Michael.