This Is It

This article is about the concert residency. You may have been looking for the song.

This Is ItConcert residency by Michael Jackson
General Information
Associated albums	Thriller Bad Dangerous HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I Invincible
Start date	July 13, 2009 (cancelled)
End date	March 6, 2010 (cancelled)
Legs	2 (cancelled)
Number of shows	50 (cancelled)
Tour chronology
Previous	"Live at the Apollo"

This Is It was a cancelled series of concerts created by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson and Kenny Ortega, scheduled to be held at The O2 Arena in London, England from July 13, 2009, to March 6, 2010. It was promoted by music entertainment presenter AEG Presents (at the time AEG Live) and was meant to serve as Jackson's comeback concerts. Though Jackson did rehearse in California, the residency was cancelled following his sudden death on June 25, 2009.

Background

Jackson announcing This Is It (March 5, 2009)

After experiencing financial struggles and debt, Jackson began talks with AEG Live in Fall 2008 for the concert residency at the O2 arena, and finalized the deal in November. According to sound engineer Michael Prince, Jackson was surprisingly very excited for the concerts, despite him stating he "went through hell touring" years prior.

Originally, there were only ten dates, but the number soon increased to fifty. As the UK gigs would finish, shows for Europe, India, Australia, Japan, and North America would be considered as well, thus a world tour.

On March 5, 2009, a press conference was held at the O2 Arena in London, England, where Jackson announced This Is It.

“	[...] These will be my final show performances in London. This will be it. This is it, and when i say "this is it", it really means this is it. [...] I'll be performing to the songs my fans wanna hear. [...] This is the final curtain call. I'll see you in July.	”
–Jackson announcing This Is It

In a matter of four hours, 750,000 tickets were sold. During the process, two sites with pre-sale tickets crashed. Initial preparations began in April, and Jackson started rehearsing in California throughout June 2009. In the midst of the rehearsals, Jackson's mental and physical health had worsened, due to which he missed multiple rehearsals in the middle of the month.

The rehearsals never concluded, and This Is It was cancelled due to Jackson's passing on June 25, 2009, only two weeks before its launch. AEG later confirmed that 100 hours of footage from the rehearsals were recorded, which was originally meant to be used for Jackson's personal library, and a fifteen-minute feature on a planned concert movie Blu-ray. It was instead edited together into the Michael Jackson's This Is It movie, released on October 26, 2009 to mostly positive reviews.

Set list

• Early set list
• June 25 set list

Early setlist

In the Michael Jackson's This Is It movie, at one point (timestamp: 13:59), an early version of the setlist would appear.

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
2. "Off the Wall Medley"
3. N/A
4. "The Drill"/"They Don't Care About Us"
5. "Stranger in Moscow"
6. "Smooth Criminal"
7. "The Way You Make Me Feel"
8. "You Are Not Alone"
9. "Jackson 5 Medley"
10. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"
11. "Dangerous"
12. "Dirty Diana"
13. "Beat It"
14. "Thriller"
15. "Threatened"
16. "Earth Song"
17. "We Are the World"
18. "Heal the World"
19. "Black or White"
20. "Billie Jean"
21. "Will You Be There"
22. "Man in the Mirror"
23. "Human Nature"
24. "State of Shock"

Michael Prince confirmed that on June 25, the day of Michael's death, a new version was created.

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
2. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
3. "Rock with You"
4. "The Drill" (Dance Sequence [contains samples of "Bad", "Dangerous", and "Mind Is the Magic"]) / "They Don't Care About Us" (contains samples of "HIStory", "She Drives Me Wild" and "Why You Wanna Trip on Me)
5. "Human Nature"
6. "Stranger in Moscow"
7. "Smooth Criminal"
8. "The Way You Make Me Feel"
9. "You Are Not Alone" (Possibly scrapped)
10. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (Featuring Judith Hill)
11. "Dangerous" (Contains samples of "Morphine", "2000 Watts", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Stranger In Moscow", "Psycho Theme", "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes, Ennio Morricone's "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" theme, Janet Jackson's "You Want This" and "Let's Dance," Judy Garland's "Get Happy", Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme", and a guitar intro from Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill")
12. "Dirty Diana"
13. "Beat It"
14. "Thriller" (Contains samples of "Ghosts" and "Threatened")
15. "Earth Song"
16. "We Are the World" / "Heal the World"
17. "Black or White"
18. "Billie Jean"
19. "Will You Be There" (Possibly scrapped)
20. "Man In The Mirror" / "MJ Air" Finale (Encore)

Dates

Original dates

Date	City, Country	Venue
July 8, 2009	London, England	The O2 Arena
July 10, 2009
July 12, 2009
July 14, 2009
July 16, 2009
July 18, 2009
July 22, 2009
July 24, 2009
July 26, 2009
July 28, 2009

First leg

Date	City, Country	Venue
July 13, 2009	London, England	The O2 Arena
July 16, 2009
July 18, 2009
July 22, 2009
July 24, 2009
July 26, 2009
July 28, 2009
July 30, 2009
August 1, 2009
August 3, 2009
August 10, 2009
August 12, 2009
August 17, 2009
August 19, 2009
August 24, 2009
August 26, 2009
August 28, 2009
August 30, 2009
August 30, 2009
September 1, 2009
September 3, 2009
September 6, 2009
September 8, 2009
September 10, 2009
September 21, 2009
September 23, 2009
September 27, 2009
September 29, 2009

Second leg

Date	City, Country	Venue
January 7, 2010	London, England	The O2 Arena
January 9, 2010
January 12, 2010
January 14, 2010
January 16, 2010
January 18, 2010
January 23, 2010
January 25, 2010
January 27, 2010
January 29, 2010
February 1, 2010
February 3, 2010
February 8, 2010
February 10, 2010
February 12, 2010
February 16, 2010
February 18, 2010
February 20, 2010
February 22, 2010
February 24, 2010
March 1, 2010
March 3, 2010
March 6, 2010

Personnel

Musicians

• Michael Jackson – vocals, show direction, choreography
• Orianthi Panagaris – lead guitar
• Tommy Organ – rhythm guitar
• Alex Al – bass
• Jonathan Moffett – drums, percussion
• Michael Bearden – keyboards, musical direction
• Morris Pleasure – keyboards
• Bashiri Johnson – percussion
• Dorian Holley – vocals, vocal direction
• Judith Hill – vocals
• Darryl Phinnessee – vocals
• Ken Stacey – vocals

Dancers

• Michael Jackson
• Daniel Yao
• Nicholas Basir
• Daniel Celebre (a.k.a. Da FunkyMystic)
• Mekia Cox
• Kriyss Grant
• Misha Gabriel
• Shannon Holtzapffel
• Devin Jamieson
• Charles Klapow
• Dres Reid
• Danielle Rueda Watts
• Tyne Stecklein
• Timor Dance

Production

• Kenny Ortega – show direction
• Alif Sankey – associate production
• Michael Cotten – production design
• Michael Curry – production design
• Michael Jackson & Travis Payne – choreography
• Stacy Walker – choreography assistance
• Tony Testa – choreography assistance
• Patrick Woodroffe – lighting design
• Hakeem Khaaliq – graphic design, mobile technology integration
• David Elsewhere – dance coaching
• Shahzad Perez – Specialty Act
• Gregg Smith – casting direction
• Karen Faye Heinze – hair and makeup
• Zaldy Goco – chief of costume design
• Michael Bush – costume design
• Dennis Thompkins – costume design
• AEG Live – promotion
• Dave Polich – synth programming

Gallery

Promotional

This Is It horizontal poster

This Is It tickets

Michael Jackson THIS IS IT Concert Offical Advertising on ITV 08-03-2009

This Is It advert (March 8, 2009)

Rehearsals

"Look deep within yourself, and you'll find something amazing." To view the This Is It (concert residency) gallery, click here.

Trivia

Jackson with a brown necklace he received from a fan

• Had it come to fruition, This Is It could have generated an estimated $1.5 billion in revenue for Jackson.
• The residency was planned to feature multiple A-list guest stars, including Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, who were artists Jackson had the most to share stage with.
• In early 2009, Jackson received a brown necklace as a gift from a fan. He wore it through the entirety of This Is It press and rehearsals.
• Some fans got to sneak into the arena and record 30 minutes of amateur audio from the This Is It rehearsals. This included "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Dangerous", "Black or White", "Dirty Diana", "Beat It", "Heal the World", "Billie Jean", "Will You Be There", and the "We Are the World" interlude.
• A split-second video of Jackson rehearsing "Dangerous" along with pictures from it were leaked online in 2020.
• A five-second video of Jackson rehearsing "Dirty Diana" was featured in Michael Jackson's This Is It Blu-ray extras.
• The last song Jackson rehearsed was “Earth Song”, on June 24, 2009, making it the final time he sang during his lifetime.
• Jackson's final rehearsal lasted until around midnight of June 25, 2009. According to Sugarfoot, he last saw Jackson at this exact time.
• On June 25, when working at This Is It at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Kenny Ortega had called the crew to hold hands and say their prayers after Jackson's hospitalization was announced. For the next half an hour, everyone went back to work, when suddenly Ortega called the team to gather again, upon the confirmation that Jackson had died.
• Jackson's makeup artist, Karen Faye, stated she overheard an AEG executive saying Jackson "should" rehearse despite his supposed declining health.
  • Faye also revealed Jackson was frustrated and, after a costume fitting which took place days before his tragic death, repeatedly asked the makeup artist, "Why can't I choose?". Randy Phillips, co-CEO of AEG Live, told her to ignore Jackson's requests after missing rehearsals.
• Matt Fiddes, one of Jackson's bodyguards, stated that Jackson wanted to wear a bulletproof vest during the residency because he was afraid that there'd be an assassination attempt on him live on stage.
• It is rumored that during the final show on March 6, 2010, Jackson would have performed the then-unreleased song, “Best of Joy”. However, this is unconfirmed.
• According to Jackson's choreographer, Travis Payne, AEG considered "pulling the plug" on This Is It only eleven days before the former's death.
• According to Michael Prince, although Jackson was excited to go back on stage, he told him that "the only thing he didn't like about touring is all the doctors." Ironically, Jackson did die by the hands of his doctor, Conrad Murray.