Michael Jackson’s mother has given her blessing to a tribute concert that will mark the anniversary of the pop singer’s death.

VoicePlate Productions is staging the “Forever Michael” fan event Saturday at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., but some have wondered if it was legitimate or done with the family’s approval.

In a video posted on YouTube, Katherine Jackson appeared with the tribute’s organizer, Joseph Fahmy, to thank him for putting it together.

“I know that Michael would be very honored and very pleased that his fans all over the world are coming together to celebrate his life,” she said.

She also thanked people for the support they have given her family since her son died June 25, 2009, at age 50.

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Poet Maya Angelou is inviting fans of Michael Jackson to be represented in a pointillism portrait of the late singer, who died almost a year ago.

Angelou met Monday at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., with artist David Ilan, who is putting together the tribute. Ilan placed a dot representing Angelou in the heart area on the portrait.

Ilan says he hopes 1 million people will each ask through a website to be represented by one of the free dots. So far, the portrait has 250,000 dots, representing fans in 180 countries. Pointillism is an art technique in which small dots are used to form an image.

Angelou also read the poem she wrote for Jackson’s funeral, titled “We Had Him.” Queen Latifah read the poem at the funeral.

The Big Man is back.

E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who arose from a wheelchair to perform at the 2009 Super Bowl with Bruce Springsteen after a double knee replacement, is taking the stage again amid a new struggle to recover from major spinal surgery.

The stage “always feels like home. It’s where I belong,” Clemons, a former youth counselor, said after performing Saturday night at a Hard Rock Cafe benefit for Home Safe, a children’s charity, in Hollywood, Fla.

Clemons, who had surgery Jan. 13, said in a recent interview he’s winning his battles – including severe, chronic pain and post-surgical depression. His impish humor helps.

“I am the bunny, baby!” he said gleefully, evoking the drum-pounding rabbit from the battery commercial.
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A businesswoman says a 16,461-square-foot Las Vegas mansion that pop icon Michael Jackson rented in 2008 has sold for $3.1 million.

Carolyn Mullany of Coldwell Banker Premier Realty said Wednesday that a California couple bought the estate-style home on a gated one-acre parcel in northwest Las Vegas.

Mullany isn’t identifying the buyers. She says the previous owner turned the property over to a bank before foreclosure and the sale closed Tuesday. It was first reported by the Las Vegas Sun.

Mullany says the house has seven bedroom suites, two office suites, an elevator, a theater room and orchestra loft.

The master bedroom is 2,000 square feet. A fitness room has a dance floor and dry sauna. The property also has basketball and tennis courts.

Dr. Conrad Murray (AP)

The Associated Press has learned that prosecutors will seek an involuntary manslaughter indictment against Michael Jackson’s doctor for the pop star’s death.

A law enforcement source says Dr. Conrad Murray will be prosecuted on a theory of gross negligence. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation remains open.

Before an indictment can be sought, the person says the Los Angeles Police Department will follow the formality of presenting the case to the district attorney.

Both agencies have been working on the case along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement since Jackson died in June.

Happy New Year, Michael Jackson fans. A previously unheard clip of an unreleased song from the late King of Pop has leaked onto the Internet.

See photos of Michael Jackson through the years

Ninety seconds of the song “Another Day,” a reported duet from Jackson and rocker Lenny Kravitz made its way onto the Web over the holiday weekend.

Video: Michael Jackson’s most memorable moments

Earlier this year, Kravitz commented on his collaboration with Jackson in a letter he wrote for AOL’s Spinner following the pop star’s sudden death. “I got to work with Michael on a track that has not been released and it was the most amazing experience I’ve had in the studio,” Kravitz told the Web site.

Kravitz also shared his thoughts on what Jackson was like on a personal level. “He was funny. Very funny and we laughed the whole time,” he wrote. “I also saw what a beautiful father he was. He was a beautiful human being.”

(Video courtesy Pink is the New Blog.)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The year’s biggest hits on the Internet’s top video channel were anchored by an improbable singing sensation, a groggy boy nursing a sore mouth, a bride and groom dancing down the wedding aisle, supernatural heartthrobs and roller-skating babies.

The eclectic cast of characters starring in YouTube’s most-watched videos of 2009 served as a reminder of the quirky appeal of a Web site that accepts about 20 hours of new video every minute.

The list released Wednesday marks the first time that YouTube has ranked its most-watched videos in any year since its 2005 inception. Read the full story

Interest in searches for Michael Jackson showed that users used engines to look up celebrity news, even in the face of a bad economy. (AP)

Michael Jackson’s stunning death made him the Internet’s biggest star this year.

The quest to find out what happened to Jackson in his final hours on June 25 and celebrate his legacy elevated the late entertainer to the top of the Internet’s search charts for 2009. On Yahoo, it ended singer Britney Spears’ four-year reign on top.

The annual lists released Tuesday were compiled separately by Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., which combined handle two-thirds of the world’s Internet searches.

Jackson also grabbed the top spot on the third-largest U.S. search engine, Microsoft Corp.’s Bing, which announced its rankings Sunday. AOL, which relies on Google’s search technology, also had Jackson at No. 1.

The lists are meant to provide a reading on our cultural pulse.
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“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” comes too late in the year to be considered for a documentary Oscar, but the film about the late King of Pop’s preparations for a series of comeback concerts could qualify for other Hollywood honors, including the Academy Award for best picture.

The film, which opened around the globe Tuesday and Wednesday has already earned rousing praise from fans and critics, who say it restores Jackson’s reputation as a world-class entertainer.

Director Kenny Ortega, a longtime Jackson collaborator who was overseeing his London concert comeback, crafted the nearly two-hour film from more than 100 hours of footage recorded during rehearsals for the London shows, which were to have begun in July. Jackson died June 25 at age 50.

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Yves Saint Laurent, the highest-earning dead celebrity, according to 'Forbes'. (AP)

According to Forbes magazine, the richest dead celebrity isn’t Michael Jackson.

Although the King of Pop’s estate has been big news since his death in June, the top-earning dead celebrity is French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. Forbes released its ninth annual poll Wednesday.

According to the magazine, Laurent earned $350 million in the past year. Much of his estate was auctioned off at Christie’s in February. Laurent died of brain cancer in June 2008.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein rank second with combined earnings of $235 million, followed by Jackson with $90 million, Elvis Presley with $55 million and J.R.R. Tolkien with $50 million. Charles Schulz, John Lennon, Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, Albert Einstein and Michael Crichton round out the top 10 list.