Michael Jackson hologram to appear at Billboard Music Awards

May 18, 2014 13:23

The hologram will perform 'Slave to the Rhythm' from posthumous album 'Xscape'

A Michael Jackson hologram is set to appear at the Billboard Music Awards tonight (May 18).

The performance was supposed to be a secret, but a ruling by a federal judge which rejected a lawsuit from hologram companies Hologram USA Inc and Musion Das Hologram Ltd - who made the Tupac hologram at 2012's Coachella Festival and hoped to stop the performance - made the news of the event public, reports LA Times.

The hologram will perform 'Slave to the Rhythm' from the late singer's current posthumous album 'Xscape'. The hologram companies wanted to the halt the performance after alleging that a competitor was using their technology without their permission. Judge Kent Dawson said there was insufficient evidence to prove that Hologram USA Inc and Musion Das Hologram Ltd's patents were being used for the Jackson hologram. The Billboard Awards take place tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Jackson's posthumous release 'Xscape' was released on Monday (May 12) and looks set to go straight to Number One in the UK tonight. The album includes eight unreleased songs worked on by contemporary artists and producers, including Timbaland and Stargate. The album is the project of executive producer LA Reid, who was granted unlimited access to four decades' worth of Jackson's vocal material.

BLOG: Michael Jackson's 'Xscape' album: Why it adds nothing to a legend's legacy

Jackson's closest competition in the Official UK Album Charts this week comes from The Black Keys. Speaking about the release of a new album from the King Of Pop, Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney said: "[It's] some fucking bullshit that sucks so bad that it took them three years after he died to make it listenable."

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The Company Behind the Tupac Hologram Is Now Bankrupt...

Wednesday, September 12, 2012
by  paul

Looks like 'projected' revenues failed to keep the 'lights on' at Digital Domain Media Group, the company responsible for the splashy Tupac hologram at Coachella this summer.  According to Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings surfacing last night, Digital Domain was simply 'running out of cash' despite going public roughly 10 months ago.           

As of June 30th, total assets at Digital Domain were about $204 million, with liabilities topping $215 million.  According to initial details, the core of Digital Domain is being fire-sold to private investment group Searchlight Capital Partners LP for $15 million, with no guarantees on what happens next.  The company has indicated that day-to-day operations will not be affected, and debtors have agreed to a $20 million fund to power any restructuring.  Meanwhile, massive layoffs and shelved construction plans are happening immediately.

It all seemed like a fun company until recently.  Digital Domain was created by James Cameron, and generated special effects for dozens of advertisers and Hollywood films (including Cameron's own, Titanic).  The picture included Academy Awards and lush government grants, though Wall Street was extremely cool to Digital Domain: shares quickly dropped below expected ranges, and plunged into the sub-$10 single digits.  The Tupac splash created a temporary spike that failed to sustain, much less keep the company afloat.

This is also bad news for Elvis fans (or, good news, depending on the perspective).  Shortly after the Tupac frenzy, Digital Domain sealed agreements to create an Elvis-inspired hologram, and shuttle a King-in-lights to numerous stages.  That expansion now seems highly unlikely.

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Music fans hanker for Ray Charles hologram: poll

Singer Ray Charles, performing in this April 9, 2003 file photograph, has received seven Grammy Award nominations posthumously, as nominations were announced at a news conference in Hollywood by the Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences December 7, 2004. Charles died at his home in Beverly Hills June 10, 2004. Charles album ''Genius Loves Company'' was nominated for Album of the Year.

Credit: Reuters/Jeff Christensen/Files

LOS ANGELES | Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:53pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When a hologram of late rapper Tupac Shakur appeared on stage with Snoop Dogg at the recent Coachella music festival, it stunned audiences by literally bringing the performer back to life - technologically, anyway.

Reuters asked Los Angeles-based E-Poll Market Research, which surveys consumers about celebrities for Hollywood's major studios and TV networks, to pull together a list of dead celebrities who remain popular and, like Tupac, might still be big draws at a concert if only as a hologram.

Perhaps surprisingly, given his status as the King of Rock, Elvis Presley managed only a second place tie with country singer Johnny Cash. It was soul legend Ray Charles who topped the list, judged by a combination of fan appeal, audience awareness and perceptions of talent. The researchers label the overall grade an "E-Score."

John Lennon - imagine that - was fourth, and one notch below came ol' blue eyes, Frank Sinatra. Another king, this one of pop music, Michael Jackson, failed to make the top 10, but just by one notch. And while Tupac caused a sensation at Coachella, he could only muster 16th place, just behind Tammy Wynette.

A list of music performers most likely to be enjoyed by fans in an after-life hologram is below, ranked according to their "E-Score." The figures were derived from E-Poll's weekly survey of some 1,100 people ages 13 and older. Rank Celebrity E-Score

1 Ray Charles 100

2 Johnny Cash 99

3 Elvis Presley 99

4 John Lennon 98

5 Frank Sinatra 98

6 Bob Marley 96

7 James Brown 96

8 Whitney Houston 95

9 George Harrison 93

10 Jimi Hendrix 92

11 Michael Jackson 91

12 Luther Vandross 90

13 Janis Joplin 89

14 Isaac Hayes 87

15 Tammy Wynette 84

16 Tupac Shakur 77

17 Miles Davis 75

18 Kurt Cobain 74

19 Biggie Smalls 65

20 DJ AM 52

(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte, Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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