Jackson lawsuit will fascinate us all again

Let’s talk about the Jacksons. They’re never far from the headlines and they’re about to start hogging them again.

In case you’ve missed it, Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, and his children Paris, Prince and Blanket have launched a lawsuit against promoter AEG Live, claiming that the company was negligent in its alleged hiring of Michael’s personal physician Dr Conrad Murray.

The sums involved are predictably staggering they’re suing for £26.5 billion.

And word out here is they could well walk away with a shedload of dosh.

But you have to ask yourself, what price will they pay?

They may well have to testify and are probably vulnerable in their own way. Katherine Jackson is 82, Prince is 16, Paris is 15 and Blanket just 11.

I’ve met the kids. Paris especially has total star quality. She’s a “Ready Brek” kid she’s got that glow around her.

Some people in this game just have an indefinable charisma and she’s got it in spades. She’s bagged a part in a film, Lundon’s Bridge And The Three Keys. It’ll be interesting to see how she does. She’s keen on singing, too, but I think it would be better for her to go down the acting route, even if her voice is great.

If she decides to be a singer, for her whole career she’s going to have to put up with comparisons to her dad.

Michael was many things but most would say he was one of the best singers of all time. Could she ever live up to that?

Out here, there’s a strange mix of feelings about the court case.

On the one hand, there’s a bit of “here we go the circus has rolled into town again”.

On the other, though, we can’t help but be grimly fascinated by the whole clan the in-fighting, the cat-calling, the sibling rivalry all the grown-up Jackson kids don’t seem to have grown out of.

There are rumours in the cafes and bars here that there will be a lot of old ground raked over, plus there could even be some new stuff we haven’t heard before coming out.

It’s been reported that Sharon Osbourne has been added to the prosecution’s all-star witness list, which supposedly also includes Diana Ross, Michael’s ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley and singer Prince.

See what I mean? You’re sort of fascinated already and they haven’t even finalised the jury! Pity the potential jurors, though they were asked to complete a 24-page questionnaire, with around 120 questions, to see how much they know about the case.

Incidentally, Conrad Murray gave a phone interview from jail this week. He spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper and continues to maintain his innocence. Murray is appealing his case and says the loss he suffered when Michael died was “overwhelming” because they were great friends.

This circus will run and run.