Jacko Cooking Up 'New Moonwalk'

Drug-addled or ready to rock, his inner-circle tells it from all sides

(NEWSER) - Was Michael Jackson happy and healthy, or drug-addled and depressed in his final days? Depends who you ask. The AP compiles a list of contradictory reports from the star’s inner circle:

• Concert promoter Randy Phillips initially told reporters Jackson was "a healthy, vibrant human being,” but later said he hired an attendant whose sole job was reminding the singer to eat.

(NEWSER) - As legions mourn the King of Pop, Time rounds up the 10 defining moments of his life and career:

• The Jackson 5 bursts onto the scene in 1968, and its first single, “I Want You Back,” makes it to No. 1.
• The release of Thriller in 1982 makes Michael Jackson, in the words of Time, "the biggest thing since the Beatles.”

(NEWSER) - "I don't think there's ever been anyone harder to write about than Michael Jackson," writes Linda Holmes of NPR. Try to balance his musical brilliance with, well, just about everything else in his life. So for her, Michael Jackson comes down to this: That moment in 1983 when he moonwalked live across the TV in a Motown special that "caught him precisely at the moment when he was at his most amazing, his most otherworldly in a good way, his most lithe and eye-popping and wonderfully alien." More»

New YouTube videos promote song's 25th anniversary

(NEWSER) - When Sony BMG wanted to work up some excitement for the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” a conventional campaign using the reclusive artist didn't look like a winner. So the label went the guerrilla route, staging “impromptu breakouts” of the "Thriller" zombie dance at locations including the London Underground and posting them on YouTube, reports the New York Times. More»

It's too expensive, says marketing chief

(NEWSER) - Maybe Facebook shouldn't feel too bad that GM is dropping its paid ads from the site: The automaker isn't buying any Super Bowl spots next year, either, reports the Wall Street Journal . GM, usually a heavy presence in the big game, says the price of the ads—currently $3.8 million for 30 seconds—just isn't worth it. The move is part of a larger overhaul of its marketing strategy, but the company says it's not cutting back on its overall advertising budget, which hit $4.5 billion last year. More»