Bringing the Moonwalker down to Earth

Remember when we were kids, and we got excited when the circus came to town? A Michael Jackson show used to generate the same kind of anticipation, but lately it seems the kids are starting to lose interest in Wacko Jacko's Mad Menagerie. At least, that's the impression we're getting from Jackson's European gigs, many of which have fallen short of the expected sell-out.

Jackson used to be the hottest ticket in town, but sales are beginning to border on the lukewarm, and some of us are starting to wonder if Wacko is finally starting to reap the rewards of the rumours which have been sown in the past few years.

Jacko is in Dublin tomorrow, but don't bother waiting outside the Berkeley Court Hotel in the hope of spotting the star. Unlike the last time he played here, in 1995, Jackson does not intend to tarry long in our fair city and right after he finishes his concert in the RDS a helicopter will whisk him to his private jet which will then fly him back to his bivouac in Paris.

Jackson has based himself in the French capital for the duration of his European tour, and he has brought his son, Prince, along with him. He has also brought along the nurse who's the mother of his child.

Tomorrow's show in Dublin has not yet sold out, but publicist Chris Roche is confident that by tomorrow afternoon, all remaining tickets will finally have been snapped up by the Irish fans. Jackson's European tour kicked off in Germany on May 31st, and will take in every country from Spain to Slovenia, finishing in Belgium at the end of August. No US tour is planned. Audiences around Europe will witness a spectacular two-hour show during which Jackson performs his greatest hits, including a set of Motown classics from his Jackson Five days.

Wacko's entrance is typically dramatic: he emerges from a rocket ship dressed up like an android, and stands motionless in front of the audience for five full minutes. Later in the show, an army tank trundles onstage; another highlight comes when Jacko climbs into a cherry-picker and swoops above the audience. But despite all the heavy artillery, PopMart is still the live show everyone is talking about and the only thing that might compete with U2's spectacle is the ferociously-choreographed troupe of dancers, led by the lithe figure of the Moonwalker himself.

Jackson still has the dancefloor in his blood, but his heart may yet remain somewhere near Graceland. After last Tuesday's gig in London's Wembley Stadium, he was spotted leaving hand-in-hand with his ex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley. When he married the daughter of Elvis Presley, it was seen as a desperate publicity stunt, an attempt to wipe away the stains left when Jackson was accused of molesting 14-year-old Jordy Chandler in the singer's Neverland sprawl.

It cost Jackson $21 million to settle the case, but it may have cost him a lot more in the long run. His record sales have steadily declined in the past few years, and where 1983's Thriller has clocked in at 47 million copies, making it the biggest selling album of all time, American sales of his most recent release, History In The Mix, have been described as disastrous, barely touching the one million mark. OK, it is only a remix album, containing just five new songs, but with Wacko's brand name on it, you'd expect it to do better than that.

Ironically, ever since Michael Jackson declared himself the King Of Pop, his empire has begun to crumble around him. He remains the single most successful entertainer of the 20th century, but Wacko seems to have peaked in the 1980s, and although he likes to think of himself as the supreme ruler of pop music, he's still subject to the public's changing tastes.

Breda Coyle from Dalkey has two daughters, Jenny (10) and Sarah (7), and would have no qualms about bringing them to see Michael Jackson. Both girls, she says are massive Wacko fans, but lately their loyalty in him has been severely undermined by the arrival of The Spice Girls.

"The girls wouldn't be aware of any child abuse allegations against Michael Jackson," says Breda, "but they would be aware that he wasn't quite kosher. As a mother, I wouldn't be worried about bringing the kids to see the Michael Jackson concert, because it's spectacular entertainment for kids. But he's definitely tarnished."