With all of the hype surrounding Michael Jackson's death, it has been a little bit easier to remember the King of Pop for his music and less his many eccentricities. Now, however, it's been revealed that prior to his death, Jackson was at work on some pretty crazy plans.
According to a recent article from MTV News, Jackson had been planning a string of Las Vegas shows to pay off debts, only months after he was acquitted of child-molestation charges in 2005. Sounds like a normal pop star thing to do, right? Well, it gets better.
To promote the shows, Jackson had supposedly designed a 50-foot Michael Jackson robot that would promote the shows by wandering around the Nevada desert. Apparently, the MJ robo would have been large enough that anyone landing at the McCarran International Airport would have seen it.
The project was an insanely expensive pipe dream and, as these mock-ups suggest, may not have even been possible to build. After struggling to find enough investors to support the project, Jackson reassessed it, eventually suggesting it be developed into a Michael Jackson robot-themed hotel and casino.
"The idea came up as a proposal to build a giant robotic hotel," explained New York-based designer Timothy Patterson. "The face would move, shooting laser-beam-looking lights. The whole building would be covered with spotlights."
Jackson was scheduled to discuss the project with Patterson and his partner Michael Luckman this winter, after his planned string of London shows. As of right now, though, there are no plans to build the Jackson robot or the robot-themed hotel.
According to a recent article from MTV News, Jackson had been planning a string of Las Vegas shows to pay off debts, only months after he was acquitted of child-molestation charges in 2005. Sounds like a normal pop star thing to do, right? Well, it gets better.
To promote the shows, Jackson had supposedly designed a 50-foot Michael Jackson robot that would promote the shows by wandering around the Nevada desert. Apparently, the MJ robo would have been large enough that anyone landing at the McCarran International Airport would have seen it.
The project was an insanely expensive pipe dream and, as these mock-ups suggest, may not have even been possible to build. After struggling to find enough investors to support the project, Jackson reassessed it, eventually suggesting it be developed into a Michael Jackson robot-themed hotel and casino.
"The idea came up as a proposal to build a giant robotic hotel," explained New York-based designer Timothy Patterson. "The face would move, shooting laser-beam-looking lights. The whole building would be covered with spotlights."
Jackson was scheduled to discuss the project with Patterson and his partner Michael Luckman this winter, after his planned string of London shows. As of right now, though, there are no plans to build the Jackson robot or the robot-themed hotel.
