Talk:Michael Jackson

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Frequently asked questions

Many of these questions arise frequently on the talk page concerning Michael Jackson.

To view an explanation to the answer, click the [show] link to the right of the question.

Q1: Should the article mention reports that Michael Jackson was Muslim? (No.)

A1: No. The article should not mention reports that Michael Jackson was Muslim. Jackson had not publicly spoken about his exact religion in a number of years and only spoke about spirituality in general terms. The specific reports of a conversion ceremony for Jackson have been denied by his New York lawyer Londell McMillan.[1] They were also denied by Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens [2] and Dawud Wharnsby [3] who were allegedly present at the ceremony. The Michael Jackson memorial service did not involve any Islamic rites. Without further details from his family or representatives, it will not be included in the article.

Q2: Should the "Jacko" name be mentioned in the lead? (No.)

A2: No. The "Jacko" name should not be mentioned in the lead. Past consensus goes against such inclusion. The name is a derogatory term used primarily by US/UK/Australian tabloids. The slogan is discussed in the relevant section of the article.

Q3: Should the article mention that Jackson reportedly had cancer/blindness/liver disease/AIDS, etc.? (No.)

A3: No. The article should not mention that Jackson reportedly had cancer, blindness, liver disease, AIDS, etc. Until such claims are confirmed by a Jackson representative it will not go in the article at all. These claims are largely fabricated by tabloids.

Q4: Should the article mention that Jackson reportedly had a secret child called Omer Bhatti? (No.)

A4: No. This claim was denied by Bhatti [4] and only a DNA test would resolve the matter.

Q5: Isn't Jackson the seventh child of the Jackson family, not the eighth? (No.)

A5: No. Marlon had a twin, Brandon, who died shortly after birth. This makes Michael the eighth child.

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This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations:

McCullagh, Declan (June 25, 2009). "Michael Jackson's death roils Wikipedia". CNET Networks.
Rawlinson, Linnie (June 25, 2009). "Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with him". CNN.
Boyd, E.B. (June 25, 2009). "Wikipedia Tech Team Learns About King of Pop, Rock, and Soul Death When Their Servers Crash". Mediabistro.com.
Shiels, Maggie (June 26, 2009). "Web slows after Jackson's death". BBC News.
Cohen, Noam (June 26, 2009). "With Jackson Entry, Wikipedia May Have Set a Record". The New York Times.
Cohen, Noam (July 19, 2009). "Wikipedia May Be a Font of Facts, but It's a Desert for Photos". The New York Times.
(none) (August 17, 2009). "The 50 most-viewed Wikipedia articles in 2009 and 2008". The Daily Telegraph.

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Michael Jackson article.
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Article policies

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Michael Jackson is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
January 27, 2006	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
January 31, 2006	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
February 1, 2006	Peer review	Reviewed
March 8, 2006	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
September 18, 2006	Good article nominee	Not listed
November 23, 2006	Good article nominee	Listed
May 11, 2007	Good article reassessment	Kept
January 18, 2008	Peer review	Reviewed
January 24, 2008	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
April 18, 2008	Peer review	Reviewed
April 25, 2008	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
July 3, 2008	Peer review	Reviewed
July 28, 2008	Featured article candidate	Promoted
April 23, 2009	Peer review	Reviewed
A news item involving this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "In the news" column on June 25, 2009.
Current status: Featured article

Spelling

I don't entirely know how Wikipedia works, so I couldn't say whose error this is, but on multiple pages that link to MJ's Wiki, and also the main address of MJ's Wiki, have his name spelt wrong. Surely this would be one of the first things to be corrected anywhere?!? It says Micheal Jackson - whereas it should be Michael Jackson. The only reason I noticed this is that my middle name - and my Dad's name - is Michael too....

I just typed that and realised a slight mistake - if his Wiki address has Michael_Jackson OR Micheal_Jackson it goes to the same place. So apologies for that, clearly for those who can't spell there's a fall-back. But it's still wrong on at least this site - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleurisy.

Genre/New jack swing

I belive new jack swing needs to be there and rock replaced with soul

what do you guys think?--Louis Taylor (talk) 17:49, 3 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

it lists mj as a new jack swing artist here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_Jack_Swing_artists do you thing new jack swing should be added to the genres? --Louis Taylor (talk) 04:32, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

New Jack Swing as well as soul are sub categories of Contemporary R&B. Infobox only uses the parent genre, so no. Template:Infobox musical artist: aim for generality. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 04:49, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Michael Jackson's religion

Would somebody figure out how to incorporate this new article into the page? Probably the easiest would be to add it to the See also section. 98.248.33.198 (talk) 17:11, 4 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Tha article Michael Jackson's religion was created today (4 October 2009) and may have some issues with WP:GNG for a standalone article. Other comments welcome.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 17:19, 4 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Personally I don't think the article deserves to be away from the main article. Alan16 (talk) 00:34, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. The topic can be dealt with without forking a new article dealing with only one aspect of Jackson which largely consists of tabloid rumours, refutations thereof, and some synthesis of those sources; in the bigger picture, it's not a major issue as far as I can see, and "Michael Jackson's religion" should be merged back here insofar as there is anything relevant to merge. Rodhull andemu 00:42, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

who cares he is a human and he is michael jackson rip —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.2.117.80 (talk) 08:19, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

it should be nominated for deletion. There will never be enough information on the subject for a stand alone article. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 08:25, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Voice type

Michael Jackson's voice type is a popular area for edit warring, and has gone round in circles before. As with the 350-750 million record sales nonsense, it is possible to quote a range of sources about Jackson's voice type. The infobox specifies vocals, which is enough for this location. Anything else should be in the main text of the article. Jackson has been described as everything from tenor to falsetto, but these are not terms that are strictly applicable in the world of pop music. Please avoid putting anything in the infobox about Jackson's voice type without establishing a WP:CONSENSUS.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 18:45, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

well he is a tenor he has a high voice for male i do not get what you are saying —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.4.118.18 (talk) 19:24, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This is similar to the row over the instruments Jackson played. The infobox should stick to the basics and leave anything detailed to the main body of the article. Tenor has many definitions, and since Jackson's voice has set off arguments over this before, it is best to look for consensus rather than to risk lame edit wars in the infobox.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 20:23, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

ok fair enough thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.4.118.18 (talk) 20:29, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Vandal has spammed Wikipedia

When I went to Google and typed in Michael Jackson, I got this excerpt from the Wipipedia link:

"Michael Jackson, who was a negro turned himself white, because he wanted to be part of the dominating race. Before he killed himself he would rape little"

Could someone please remove this vile piece of writing? The Wikipedia article says this on Google.

thanks--Jo (talk) 05:29, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The latest cached Google version of Michael Jackson is at 07:02 GMT on 10 October 2009.[5] Unfortunately Wikipedia has no control over how Google caches the search results, but the phrase that you mentioned is not in the current version of the article. It looks like the problem has been fixed automatically.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 07:44, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See User talk:Grubish for the amazing excuse that the vandal behind this edit gave.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 12:10, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

?

[[he did about 75 songsMedia''':Example.ogg]] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.132.253.224 (talk) 11:57, 11 October 2009 (UTC) [reply]