I can’t believe my old friend Michael Jackson is celebrating his half century.
Even though he’s only 7 years older than me, I can’t think of him as being 50 as it sounds too old. It’s 20 years since we last met and I think in my mind he will always be that age, until we meet up again, which may happen quite soon.
Michael continues to hit the headlines, even though he’s tried to live a more normal life, but he’s proven bulletproof over the years after surviving all the allegations and rumours of financial difficulties. Many people wouldn’t have coped with all that.
His album Thriller is still the best selling album of all time and I think the record companies put pressure on him to release more albums as everyone makes so much money out of them.
His new album King of Pop is sure to fly off the shelves (that sounds old fashioned, I know but I can’t think of a comparable phrase relating to downloads!)
It will be popular with all generations, and that’s what always amazes me. Even when I watched Big Brother last week their task was to rehearse and perform the Thriller video in full make up and costume, which looked great, but given that most of the contestants are in their early 20’s , you wouldn’t expect them all to love it so much.
1958 must have been a good year for those who age well as he shares his birthday with Hollywood stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Sharon Stone and comedian Lenny Henry. I wouldn’t want to speculate who has the best surgeon though!
I may not be jealous of Michael’s looks, but I am forever in awe of his fabulous voice. To be so distinctive that even your scream is identifiable by billions of people is amazing.
Personally, I don’t think I’ve got a bad voice, but I’ll never make a career out of it. Last Friday night after the Mr Gay UK final I arrived back at my hotel in Manchester to find Boyzone stars Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately enjoying a nightcap in the bar.
I was buzzing after a wonderful evening and couldn’t resist serenading them with my rendition of their hit ‘ No Matter What.’
Most people in the bar found it amusing but I don’t think Ronan and Stephen were auditioning for new band members that night - they got up and headed straight for the lift!
K9 Party in The Park
Next Sunday the 7th September, my partner Michael and I have been invited by the RSPCA to judge 4 classes in their annual dog show.
The event takes place at Manor Heath Park in Halifax between midday and 5pm , and they are expecting a very high standard of entry from Yorkshire and the surrounding area.
The classes we have been asked to judge are ‘Best dog on the Elderly Animal Rehoming Scheme’ which is for elderly dogs who the RSPCA have re-homed. ‘My Best Friend ‘ - a class looking for a good relationship between the dog and the family and RSPCA Rescue Dog of the Year.
But the category I am most excited about is Celebrity Dog stars - I’ll be there with my camera and autograph book to see who turns up!
There are lots of other categories and I’ll be entering my dogs George and Mildred into the Perfect Pup contest so we will be undergoing a strict training regime this week. (That’s Michael and I, not the dogs!)
I think we’ll enter our other dog Ruby into the hot dog sausage run or the dogstacle course so she doesn’t feel left out.
I just hope we can choose winners between all the dogs entering. We are both big dog lovers so will probably want to give them all a prize - I better stock up on chew sticks as consolation prizes just in case.