Sunday, July 05, 2009 LONDON: Madonna paid tribute to Michael Jackson on Saturday night in the same arena where he was to stage his comeback, dancing along with an impersonator doing Jackson's distinctive moves.Jackson, who died last week, was to begin a series of 50 concerts at the 23,000-seat O2 starting July 13.A picture of a young Michael Jackson appeared on stage while Madonna was performing "Holiday," then the impersonator came on, wearing a sequined jacket, white T-shirt, white glove and white socks in the Jackson manner.The music then switched to Jackson's song, "Wanna Be Starting Something," and the impersonator worked through Jackson's moves, including the famous moonwalk. The impersonator didn't sing.After the number, Madonna told the crowd, "Let's give it up for one of the greatest artists the world has ever known," and the crowd roared its approval.The impersonator's appearance would not have surprised anyone paying close attention to Madonna's Web site, which had a picture of him dancing in rehearsal.An estimated crowd of 17,000, including the fashion designer Valentino, turned out for Madonna's concert, the first of two this weekend in London on her "Sticky & Sweet" tour.In an interview with The Sun newspaper, Madonna had said she was "terribly sad" about Jackson's death."To be able to do what he did at such an early age was unearthly, everybody grew up in awe of him," The Sun quoted her as saying."To work with him and become friends, and hang out with him, was exciting for me. I used to love picking his brains about musical stuff."
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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