With a familiar high-pitched voice counting off 1-2-3-4, a new Michael Jackson single debuted online, the only unheard song on the soundtrack to an upcoming documentary featuring the late superstar. The string-backed ballad “This Is It’’ was released yesterday on the singer’s official website and sent to radio stations. It gives advance publicity to the documentary, culled from footage of Jackson rehearsing for the concerts that he never got a chance to do. “This Is It’’ was found in a box of tapes with only Jackson’s voice and a piano accompaniment. Sony Music Entertainment isn’t sure when Jackson recorded it, and speculates it could have been around the singer’s “Off the Wall’’ album 30 years ago, according to the Associated Press. But music legend Paul Anka claimed yesterday that “This Is It’’ was a rip-off of a song that he and Jackson co-wrote in 1983 called “I Never Heard.’’ Anka later said that Jackson’s estate has promised that he will receive 50 percent of the song’s profits. (Compiled from wire reports)
Two doctors and the lawyer-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith are due in court to hear what government witnesses have to say about their alleged roles in supplying drugs that killed the celebrity model. A preliminary hearing for Howard K. Stern, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich is scheduled in Los Angeles today before a judge who will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to order them to stand trial. All three have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to illegally provide Smith with controlled substances. (AP)
Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols has been selected by the American Film Institute to receive the 38th annual AFI Life Achievement Award. Nichols’s notable directing credits include “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,’’ “The Graduate,’’ “Carnal Knowledge,’’ and “Silkwood.’’ (Los Angeles Times)
