Jacko wanted to perform O2 gigs for his kids, says friend

LONDON - Michael Jackson’s friend Mark Lester has said that one of the reasons the icon had planned to perform ‘This Is It’ concerts was that he wanted his children to see him live on stage.

“He wanted his children to see daddy do what daddy does best, ” The Scotsman quoted him as saying.

He added: “The kids had never seen Michael performing live. This was their opportunity to see him.

“They had watched him on DVDs and on television, but they had never watched him doing his stuff live.

“He wanted that very much for his children to see, and of course for all the fans and everybody else, but the main motivation behind it was for them to see their daddy.”

Mark also said that the three children - Michael Joseph Jackson Junior, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II- meant “everything” to the singer.

Lester also dismissed gossips that the icon was under too much strain to do the shows and would not have been able to finish them.

He said: “Michael wouldn’t have taken it on if he had any doubt that he couldn’t have done it.

“He was a perfectionist and if he couldn’t have done it to how he wanted to do it, he wouldn’t have taken it on.”

The former Oliver! child actor also said that he had met Jackson for the last time in March.

“We saw him in March and spent the weekend together - he was fit and healthy, we had fish and chips, his favourite meal whenever he comes to London,” he said. (ANI)