MADONNA & HOUSTON DENY JACKSON CONCERT REPORTS

A star-studded tribute concert honouring late superstar MICHAEL JACKSON has been thrown into jeopardy after representatives for WHITNEY HOUSTON and MADONNA denied the singers have signed up to headline the show.

Plans to honour the late King Of Pop with a gig in Vienna, Austria next month (Sep09) were confirmed by Jermaine Jackson earlier this week (10Aug09). Jackson is co-ordinating the event with talk show host Larry King’s wife Shawn.

Usher, Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston were all confirmed as performers at the memorial show, in the grounds of the city’s former imperial Schoenbrunn Palace, by Shawn King’s spokesman Howard Rubenstein.

Producer Georg Kindel from World Awards Media, the company behind the event, also hinted that Queen Of Pop Madonna was set to pay tribute to the Thriller hitmaker.

But spokespersons for Houston and the Holiday hitmaker have hit back at reports of the stars’ participation in the extravaganza, according to New York gossip column PageSix.

Madonna’s rep Liz Rosenberg says, “It’s not true. She’s still on tour,” while Houston’s spokeswoman Jill Fritzo adds, “(No). Not that I am aware of.”

The concert will be broadcast live on TV and over 85,000 fans will be given the chance to attend. Ticket sales for The Tribute go on sale on 20 August (09).