KINGVENTION 2016 celebrated 25 years of Dangerous in style!

The European Michael Jackson Convention took place at the Park Plaza Victoria in London on September 10 with 300 fans from around the world attending this special day to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s album DANGEROUS!

Japan, New-Zealand, US, South America and China were also represented as everyone came together to celebrate Michael Jackson, his work and his persona.

The day started at 10.30am when the doors opened and fans were there for a treat! A larger than life version of the Dangerous Album cover gave entrance to the Exhibition room, located right in the lobby of the event floor. Fans got the opportunity to have pictures right in the album cover which was pretty cool! This cover was custom printed by the team especially for the event and was inspired by Michael’s ‘Dreams’ commercial in which he gets to run through the album’s cover art.

At 11am, The London International Gospel Choir performed 3 songs to officially open KINGVENTION! The group of over 30 singers gave stunning renditions of “Heal The World” “I Want You Back/ABC” and “Will You Be There” We could even see fans getting emotional!

The Choir performed a further trio on stage just before a brand new video from the MJVibe crew: “KEEP THE FAITH” (video coming soon)

Once on the other side of the album cover, fans entered the “Exhibition Room” which was called “Remember The Time” – perfect name for a room full of exhibits, some never-before-seen. This year, the convention had some “Moonwalker” items: Over 200 storyboards, unseen images, concept artworks (presented to Michael) and original script ideas. All this was already on show on last year event but this year, a special guest: “Mr Big Trooper’s Laser Cannon” from the movie itself was added to the display along with some addition concept pieces for a Moonwalker Comic and photo stills from the film! All pretty impressive items never seen by fans before!

Also in the room, exhibited for the first time, the storyboards from “Captain EO”, press photos and unseen personal photos from Vittorio Storario.

Mary Van der Heijden from the Netherlands showcased her amazing “Michael Jackson Dolls“. Mary and Elke are well-known in the fan community for creating amazing replicas of Michael Jackson costumes on dolls. She exhibited over 15 of her personal collection which was a well enjoyed attraction.

The Exhibition room was not complete without a sample of all merchandise released during the Dangerous era. This collection showcase was sponsored by SIXTEEN11 who are responsible for the Ultimate Collector Book Series and was personally set by Hector Barjot, AKA Fabrice Ancellet who was also present at KINGVENTION.

But the most impressive exhibition was Steven Paul Whitsitt‘s photographs! Over 15 shots of the King of Pop were on display in large format including unseen pictures of Michael on the set of “Scream”, “You Are Not Alone” and “Childhood”. The photos were a huge attraction as all of those shots were for sale including smaller prints.

“Give In To Me” was the name of the MJ Market where KING OF SHOP was set with over 3,000 official Michael Jackson Merchandise, books like The Ultimate Collector Books, Off The Wall and some special items from Diana Walczak Collection which will be soon available in limited quantity on the KING OF SHOP website.

Artist Daniel Brooks from Daniel Brooks Studio was again present this year with amazing painting of the King of Pop. A very talented man and fans could order or purchase one of his masterpieces!

For the first year, Elizabeth Amisu and Karin Merx from “The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies” were also on site to introduce their latest book and podcast.

Also for the first time, ECHOES Magazine, the Black Music specialist were present with a range of back issues including the Michael Jackson’s issue on OFF THE WALL.

And finally, Mike Smallcombe attended Kingvention and was available to sign copies of his book: “Making Michael”

But the highlight of the event was of course to hear from those who worked with Michael Jackson himself!

This year convention had 3 speeches and a live Q&A including a fourth guest.

Yuko Sumida Jackson was the first guest to take the stage. Yuko spoke about the first time she met Michael, her first appearance on “Black or White” short film, her time with Michael on tour and we even got a special footage from the Dangerous rehearsals with “What the lady name again? YUKO!”

The second guest was Thom Russo. Not many fans knew him at Kingvention but once they heard his stories being in the studio with Michael, driving him around and listening to demos that were made for the Dangerous album, fans went crazy in love with him!

The final hour speech was with Dan Beck, the man responsible for the name of the album “HIStory” but also the “Dangerous short films”. Dan went into details on how he worked with Michael to produce products around the world, funny moments on sets of short-films and a touching story about Neverland that received a thunderous round of applause.

All guests were then on stage joined by Jonathan Morrish. Fans in the room could ask any questions to all of them. Questions were varied and all about Michael!

Then it was time to leave it to Michael himself with an hour of footage from the Dangerous era, from short films to unreleased footage, the fans could watch the King of Pop on the big screen whilst enjoying a bag of popcorn!

Club 30’s was the place to relax during the day where you could get refreshments and food but also 2 amazing cocktails “Heal The World” and “Dangerous” specially made by Park Plaza Victoria for this event before it was time for the After Party with Michael’s music blasting the roof off! Fans showcased their moves! Not to mention Yuko’s performance of “The Way You Make Me Feel” and “GHOSTS”! Can’t believe she said she couldn’t remember the steps! Yeah right! LOL

After over 13hrs of just Michael Jackson, it was time to close KINGVENTION!

Check out Hector Barjot Video on KINGVENTION:

Thanks to all our partners, sponsors, suppliers and volunteers who all made this event a success!

And of course to all of those who came! This is just for you! Without you, Kingvention will not be!

For more information, photos and videos about KINGVENTION, click HERE