Jackson's guitarist tells of last rehearsal together

The glamorous guitarist who accompanied Michael Jackson just hours before his death spoke for the first time today of the encounter and said she saw no signs of ill health.

Australian musician Orianthi Panagaris, who was seen playing with Jackson during his rehearsal footage, said her months of working with the singer seemed like a “crazy dream”.

The blonde guitar player said: “It still hasn’t sunk in that he has actually passed. We’re still in shock.

Speaking to musicians’ website musicradar.com, Orianthi said: “What you see on the footage is what he was like to us. That was what was so shocking for all of us. We saw him dancing and singing and interacting and joking, having a great time, so excited. He wasn’t sitting in a chair coughing and looking sickly. To be with him on the night before (he died) was hard.”

Orianthi, who was seen performing closely with Jackson during a performance of 'They Don’t Really Care About Us', said she was recruited for the shows after Jackson’s team emailed through her Myspace page.

“I didn’t think it was for real you get some pretty weird emails on Myspace sometimes,” she said.

The rehearsals were held at the Staples Centre in LA, where she later took part in the memorial celebration last week.

“Getting back together with the band and to be playing the funeral not the show ... we were looking around at each other thinking ’are we really doing this’? We were just really sad because we’re all big fans.”

Orianthi said Jackson took a hands-on role in the show.

“He would direct us, he wanted everyone to have certain moments in the show, give me guitar solos, hit your highest note here, this is your moment and he was just so giving and encouraging which was awesome. We would always be watching him.”

The shows were due to kick off at the O2 Arena in east London this week.

Orianthi said: “It’s just so sad that he’s not here to do it. We just wanted to see the fans’ faces in the front row thinking ’oh my gosh, MJ’s back’. He was so ready to do it, so excited. It was an amazing show.”