‘I hate to say it, but he’s doomed ... the magic is forgotten’

MICHAEL Jackson’s acquittal on child molestation charges drew jubilation from his fans from around the globe on Tuesday, outrage from some parents and observations that the ordeal has tarnished the pop star’s aura forever.

Morning television shows in Australia broke into live coverage of the verdict in Santa Maria, while in the Middle East, news channels al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya interrupted coverage as Mr Jackson arrived at the courthouse. “The minutes before the verdict were the most nervous moments of my life. Now, these are the happiest,” said Kent Vilhemsson, 21, watching from Skovde, Sweden.

In Australia, Jason Jackson, 31, a Michael Jackson impersonator since age 11, greeted the verdict with relief: “I supported Michael from the start and I will continue supporting Michael,” he said.

Fellow Australian fan Dorin Birkental, 22, travelled to California in April to observe part of the trial.

“It made me very angry because I saw Michael Jackson sitting in the courtroom and he was just so frail and thin. It took so much out of him,” she said. “All he’s ever done is just do good and make amazing music.”

“I hate to say it, but he’s doomed,” Mohamad Zulkifli said in Kuala Lumpur.

“The magic is forgotten,” agreed Valdeci Pereira, an evangelist preacher in the Dona Marta shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, where Jackson filmed the video They Don’t Care About Us in 1996. “People will never listen to his music the same way again.”

In the US territory of Puerto Rico, several women with children said they were stunned that Jackson was found innocent. Brenda del Valle, 35, who has a young daughter, called the verdict “outrageous.”

“As a mother, I think it is not fair to subject that entire family and the boy to that judicial process only to have nothing happen,” del Valle said. Other observers in Latin American also opposed the verdict.