Dude, Spoiler Alert: Michael Jackson's Set List Revealed

'This is it.'

The Strokes? Nope. Michael Jackson? Yes!

By now you are no doubt aware of the one-gloved hubbub wafting across the pond from our friends in the U.K. Michael Jackson, native of a planet other than earth, will be playing ten twenty five thirty THIRTY SEVEN concerts in London starting this July. MJ, who has been dodging bad press and even worse legal matters for the last fifteen years, has finally made the news for mere musical activities.

In fact, Michael KEEPS making the news, announcing additions to his already jaw-dropping run at the enormous O2 Arena. They started off by announcing a run of ten shows. Various internet sites were overrun, with (surely inflated) reports of up to 16,000 hits per second. Subsequently, more shows were announced. Then more. The announcements were broken up over days, allowing for maximum press blanketing. The first thirty will take place this summer. The final seven, and presumably any more added later, will be performed in January and February 2010.

Of course, such an enormous undertaking is being planned down to the second. This includes the setlist, and if this report is to be believed, the list of songs that MJ will perform has leaked. If the following appeals to you, why not go see it thirty-seven times? Here it is:

'Billie Jean'
'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin''
'Rock With You'
'The Way You Make Me Feel'
'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough'
'I Just Can't Stop Loving You'
'Human Nature'
'Smooth Criminal'
'Girlfriend'
'Man In The Mirror'
'Beat It'
'One Day In Your Life'
'Heal The World'
'You Are Not Alone'
'Remember The Time'
'Thriller'

No word on where the encore break is. Possibly after 'You Are Not Alone'? That would allow for a two-song encore featuring mid-tempo wistfulness followed by pull-out-the-stop theatrics. And how about that five song opening line-up? Seeing the songs all in one place is a reminder of how fantastic Michael Jackson's back catalog is. So why does he have to be such a weird, weird man?