Sony Pictures

"He was just going to do opening night, film it, and then cancel the rest of the tour."

—Stunning (or not) allegation from a close colleague to the late and highly idiosyncratic Michael Jackson. His physical wherewithal for a daunting 50-tour-date schedule was greatly questioned—before and after his death.

Hey, that's a lotta returned moolah—but, would the film's proceeds have made up for it? Perhaps This Is It's worldwide box-office take will tell.

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Relive Michael Jackson's glory days in our gallery Michael Jackson: A Life.

Sony Pictures

As we reported exclusively months ago, Michael Jackson, according some in his inner circle, had grave concerns and doubts about being able to follow through on his spectacularly demanding "This Is It" tour.

Yes, This Is It, the movie, is a stunning collection of rehearsal footage made mostly by Jackson's über-talented director-choreographer and collaborator, Kenny Ortega, as many stars have Twittered and announced—and our own reviewer gave a top rating to. But why is this movie so eerily foreshadowing?

A big reason might be that Jackson's constantly saying he's "saving" his voice, which is a pretty smart move for a 50-old-man about to embark on sold-out tour of over 50 performances. And it only begs the question:

When the time came for curtain, would Michael have been able to muster the strength, times 50?

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Telegraph UK/ZUMA Press

"He wasn't up to it. He was unwell, and he absolutely did not want to go on that tour—he had an ominous, dreading feeling about it."

—Close family friend of Michael Jackson (and, less so, some of the other Jackson family members), regarding the King of Pop's preparations for the This Is It tour. Clearly, Jackson knew his body wasn't going to be able to hack the exhausting requirments, too bad his creditors and heinous advisors talked M.J. into the ultimately lethal gig

The Net has been abuzz for a bit that Madonna will make an appearance at the Video Music Awards in New York next weekend. Even though the queen's rep shot down that possibility to Marc Malkin last week, we hear MTV isn't ready to give up. So how might they entice Madge to hop onboard the very hyped show this year? By dangling the M.J. card, obviously.

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Danny Martindale/Getty Images

Believe it or not, summer '09 wasn't all about hot bods or pale vampires —some celebrity scandals managed to take over our collective thoughts, too. We couldn't possibly forget to include the craziest of the bunch in our Best of Summer coverage, could we?

Some scandals were sexy, while others were just plain sad. No matter how you reacted, you have to admit these controversies kept us all on the edge of our seats—but which one ranks on top?

Vote for the celeb story that kept you staring at your computer begging for more instead of celebrating your carefree summer days outdoors.

(Did we miss something? Call us out in the comments!)

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Want to wax poetic on the summer of 09? Check out E! Online’s Best of Summer gallery!

Pool Photographer/Getty Images, Sgranitz/Getty Images

Let's see, how can I put this without sending E!'s legal team into uncontrolable fits of Burberry-skirted fury? Hmmm...In light of the ongoing investigation into Michael Jackson's death (honestly, he's had more press in the last month than he'd had in the last 10 years), I think it's time to switch burners and start cooking up somebody other than Dr. Conrad Murray. In other words, let's put Jackson's longtime (ego) pusher, Dr. Arnold Klein, in that legal frying pan for a nice, slow burn, shall we?

Given the pathetic state of M.J.'s body after double autopsies, it's hard to tell what's even left of his remains anymore. But I talked to some physicians, and in each of their professional opinions, they told me the brunt of the damage done to Michael's person could not possibly have been caused by Murray alone during the time he spent with the King of Pop (less than three years). Well, we knew that already, right?

So why has Klein, who tended Jackson through at least a few different noses, receiving arguably less legal scrutiny than Murray? And since cops are investigating him, it looks like maybe Murray will be made to legally answer for exactly what he did to Jackson for all those years, chemically speaking. The point is that drug addiction to the extent Michael Jackson suffered is a long-established dynamic. It began way before Murray, so he shouldn't alone be made to pay the price for what he did—or did not do—to Jackson.

I can't make any accusations because the people I've spoken with who worked in Klein's office won't go on the record. But hopefully, someone will—and soon. Why should two men be killed over this whole sorry affair when definitely at least three are majorly involved?

INFdaily.com

Dear Ted:
What about Jennifer Aniston saying she's fine with it if people call her "lonely girl"? Lonely girl? How long is she going to work this Debbie Reynolds thing? I'm beginning to think she's more media canny than either Shafterella Shoshtein or Fake à la Ferocity. It seems like Jen, Reese Witherspoon, and Angelina Jolie are all competing for the title of America's sweetheart (well, not Angelina—she'd get the Liz Taylor role in this drama), but all of them are just far too manipulative to be that wholesome. If Sandra Bullock put herself out there more, I'd go with her for the win!
—Imqaatdbru

Dear Too Much Red Bull:
Holy crap woman, that leader is loaded. First of all, if Jen was that media savvy she would have skated over the "lonely girl" title from day one—instead of getting crucified for it. Reese she is not.

Dear Ted:
Does Fake à la Ferocity drive or fly around with her kids? Isn't this dangerous and shouldn't someone do something about it before a huge tragedy occurs?
—Sue

Dear Welcome To The Golden Age:
What's she supposed to go by, wagon? What mom doesn't drive around with her tots in tow?

Dear Ted:
Love Awful Truth. When are the annoying "old interview articles with Robert Pattinson" going to stop? Now they have this one which is very old and they are putting out there as if it were new?…Geez Louise, hope it stops soon especially now that Robsten will be together filming in Vancouver.
—Isa

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Johnny Nunez/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Sure, Michael Jackson hadn't released any new music in a long time. But that hardly matters when your old brilliance remains just as fab as the day it was released. Doubt much of the music on the radio today would have a shelf life near as long, right?

Which raises the question: Is there anyone out there now who's anywhere near touching Jackson's iconic status?

The moves, the look, the hits, the voice and even the backstage drama—M.J. had it all. (And even after his death, he's still got the drama.) On those terms, who might be the current King of Pop? Or should we let that phrase rest in peace along with M.J.?

Pool Photographer/Getty Images, Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Evander Holyfield may be well known for his throw, er, rather eardown with Mike Tyson several years back—but who knew this guy had some pretty damn good sense to him, too?

We ran into The Champ last week, an acquaintance to Michael Jackson, so naturally we were wondering about his reaction to MJ's tragic and bizarre death.

"There are a lot of questions up in the air. It's sad," EH tells us exclusively. But Holyfield did spin a positive way of looking at this whole messy sitch:

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More druggy reports on the sad debacle that is Michael Jackson's death. Plus Robsten campers tell us Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart plan to delightfully and deliciously surprise us, big-time, at next week's Comic-Con in San Diego.

Oh, and who's stinkier than Sacha Baron Cohen's performance in Bruno? (Screw the umlaut, already.) Why, the newest growling member of the Casablanca household, that's who! Watch for the full story, in this week's Truth, Lies & Ted!

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Won't make it to Comic-Con? Catch our Tweets from San Diego @eonlineMovies and @KristinAlert

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, Pool

Dear Ted:
Don't bet on Graceland West. I was working in the Los Olivos area during the Staples event, and while talking with residents, it became clear there's vehement opposition to the possibility of Neverland becoming a major attraction—and these people have the money and connections to block it. Access is a major issue certainly, but one neighbor pointed out to me that there are two boarding schools that share the road leading to the property. When I heard that it gave me a chill.
–Duncan Denise

Dear Graceland 2.0:
Those residents might have money, but fandom can be quite powerful. Plus, we're sure Joe Jackson wouldn't mind somehow getting his paws on all the cash that would come from opening Neverland up to the public.

Dear Ted:
Did anyone else notice that when Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris, spoke at his memorial, not one member of the Jackson family comforted her? Oh, they pretended to, but generally they adjusted the microphone, hovered and got in the camera shot, but no one truly comforted the child who was obviously distraught. Hope someone steps up to the plate soon and continues even when the camera's are off.
–Cathy

Dear Poor Paris:
Were we watching the same show? (Er, I mean memorial.) She looked comforted onstage to me, but backstage may have been a different story. 

Dear Ted:
Terry Tush-Trade is Ashley Greene—slim, hot and badass. Her bisexual lover is Jackson Rathbone and they were brought together by Catherine Hardwicke. Right?
–Monna

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Wally Skalij-Pool/Getty Images

What's with all this breaking news about Dr. Arnie Klein being investigated for Michael Jackson's death? I'm wondering what took so long for the coroner to finally make a house call to the questionable doc's office. The Awful T. told you over a week ago how so-not-right M.J.'s doc is, it's a friggin' no-brainer. Need I remind you how addictive and dangerous Klein's prescription of Demerol actually was? And how much certain docs would love to give it to M.J. whenever he came in for the smallest stuff?

I certainly wouldn't be surprised if La Toya was right all along—and that's saying a lot, to be on the side of a woman allegedly paid for her doc-slamming interview. But murder? Hmm. Pretty strong words, La Toya, especially coming from a gal who used to crap all over her family every chance she got. Why so mama-bear with them now?

Let's hope Klein gets more heat on him than Dr. Jan Adams did when he helped botch the plastic surgery of Donde West (Kanye's beloved mother) last year. Sure, Adams got thrown in jail—but for a DUI, not for West's death.

You'd think with all the money in the world at their disposal, celebs could find better physicians to take care of them? Some stars treat their damn cars better than their bodies.