A giant statue of Michael Jackson in Letná|Photo: YouTube

The biggest pop star of the time was greeted by crowds of whistling fans on September 3, 1996 in front of the InterContinental Hotel in the Old Town of Prague. At that time, the singer had his giant statue erected above Letná (paradoxically, at the place where Marshal Stalin stood here only a few decades before him). At the concert on the Letna Plain, the equipment brought from Los Angeles, which weighed an incredible 1,200 tons, was on display. Pyrotechnics, lighting effects, projections, flashing disguises, dance choreography and many other specific elements were something that fans in the Czech Republic had not seen with their own eyes until then. And their enthusiasm was not tarnished by the comments of critics calling it a ridiculous circus.

Václav Havel’s meeting with Michael Jackson|Photo: YouTube

During the three days that the King of Pop spent in the city before the concert, he managed to see the metropolis and met the then President Václav Havel at Prague Castle, who also watched the concert. After meeting with the head of state, he volunteered for the children’s home in Zbraslav and the children’s trauma center in Motol. In the shadow of later events, it sounds strange that he invited one child to his apartment for an interview every day. But he wrote in 1996, and Michael Jackson was the undisputed king of pop music.

Jackson’s concert in Prague in 1996|Photo: ČT24