Sawyer Wins Race To Chat With Michael And Lisa Marie

Fri., May 19, 1995

From Wire Reports

Diane Sawyer has landed the interview we’ve all been dying for - Michael Jackson and his wife, Lisa Marie Presley, for a live, one-hour “PrimeTime Live” special the night of June 14.

It will be the first time the Gloved One and Elvis Presley’s daughter have been interviewed together since their nuptials and the first time Lisa Marie has been interviewed on television.

A spokeswoman for PTL said Wednesday that the couple “has agreed to talk about everything,” including, presumably, the accusations against the pop superstar of child molestation back in 1993, as well as their much publicized marriage. It will also included the Jacksons’ never-before-seen wedding video.

In keeping with the slightly-off-center nature of any Michael Jackson enterprise, the interview will be live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur, which was the entertainer’s choice as a favorite site in Manhattan.

The spokeswoman said Sawyer had been pursuing the interview “for several months,” although the conventional wisdom has had every major anchor or talk show host, including Barbara and Oprah and Connie and Jane, in hot pursuit of Jackson for years, even before the wedding.

Sinatra 24-CD set coming

To coincide with Frank Sinatra’s 80th birthday, Reprise Records will issue a 24-CD box set containing more than 450 songs. It is tentatively set for release on Sept. 26.

The project, currently untitled, will likely retail at less than $500 and include various essays in book form by Sinatra biographers and admirers.

The set, which is expected to be released in a “trunk,” will contain the Chairman of the Board’s entire Reprise discography.

While Reprise is still awaiting approval, the 454 slated songs are scheduled to appear in chronological order. “It will encompass everything he has ever done for Reprise,” a Reprise source said. “The entire recorded collection.”

Sinatra turns 80 on Dec. 12, so the label is aiming for a fall release.

Another source told ICE, the monthly CD newsletter, that the set will contain previously unreleased tracks, along with “a significant number of songs that have yet to come out on CD, because they were singles never on albums in the first place.”

‘Star Wars’ gets new footage

As most fans of the series know, George Lucas has begun planning for the continuation of the “Star Wars” saga, with the next trilogy (which predates the action in the first) in development.

Work also is going ahead on the old series. Set for rerelease in 1997, the 20th anniversary of “Star Wars,” the original trilogy is undergoing a refit.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.