As the world knows, Dr. Conrad Murray was arraigned yesterday and set free on $75,000 bail. The government wanted $300,000. Dr. Murray’s lawyer thought he should just go free. The judge found a middle ground.

Now the case moves to downtown L.A. on April 5th for a preliminary hearing. But my sources say that we won’t have a trial before September, and it could be as long as a year before Dr. Murray has to face a jury of his peers.

Meantime, the government scored a point: Dr. Murray, while he waits for his medical license to be revoked, can longer administer anesthesia. He won’t be putting anyone else out or under. That’s a good thing. You may recall a story I did last summer: Dr. Murray’s late doctor father also had problems giving patients such drugs. He was suspended for two years. The Murrays apparently like knocking out their patients. A lot.

TMZ’s long week of predicting, nay, demanding, the arrest and arraignment of Dr. Conrad Murray has come to an end.

Despite the Web site’s wacky hourly announcements about Dr. Murray’s legal situation, Michael Jackson’s alleged killer will actually be formally charged on Monday in Los Angeles.

How do we know? Because the LAPD and District Attorney have each sent out a press release with the info. That takes the mystery out of it! Dr. Murray will be arraigned at the Airport Court on So. La Cienega on Monday after charges are filed with the DA.

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Dr. Conrad Murray will be arrested this afternoon for the murder of Michael Jackson on June 25. The charge, sources say, will be involuntary manslaughter.

And then the fun begins.

We can expect that within hours of the arrest a civil suit will be filed against Dr. Murray by Michael Jackson’s family. This should kick off internal squabbles among the avaricious Jacksons like never before.

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For so many reasons, Michael Jackson must have been spinning in his million-dollar mausoleum last night.

His kids, Prince and Paris, whom he draped in bee keeper’s hats and masks to keep them out of the public, took center stage and accepted his Lifetime Achievement Award at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards.

Yes, they were poised and articulate. That certainly shows that Jackson’s parenting was better than anyone could have guessed.

But their remarks were scripted. And when Prince Michael, Jackson’s 12-year-old son with Debbie Rowe, spoke, it was worth examining what he said. He acknowledged both his “grandma” — Katherine Jackson, his legal guardian — and his “grandpa,” Joe Jackson, whom Michael hated. Joe Jackson is currently suing Michael’s estate to get a $20,000-per-month allowance. Read the rest of this entry »

This Sunday’s Grammy Awards is set to open with a tribute to Michael Jackson. There will be the 3D “Earth Song” from Michael’s canceled “This Is It” concert. Then a selection of pop stars including Smokey Robinson, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and Usher is scheduled to perform a medley of Michael’s hits.

But what hasn’t been determined is who will accept Michael’s Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. Jackson is to be honored along with Bobby Darin, Loretta Lynn, Clark Terry, David Honeyboy Edwards, Andre Previn, and Leonard Cohen. Among the winners of the Trustees award are Florence Greenberg, founder of Scepter Records and subject of the new musical, “Baby It’s You.” Read the rest of this entry »

EXCLUSIVE: This column has learned that Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie are planning a massive 25th anniversary re-recording of “We Are the World.”

The timing couldn’t be better, sadly enough.

The duo is summoning lots and lots of talent from Grammy weekend to stay an extra night — Monday Feb. 1 — and come to the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. There, they will celebrate a quarter century since Ken Kragen, Richie and Michael Jackson organized the original “We Are the World” with Quincy.

This time the artists invited include Usher, Natalie Cole, and John Legend. But you can bet that more names will be added shortly and that all the Grammy nominees and participants will be asked to come as well. Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich will produce the event, which will then be turned into a video and single just like it was in 1985. Don’t be surprised if Wyclef Jean joins in, along with Sting, Fergie, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake and other distinctive voices.

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I can tell you something now that I knew a couple of weeks ago: Michael Jackson’s three kids didn’t spend the holidays with the Jackson family at their Hayvenhurst Rd home in Encino, California.

Even though Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, has custody of Prince, Paris and “Blanket,” the three kids weren’t with her on Christmas or New Year’s.

Instead, nanny Grace Rwaramba arranged to take the kids for an extended visit with family friends. This is contrary to reported stories that the three were with their aunt, Janet Jackson, in New York. That was a decoy story. It’s amazing how every blog from Perez Hilton to the most insignificant picked up that story on Christmas Eve and ran it without checking a single fact. Imagine what that means for other celeb blog “exclusives.”

“They were extremely happy and they had a great time,” says a source of the no-Jackson holiday. “It wasn’t a big deal Christmas with elaborate gifts. It was very humble.”

The reason? Katherine Jackson, a Jehovah’s Witness, doesn’t celebrate holidays. If the kids had remained with her in Encino, they would have been deprived, a source says, of their annual Christmas celebration. Katherine, they say, was wise enough to sign off on the visit, and allowed Rwaramba to make the arrangements.

And the word on the kids? “They seemed fine, well adjusted, they’re doing their school work. They don’t talk about Michael’s death but they do mention him.”

The FBI files on Michael Jackson show a concerted effort by the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s office to convict the pop star for child molestationin 2003-2005.

The DA even brought in the FBI for assistance. But the Bureau’s examination of all the computers seized from Neverland found nothing in April 2004 — ten months before Jackson’s trial. They  went through a bunch of computers seized at the ranch, and ran “keyword searches” through them, looking for kiddie pornography. They came up with 18 pages of nothing.

Michael’s defense attorney Thomas Mesereau expressed surprise to me about the FBI files yesterday. “I never saw them,” he said. “Shouldn’t they have shared them with me?”

It didn’t matter. Mesereau’s masterful handling of the case got Michael acquitted of all charges in his 2005 child molestation/conspiracy case. But why did the DA go ahead with the case at all if the FBI turned up nothing?

Mesereau told me: “They heard all these stories, they read stories in the tabloids, there was the 1993 case. They had to proceed. Plus DA Tom Sneddon had gotten legislation passed since the first case making it impossible not to go ahead. And he did it because of Michael.”

Jackson was innocent of those charges. Whatever else happened to Michael Jackson in life, he was set up by Janet Arvizo to take a fall. Luckily, several people stepped in to save Michael.

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Michael Jackson’s estate lawyers won’t be amused to hear this: Jackson’s likeness and music are being exploited by Scientology.

My colleague Guy Adams of the U.K. paper The Independent came across this invite to a December 6th Scientology event in Britain:

THE OT COMMITTEE CC LONDON CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO a spectacular evening celebrating one of the greatest artists of all time Michael Jackson in true Celebrity Centre style.

· Get briefed by a Senior Executive from Celebrity Centre International on the plans for CC London.

· Enjoy entertainment in honour of the King of Pop with dance troupe ‘Malfunktion’ and singer supreme Anton Lorien!

· Find out what the OT Committee is all about and what their plans are for the Ideal CC London!

Sunday, 6th December – 7.00pm
Fitzroy House, 33-35 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 6DX
Refreshments will be served.

A spectacular evening that you will NOT want to miss!

CALL xxxxxxxxx TO RESERVE YOUR PLACE NOW!

© 2009 Church of Scientology Religious Education College Inc. A non-profit organisation incorporated in South Australia. Registered Office 24-28 Waymouth Street, Adelaide, South Australia. Registered in the UK under company number FC9154. Registered agent in the UK: P D Hodkin, 42/44 Copthorne Road, Felbridge, East Grinstead, RH19 2NS. OT and CELEBRITY CENTRE are trademarks and service marks owned by Religious Technology Center and are used with its permission.

Michael was many things, but he was NOT a Scientologist. Of course, he was married to one — Lisa Marie Presley — but he resisted  the sect’s charms — and hers apparently too.

Michael Jackson must be rolling in his million dollar tomb. His kids spent Thanksgiving not in the warm embrace of a family meal at home, but in a luxury suite in a Las Vegas hotel.

A video of the kids’ Vegas reverie has been posted on YouTube.

The video features some of Jermaine and Randy Jackson’s kids conducting a tour of a $25,000 a-night a suite at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Day. The suite is sort of a cold place on several floors and has a basketball court. Blanket — Prince Michael II — is seen in the video and heard shouting. His older brother, Prince, can be seen in it as well.

The question is then raised: where is Katherine Jackson, the kids’ grandmother and guardian? Why is there no adult present besides a bodyguard?

I told you recently that a Jackson insider said that the longer Michael’s kids are with the Jacksons, the worse it’s going to get for them.

And these are the Jackson family values. At last night’s premiere of the Jacksons’ reality show for A&E, guests were appalled that no mention was made of Michael Jackson at all. None of his songs were played. Jermaine Jackson thanked Allah. And the crowd was the usual D list gang: Some of the Wayans family showed up, as well as Tia Carrerre and Flava Flav. But they couldn’t compete with the few celebs who showed for the unveiling of a book called “Michael Jackson Opus”: former star athlete Bruce Jenner and his wife Kris Kardashian; and the grandstanding Jesse Jackson.