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2006-11-20 - MANCHESTER, England: It's been 15 years since George Michael performed a concert
in his homeland, but 20,000 fans screamed their approval Friday as the former
Wham! frontman made a long-awaited return.
Michael, 43, began his "25 Live" tour in September in Spain, and
opened a three-night set in Manchester, northwest England, by talking to a few
journalists backstage about why he's been gone so long.
"Most of the stuff that happens to me is partially my fault," said
Michael, who this year has been cautioned by the police for possessing cannabis
and was found passed out in his car in London.
Asked whether his mental health was good, he said, "Judge for yourself. I'm
going to show you how well I am really."
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| But Michael sounded a paranoid note about life in modern Britain, saying its
population was subject to excessive surveillance through police closed-circuit
television cameras.
"If I was to quit the UK, it wouldn't be to do with the press, it would be
to do with the government," Michael said.
Asked why, he said, "The government, because we're living in the most
outrageously 'Big Brother' country, considering what England is supposed to be
like. We're supposed to value our privacy.
"I just hate the idea that they're talking about watching us everywhere and
all the time, which isn't present in other parts of Europe," he said.
Michael declined to specify why he avoided touring for so long, but said,
"I have the courage to do it again. To be honest, I've enjoyed it so much I
wish I'd started touring again years ago."
He said, in fact, he was more committed now to live performances than to
crafting any more top-40 hits.
"In terms of releasing CDs and trying to get on the radio and stuff, I
think that's all finished. We're struggling as an industry, but the live thing
is as it always was. If you can do it, it's a very profitable thing," he
said with a beaming smile.
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