The case against Dr. Conrad Murray has entered its final stage as the Los Angeles courtroom began on Tuesday with opening statements on the death of Michael Jackson in 2009 and whether or not his doctor was responsible. Jackson’s family was present alongside dozens of reporters and the proceedings are expected to be televised and broadcast online to a worldwide audience.

Dr. Murray stands accused of administering a killing dosage of sedatives to Michael Jackson in June 2009. The King of Pop was in the middle of rehearsals for a long-anticipated comeback tour when he suffered a heart attack at his rented mansion. The doctor allegedly gave the singer a lethal dosage of surgical anesthetics that was ruled as cause of death.

However, the doctor claims that Jackson administered the medicine himself. According to the BBC, the court listened to a message on an answering machine believed to have been left on the doctor’s phone by the singer shortly before his death. Jackson’s words are badly slurred as he attempts to talk about his tour.

The trial of the doctor is expected to last five weeks and it seems Michael Jackson’s death trial will end up as sensational as his life. On June 25, 2009, Dr. Conrad Murray gave local police a three-hour long interview, during which he admitted to injecting the singer with the off-licensed anesthesia which was meant to help the singer sleep.

It was this interview that led to the charges of involuntary manslaughter that threatens to send Dr. Murray in prison for four years. However, the doctor’s defense attorneys hope to convince jurors of a different theory: that the pop sensation ultimately caused his own death.

The first witness of the prosecution is Kenny Ortega, Jackson’s friend and choreographer. He will testify to details of the pop-star’s final days but has already said at a hearing earlier this year that Murray “warned him not to try to act as Jackson’s physician or psychiatrist” after Ortega thought Jackson “appeared to be sick” during a rehearsal and sent him home, according to Businessweek.com.

The prosecution will also utilize the interview of Dr. Murray and to a greater extend than before, challenge the doctor’s account of his actions. Dr. Murray has previously been noted as cooperative in the investigation, according to his defense, but recent evidence by the prosecutors point to four phone and email messages which were left unanswered in June and July, reports LAtimes.com.

This suggests a failure on Murray’s behalf to fully cooperate with the police and could harm his case. The authorities contend that Dr. Murray administered a lethal amount of the hospital drug alongside other sedatives, without taking into account the state of the 50-year-old star. It is also argued that the doctor lacked the proper lifesaving equipment says Businessweek.com.

Around a hundred jurors have to be cut down to 12 final members who will decide the final verdict. They have to go through dozens of witnesses and testimonies to get the first full account of what really happened the night Jackson died. We hope to know the truth in the next five weeks.

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What happens when you take a classic movie and modernize it? Well, it’s happened before, and it is about to happen again with a movie that seems impossible to remake. The film “Dirty Dancing” is about to get an overhaul musically and more. The remake with be geared towards the youth of today.

The modernized version of this classic is definitely something to ponder about. The reactions in the past for remakes of films have always been mixed. So the question is: how many people will approve of this new film? I personally am interested in seeing what comes out of this new spin on a classic that I have always enjoyed.

Although many people like me still are guarded the original so that it is not “butchered” as some would say, but I still feel that a newer version of the same story line might be a great movie.

Not much information has been given about you all the actors and actresses will be, but we do know that the person in charge of creating it is Kenny Ortega. He is a great producer who takes care with his work, so this is a bonus. His past work includes “This is it” and “High School Musical,” both of which are music focused films like “Dirty Dancing”.

Those filling the roles of Johnny and Baby will have a lot of work ahead of them to live up to the image that their predecessors (Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey) have created in the minds of those who fell in love with them all those years ago.

This modern twist will involve many new faces and music that should change the whole feel of the film, but hopefully in a good way. With all of the crazy love songs of today being a lot more rhythm than flow, as it did when the film was first made.

With this huge difference, things should get interesting. While the plot-line should be the same, our leading man and lady will be dancing to a new type of love song dressed in the fashion of today.

As for the actual fashion, I can’t wait to see how they change everything. The old 80’s cut-offs, and slicked back hair is sure to be replaced by fancy tops and designer jeans and straight styled hair for the women.

I have to admit that I am a huge fan of 80’s fashion, so I’m a little apprehensive at seeing what the costume crew has in mind for the actors.

Even with all of these changes, there is still a lot that should come out as classing dirty dancing. As such a widely known and loved movie, those involved with the production have a lot on their plate to make the movie the best that they possibly can while keeping both viewers who want the movie to stay true to its roots happy, while at the same time sating the appetite of those hoping for a refreshing new take on the classic story.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/08/us-dirtydancing-idUSTRE7776G820110808

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