Michael Jackson - Jackson Residency 'Could Have Lasted Two Years'

MICHAEL JACKSON's residency at London's O2 Arena has garnered such phenomenal demand - the King of Pop could have sold out the venue for two years, according to the show's promoters.

Tickets to the Thriller legend's 50-date This Is It comeback run sold out within hours after going on general sale on Friday (13Mar09) morning.

Over a million fans bought tickets to the shows, with agents shifting an average of 33 seats per minute.

The huge demand to see the singer's first full-length concert in 12 years led the star to increase the original 10-show stint to a mammoth eight-month residency.

And concert promoters AEG, the company who persuaded Jackson to step back into the limelight, insist the singer could have easily sold out a two year slot at the arena.

Randy Phillips, head of AEG, says, "We never thought '50 shows' and frankly based on the queues on Ticketmaster, plus the 300,000 registrants we still haven't issued codes to, we could spend two years here.

And Phillips insists Jackson is keen to kick-off the shows after the reception his comeback has received in the U.K.

He adds, "Mike (Michael Jackson) asked me how long he would be in the United Kingdom for and I told him, probably long enough to get a British passport.

"Michael's already pretty much put together a list of the dancers he wants. Michael's very engaged now."