An Exclusive Report for MJJ Forum by Robin Meltzer, London, UK

With the exception of the BRIT Awards, which have tried in recent years to shed their image of chaos and disorder, the UK does not play host to many music industry awards ceremonies. So when it was announced that the World Music Awards (WMAs) – unique among award ceremonies for its focus on sales alone – were coming to London, interest was aroused.

Interest went through the roof when it was revealed that the star guest would be Michael Jackson, who would be presented with the Diamond Award - a World Music Award presented infrequently to artists who have sold over 100 million albums in their career.