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Look into the final days of michael jackson. as the sun rose above the exclusive los angeles hills, inside michael jackson's mansion, the entertainer began the morning of june 24th, 2009, doing what he loved -- preparing for a show. >> now do it slow. he and i would start around noon, 1:00 at his home. we'd dance a few hours and stretch. you have to have a full attitude. you have a half attitude. do the full one. >> reporter: michael payne was jackson's long-time choreographer. >> we were on a journey with michael that was going to return him to the stage that he loved so much. i know we wer...

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>> reporter: on the afternoon of june 24th, jackson arrived at the staples center in downtown los angeles. rehearsals for "this is it" often ran late into the night. on the surface, the man many say was born to perform, never looked better. was his voice getting stronger over a period of rehearsals? >> absolutely. >> was his dancing getting stronger? >> absolutely. >> his body? everything? >> absolutely. >> reporter: michael bearden, the musical director for "this is it" was on stage that last night. >> he looked back at me, after we did one number and he looked at me as if to say, "yeah, i'm ...

>> i felt that he could do it because of the way the shows were spaced out and it wasn't like every day. ♪ see, like when we first started we were doing one-nighters where every day you're in a different place, riding the bus and you're sleeping on top of each other. that's tough. but this was -- and you didn't have to take the stage now you were in one location. >> i think that night he finally accepted down deep in whatever the inner reaches of an artist's soul are that he could do this. >> reporter: was anything out of the ordinary that night? >> the only thing that might have been out of...

♪ >> reporter: since age 5, he had electrified audiences around the world with hit songs like "i want you back." and the world appeared ready to welcome him back. it had been 12 years since jackson's last major performance. the king of pop was poised to regain his throne. >> this is it. i mean this is really it. this is the final -- this is the final curtain call. >> reporter: according to the contract with concert promoters aeg, michael was to perform 50 concerts it at the 02 center in london over a nine-month period. >> i'll be performing the songs my fans want to hear. >> reporter: but wa...