By Ree Hines

msnbc.com contributor

Next week’s courtroom showdown, in which Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, and ex-wife Debbie Rowe are expected to vie for temporary custody of two of the late pop star’s children, could come with an unexpected twist.

According to a new report, the kids in question, Prince Michael, 12, and Paris-Michael Katherine, 11, along with their 7-year-old brother Prince Michael II (aka Blanket), have made their own decision. They want their late father’s sister, Janet Jackson, to raise them.

“Janet has completely bonded with those children in the last two weeks,” a family friend revealed to OK! magazine. “She has been their rock. It’s clear to everyone that they are looking to her for comfort and guidance.”

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A family has dropped a lawsuit that claimed a hospital caused distress to a dying woman by moving her to make room for Michael Jackson during his 2005 child-molestation trial, an attorney said Wednesday.

The relatives of Manuela Gomez Ruiz ended their case because of stress but felt the message of fair treatment to patients had been made, their attorney, James McKiernan, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“The defendants made it clear that it was going to be bare knuckles to the end,” McKiernan said. “I’m representing people who have families and jobs, and the constant stress of this lengthy process was too much.”

The court papers requesting the dismissal were filed Aug. 19. The trial had been scheduled to start next month.

The family said Ruiz, 73, had a heart attack the same day Jackson suffered flu-like symptoms during his trial. The lawsuit claimed Marian Medical Center kept Ruiz from critical care, moved her from a double room so Jackson could occupy it himself and subjected her to an “outrageous, circus-like atmosphere” in her final hours.

The lawsuit accused the hospital of inflicting emotional and mental distress. A judge dropped Jackson as a defendant in the case in April.

The singer was acquitted in the child-molestation case.

Michael Jackson has been with us for half a 100 years now. The Gloved One turns 50 on August 29

Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch could be headed for the chopping block.

A San Francisco-based title company said Tuesday that the 2,500-acre property in Los Olivos, California, might be sold at a public auction scheduled for Mar. 19 unless the financially beleaguered singer can come up with $24 million he still owes on the estate.

Financial Title Co. filed the notice of trustee’s sale in Santa Barbara Superior Court.

Jackson’s people have not yet commented on this latest turn of events.

His rep issued a statement in November denying he had defaulted on a massive home loan and was in danger of losing his extravagant abode.

The erstwhile King of Pop has been living mainly in Las Vegas since returning to the United States a little more than a year ago following extended stays in Bahrain and Europe. He hasn’t lived at Neverland, which he bought in 1988 for $17 million, since 2003, when police first raided his home while building a child molestation case against him.

Jackson was acquitted of all charges in 2005 and immediately left the country.

Per court documents obtained by Fox News, the auction would really bleed the property dry. It would include not just the grounds and buildings on the property, but all of the furnishings, appliances and various child-friendly accoutrements Jackson has added over the years, including “all merry-go-round type devices.”

The list is mighty thorough:

• “Generators, engines, boilers, incinerators, building materials, appliances and goods of every nature whatsoever…including…those for the purposes of supplying or distributing heat, cooling, electricity, gas, water, air and light…
• “plumbing, bathtubs, water heaters, water closets, sinks, ranges, stoves, microwave ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers, disposals and any other kitchen equipment…
• “all trees, shrubs and plants, sculptures, statuary and other outdoor artistic creations and displays…
• “all railroad equipment, trains, locomotives, rail cars and other rolling stock…
• “all Ferris wheels, carousels, merry-go-round type devices, indoor and outdoor gymnasium and athletic equipment…”

Etc.

In March 2006, Jackson’s camp made good on $300,000 in back wages owed to Neverland employees after California’s Department of Industrial Relations ordered the workers to quit working until they were paid. The issue came to their attention after Jackson’s workers’ compensation insurance lapsed.

At the same time, Jackson was also taking heat from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which implored him to allow their organization to find new homes in “legitimate sanctuaries” for the various animals living on the property.

On a lighter note, Jackson is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of his 1984 masterpiece Thriller with the release of Thriller 25, all nine original tracks plus a bunch of remixes and additional vocals wrought by the likes of Fergie, Will.i.am, Akon and Kanye West.

Pop culture superstar Fergie has joined an already stellar line-up of guest artists for the 25th anniversary edition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the world’s biggest selling album of all time.

Alongside new remixes of classic Jackson tracks by musical contemporaries Kanye West, will.i.am. and Akon, Fergie has added her signature vocals to a new version of “Beat It” entitled “Beat It 2008,” produced and mixed by her fellow Black Eyed Pea will.i.am.

Epic/Legacy Recordings proudly celebrates the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller with a newly expanded deluxe edition of the phenomenal record-breaking pop culture touchstone, available in the U.S. on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. The album will be available worldwide the week of February 11, 2008.

The Michael Jackson Thriller 25th anniversary celebration kicks off in December 2007 with the release of a new single and continues throughout 2008 with a multi-faceted global marketing campaign featuring high-profile television, radio and online events around the world.

The Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition will include the original album in its entirety as well as seven bonus tracks and a DVD featuring Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking short films from Thriller (”Thriller,” “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean”) and the artist’s Emmy-nominated breakout performance of “Billie Jean” from the legendary “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” television special (first broadcast on NBC on May 16, 1983).

The newly expanded version of Thriller premieres six tracks previously unreleased in any form: “Beat It 2008″ with Fergie; a new Kanye West remix of “Billie Jean”; a new 2008 version of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” with Akon; will.i.am remixes of “The Girl Is Mine” and “P.Y.T.”; and “For All Time,” a rare unreleased cut from the original Thriller recording sessions, newly mixed and mastered by Michael Jackson.

The deluxe Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition packaging contains a personal greeting from Michael Jackson to his fans penned exclusively for this special release.

Originally released in the US 25 years ago on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records, Thriller, Michael Jackson’s sixth solo album and second with producer Quincy Jones, rocketed the former child-star lead singer for the Jackson 5 into the stratosphere of international superstardom. Introducing the “robot” and the “moonwalk” into the international lexicon of clubland dance moves via the pulsing sounds of Thriller, Michael Jackson revolutionized all aspects of mainstream pop culture — from radio airwaves to the newly emerging art form of music videos — becoming the world’s most popular entertainer in the process.

The original Thriller spent an astounding 80 consecutive weeks in the American Top 10, 37 of those at #1. Seven of the album’s original nine tracks became Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 while Individual singles from Thriller reached #1 chart positions in the US, the UK, France, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada.

Thriller made history as the first and only record to be America ’s top- selling album two years running (1983 and 1984).

Thriller has been certified 27x platinum by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond Award status in the US . In addition, the album has achieved Diamond or Multi-Platinum status in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. In 1985, the Guinness Book of Records named Thriller the Best Selling Album of All Time, an achievement which remains unsurpassed to this day.

In February 1984, Michael Jackson held a record-breaking 12 Grammy nominations, going on to win eight, which stands as the record for most Grammy Awards to be won by anyone in a single year. Seven of Michael’s Grammys that year were for Thriller: Album of the Year; Record of the Year (”Beat It”); Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (”Thriller”); Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical (Thriller); Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (”Beat It”); Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (”Billie Jean”); Best R&B Song (”Billie Jean”). (Michael’s eighth Grammy that year was in the Best Recording For Children - Single or Album, Musical or Spoken category for “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”). That same year, Michael Jackson took home eight American Music Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards. The following year, “The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller” took home the Best Video Album trophy at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards.

Named the “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time” by the Guinness World Records, Michael Jackson is among the most highly acclaimed and influential artists in pop culture. He was named the World Music Award’s Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium and received the American Music Award’s Artist of the Century Award. He has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
twice: in 1997 as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist in 2001.