Michael Jackson gestures during a press conference of the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2006 in Tokyo Saturday, May 27, 2006. The U.S. entertainer was awarded a Legend Award at the ceremony.
TOKYO - Michael Jackson made his first public appearance since being acquitted on child molestation charges, choking up as he thanked Japanese fans at an award ceremony Saturday.
"I'm honored to be in Japan again and I'm very happy to be among the Japanese people because I love them very much," Jackson said in a brief appearance at MTV Japan's "Legend Award" ceremony at Yoyogi Olympic Stadium. "Thank you for your loyalty."
The pop star was to visit orphanages, tour Tokyo and meet with businessmen during his trip to Japan, said Broderick D. Morris, chief executive of Positive Productions Yokohama, an entertainment promotions company.
Jackson arrived Friday night with his three children and will stay through Wednesday on the first leg of a swing through Asia that will include stops in Singapore, Shanghai, China and Hong Kong.
"I'd like to say to the Japanese people from the bottom of my heart, I love you very much," said Jackson, wearing a fitted tuxedo with a short jacket.
Responding to his fans screaming "I love you!" Jackson replied: "I love you more."
He flashed a victory sign to the crowd.
"This is like his comeback party," Morris told The Associated Press before the event. "He's in good spirits, and he loves it here.
"There has been a lot of bad press, but Japanese fans still love him. It's like a second home for him."
Jackson, 47, has been living in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Bahrain since his June acquittal on child molestation charges in California.
He has said he plans to return to recording and hopes to release a new album in 2007.
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Chad Lowe, Hilary Swank Divorcing
Hilary Swank and husband Chad Lowe
Hilary Swank and husband Chad Lowe are divorcing, PEOPLE has learned exclusively. "Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe have jointly decided to divorce," the couple's lawyer, Jeffrey A. Bernstein, tells PEOPLE.
"They continue to be friends and have the utmost respect for one another." The couple, who wed in 1997, announced in January that they were separating.
"Hilary and Chad have decided to separate, but they are hopeful they'll be able to get through this tough time," Swank's rep, Troy Nankin, said in a statement at the time.
Indeed, Swank, 31, and Lowe, 38, appeared to be making efforts to save their union. At the Golden Globes in January, when interviewer Isaac Mizrahi asked a solo Swank about the single life, she responded, "I'm not single. We're trying to work our marriage out."
Then in February, the couple were spotted looking cozy over lunch at Malibu's Tra di Noi restaurant.
"They seemed to be getting along very well," said an observer, noting that after the meal, Lowe walked Swank to her car. "He put his arm on her back when they were saying goodbye."A close friend of the two-time Oscar winner told PEOPLE, "It's not the first time (they've eaten together), it's just the first time the cameras have been around.
It's evidence that they're working on their marriage." The couple met at a 1992 Hollywood Athletic Club bash. "I went to a party with Leo DiCaprio, and Chad was there," Swank recalled for PEOPLE in 2003.
"We just started talking." Added Lowe, "It was like the old cliché where you see somebody, lock eyes across the room, and time stands still. ... I said, 'I would love just to take you to lunch.'
Then I worked my way up to dinner. We had lunch, we had dinner and then some." Swank called it "love at first sight." The marriage was the first for both. They have no children.
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It's a Boy for Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani and her husband Gavin Rossdale
Gwen Stefani and her husband of three years, rocker Gavin Rossdale, welcomed their first child together on Friday – a 7 1/2 lb. baby boy named Kingston James McGregor Rossdale. Stefani gave birth at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Both mother and child are doing well, said her rep in a statement. Stefani had long been open about her desire to be a mom. "I'm hoping my children will save me from my vanity," she told PEOPLE in 2004.
In recent months, Stefani and Rossdale were spotted stocking up on baby goods at trendy London boutiques like Elias & Grace in the couple's Primrose Hill neighborhood. And Stefani, a successful fashion designer, has added clothes for babies and toddlers to her Harajuku Lovers line.
Stefani first announced her pregnancy last December during a concert in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. "I want you to say it loud enough so the baby hears it," Stefani yelled to the audience during a sing-along on her song "Crash." The crowd went wild. "This is the end of a huge chapter for me," Stefani added.
A camera then cut to an audience member holding a hand-lettered poster that read: "Congrats on Baby."
Stefani, 36, and Rossdale, 40, married in September 2002 in two separate ceremonies: a London wedding at St. Paul's Church and Los Angeles nuptials two weeks later.
The pair began dating in 1995, when Stefani's band, No Doubt, toured as openers for Rossdale's then-group, Bush.
This is the first child for Stefani; Rossdale discovered in 2004 that he has a 16-year-old daughter, Daisy, with his ex, fashion designer Pearl Lowe.
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