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Friday, July 17, 1998 Published at 03:27 GMT 04:27 UK

Entertainment

George connects on the Net

George Michael: looking forward to his web chat

Pop star George Michael looked right at home in a chat room on Thursday night. He swore, told a dirty joke and made a number of controversial comments, just like the usual inhabitants, reports the BBC's Internet Correspondent Chris Nuttall.

George was using the Internet to talk to his fans for the first time since his conviction for lewd conduct in a Beverly Hills toilet.

He went live on the Net from London typing in answers to e-mails sent to him from all over the world and running well over his two-hour allotted time.

The pop star had become something of a recluse since his arrest in California this year and subsequent conviction.

[ image: George Michael made it big in the 1980s as one half of the pop group Wham!]
George Michael made it big in the 1980s as one half of the pop group Wham!
But he uses the Internet to sell music online and believes he can talk directly to his fans this way, avoiding in particular the British press which he feels has hounded him.

"I'm not here to feed the press tonight," he typed, in his first comment in the Chat room set up online by the Microsoft Network - MSN.

He went on to make a number of controversial remarks in response to questions:

On China, he said he would only consider touring in the country again if they stopped executing people for going through red lights.

On Frank Sinatra, he said he was the finest singer of his time but he did not respect him because of his Mafia connections and the way he treated others.

On his own arrest, he said he was seriously offended at the lack of decent jokes about the affair and then told one himself.

[ image: He has changed his image in the 1990s]
He has changed his image in the 1990s
He added that he had been an openly gay man with everyone in his life for a long time, and had tried to tell his fans through his work rather than using the media. "But I think I blew that particular strategy in a big way", he said.

He also said he was as angry with the footballer David Beckham for getting himself sent off in the World Cup as the rest of Britain.

But he went on: "Let's be honest ... one little mistake and ... well, I can relate, man ... "

The star told fans he planned to tour again, starting in England in March next year, and his next album would be a Greatest Hits released later this year.

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	Relevant Stories 16 Jul 98 \| Entertainment George Michael answers back on the Internet 29 Jun 98 \| Entertainment George Michael to face Net exposure 15 May 98 \| UK Court fines George Michael for 'lewd' act 11 Apr 98 \| UK 'I was stupid and reckless' admits George Michael

	Internet Links Aegean Net MSN - George Michael Online George Michael News
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