'King of Pop' sued for $20 million

SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Pop star Michael Jackson is expected to take the stand in his own defense Wednesday in a $20 million breach of contract and fraud case.

Marcel Avram, a European concert promoter, sued Jackson claiming the self-proclaimed "King of Pop" backed out of two millennium concerts on New Year's Eve 1999. The trial got under way Tuesday.

The concerts were to have taken place in Sydney, Australia, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Avram testified Tuesday he worked with Jackson on two charity concerts earlier that year, one in Seoul, South Korea, and the other in Munich, Germany.

The promoter testified that those concerts lost money and that Jackson backed out of the millennium shows, which Avram was counting on to recoup his losses.

Avram said he has also done business with Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Frank Sinatra and Paul McCartney, among others.

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