Can life really begin at 50 for Jacko? EXCLUSIVE pounds 230m in debt, Michael looks to revive career.

Byline: BY ANTON ANTONOWICZ US CORRESPONDENT

HAGGARD and gaunt, Michael Jackson turns 50 today - pounds 230million in debt and with his once glittering career in tatters.

The former megastar looks as weird as ever leaving Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas this week wearing baggy check trousers and ill-fitting jacket with a rat-tailed hair-style.

But time seems to be catching up fast with the lost boy of pop

And while fellow 80s icon Madonna proclaimed her 50th birthday with a lavish bash and a multi-million-pound world tour, Jackson's anniversary milestone has gone virtually unheralded - even by his once vast army of loyal fans. It is three years since he was acquitted of horrifying child molestation charges in America.

Since then he has wandered the world with his three children and bodyguards.

After a spell in the Middle East sheikdom of Dubai, he is now cocooned in a gated compound in Scotch Eighties - a downtown Las Vegas area once home to stars such as Jerry Lewis and Diana Ross.

But by his previous standards it is no longer a prestigious address. Fancy enough, say local estate agents, but not ever Neverland.

Visitors speak of paranoid security. One aide attempting to help put together the singer's painfully slow-to-appear new album told me he had to ask permission to walk from one room to another.

"It was crazy," he said. "If I wanted to go to the bathroom, they'd be communicating through their walkie-talkies for clearance.

"I was told never to talk to Michael's children - which was easy 'cos I hardly ever saw them. The guy's just fanatically private."

But The Weird One may soon be forced out of his shell.

He has been taken under the wing of a private equity group who want to revive his dormant career.

Colony Capital, which owns the Las Vegas Hilton, are eager to get him back on stage with his name in lights in America's entertainment capital.

They also want him to sell Neverland Ranch to concentrate on his music - and they have the muscle to make him do it.

In May, the company bought up a pounds 12.5million Jackson loan - secured against Neverland - from an investment group hedge fund.

Jacko was in default and faced foreclosure - until Colony negotiated him some breathing space. But he has to sing for his supper. A spokesman said: "We bought the note and we've been discussing various business opportunities and mutual interests." Those "opportunities" involve the haunted singer stepping out of seclusion and back on to the stage - either at one of Colony's gambling joints or elsewhere in Sin City.

But the question is: just how positive can things get for Jacko?

Since his acquittal in 2005, various entertainment industry executives have envisaged some kind of glitzy comeback for him.

For the most part, Jacko hasn't played along. In February he backed out of a planned performance during the Grammy Awards. Around the same time, he also declined a chance to perform for 10 nights at the O2 Arena in London.

People close to the star reckon he feels he is simply no longer up to the rigours of a live show.

However, he did cooperate with Sony BMG Music Entertainment to launch a 25th anniversary edition of his Thriller album, which had unexpectedly strong sales in the US and around the world. Despite his huge debts, Jacko still has many assets, including extensive publishing holdings and a lucrative portfolio of Beatles hits. He is also said to have cut back on his extravagant spending "somewhat".

The biggest of his loans is backed by his share of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Experts say Jacko's stake is worth pounds 270million or more. But the partnership agreement is set to expire in two years, at which point provisions kick in allowing one side to buy out the other.

Insiders say Sony has always presumed that it would exercise that right But even if it does, it would clear Jacko's debts and let him walk away with pounds 50million.

With deep - pocketed Colony alongside, he could keep his publishing portfolio - including all those Beatles' hits. One option the birthday boy may consider unwrapping is a purpose-built theatre at a Vegas hotel-casino, where he would need to perform up to 180 nights a year. And it could prove a lucrative exercise. Celine Dion's four-year run at Caesars Palace grossed more than pounds 215million.

The temptation is obvious - but Jacko's energy is dubious. A more likely scenario would be for a music and special effects extravaganza based on his hits. Jackson wouldn't be a regular on the bill, but would appear for 20 to 30 performances a year - possibly with some of his brothers.

Alongside all of this, there is a plan to restore his tarnished image - first by distancing himself from Neverland and its tawdry history.

Jacko has vowed never to live at the ranch again. But astonishingly he has entertained visions of turning it into a family-oriented theme park, with rides for children.

His new advisors at Colony are horrified by the idea. An insider said: "We just want him to restore the property's original name, Sycamore Canyon Ranch, and to sell it as quickly as possible."

They are also urging him to emerge from his self-imposed purdah and do a full-length interview, possibly on the Oprah Winfrey show. The thrust of such an appearance would be for Jacko to say he was acquitted in court and should now be allowed to move on.

The next step in his showbiz rehabilitation would be some kind of TV spectacular to prove to the world he's still got it.

Eventually his backers want to develop a Thriller Casino - an idea Jacko has been kicking around for 10 years. But it's a long shot. No doubt there are still die-hard fans who would swoon at the prospect of Jacko performing again. Others would come to see a freak show.

Like so much in the distractable star's life, the big decisions are being put off until tomorrow.

And for today the 50-year-old man child is happy to celebrate his birthday in private... with jelly and ice-cream.

Celine Dion's four-year run at Caesars Palace grossed pounds 215million

From pop idol to pariah

1958 August 29: Born in Gary, Indiana, to Joe and Katherine, the seventh of nine Jackson kids.

1964 AGED six, he starts playing percussion in the Jackson Five with brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon.

1976 BECOMES lead vocalist and songwriter for the Jackson Five.

1979 BREAKS his nose during a dance routine and has his first plastic surgery treatment.

1982 THRILLER makes it into the Guinness Book Of Records as the world's best-selling album.

1993 TELLS Oprah Winfrey his father beat him as a child. Is then accused of child molesting by Jordan Chandler, 13.

1993 WEDS Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis. They divorce two years later.

1997 MARRIES nurse Deborah Rowe an has two kids, Prince Michael Jnr and Paris. They divorce in '99.

2002 THIRD child - Prince Michael II - born to surrogate mum. In November he dangles the tot over a balcony.

2003 CHARGED with seven counts of child molestation on Gavin Arvizo who was 14 at the time of the alleged crime. He's acquitted in 2005 after a fivemonth court case.

CAPTION(S):

HAUNTED Birthday boy Jacko at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, this week Picture: DENISE TRUSCELLO/WIREIMAGE.COM; New home Gated community in Scotch Eighties, Vegas; Old home Michael has sworn never to return to Neverland ranch; DUMMY RUN Hiding his kids from cameras on trip a to Tussauds in 2005; ROOTS Early days with the Jackson Five; MUG SHOT After his arrest on child-sex charges in 2003; BAD BOY At Wembley in '98