Pundits worldwide are considering what the future holds for Michael Jackson as the entertainer tries to recover from his sensational sex abuse trial.
The singer (46) was cleared of all 10 counts, including lewd acts with a child and false imprisonment, but he will have to work hard to revive a career that had stalled long before the case came to court.
New York-born DJ and music historian Paul Gambaccini
“This man has been in decline, psychologically and physically, for over a decade,” said veteran New York-born DJ and music historian Paul Gambaccini, when asked about Jackson's professional prospects now the trial was out of the way.
"We don't want to see a Judy Garland," UK-based Mr Gambaccini told the BBC, referring to the Hollywood actress who struggled with addiction to prescription drugs and alcohol in her later years. "We could see a Judy Garland."
Jackson lawyer Tom Mesereau told the NBC Todayshow that the artist, still best known for his top-selling 1980s album Thriller, was going to spend time with his family to help him recover.
"He is very relieved and he also is very exhausted. He feels wonderful about his family not having to undergo more of this.
"But it will be a period of recovery for him. Physically, he deteriorated, he wasn't sleeping, he wasn't eating well. It was a terrible ordeal for him."
Mr Mesereau called his client a "kind-hearted, child-like person" who had been too nice to too many people in the past. "That's going to change. He's not going to make himself vulnerable to this any more."