CIARA'S HEARTACHE OVER JACKSON

R&B singer CIARA was devastated to learn about the death of MICHAEL JACKSON - because the pair had struck up a friendship years before.
The King Of Pop passed away last month (25Jun09) after suffering a cardiac arrest, leaving the Goodies hitmaker in mourning. Jackson had approached Ciara about appearing on a planned charity record to benefit the victims of 2005's Hurricane Katrina - and she was stunned to receive a personal call from the Thriller hitmaker.
She says, "I was at Whitney Houston's house for a Super Bowl night about two years ago and I met Janet Jackson. I even had a conversation with Michael Jackson - he wanted me to be part of the Hurricane Katrina charity song which he was doing.
"I was like, 'Of course!' And he called me and that was really cool. I was like, 'This is so surreal'."