George Michael's gift for William and Kate using Twitter

You can follow him on Twitter: George Michael. And if you did in the weeks before Prince William married his Kate, you could read daily updates about George Michael's involvement in this Royal Wedding.  

On the 10th of April 2011 George Michael tells his followers on Twitter a story. He tells about his meeting with Prince William a long time ago. He was invited to a Christmas Party at Kensington Palace. Prince William came up to him and asked him to sing a song. George refused because he thinks it's scary to sing to a small audience. He tweeted: "So, I bloody said no to the future king of my country.. oh the shame :)"

A song for William and Kate

His anecdote appears to be an introduction to an idea. He asks his followers to brainstorm with him about the best song he can record for William and Kate as a wedding gift. George has thousands of followers and they reply with many suggestions. A day after, George makes his decision about the song. He wants to keep it a secret but tells his followers that it was a song from the seventies, written by a legend. His followers protest about this vague hint and he decides to tell the first word of the title, being "You". A few minutes later George writes: "Oh my giddy aunt, somebody already got it!!!"

Through an acquaintance he tells the couple about the gift he wants to give them. He receives a message that William and Kate love the song. "While I was singing I got a text saying they liked the song.. which is the only green light I cared about. Hooray!"

Free download on CNN.com

The singer promised his followers they would get the song for free. He runs into some technical problems keeping that promise. CNN host Piers Morgan helps him by providing the song through CNN.com for free. In return he asks his followers to make a donation to the Royal Wedding Charity Fund (http://www.royalweddingcharityfund.org) founded by William and Kate.

"You and I"

On the 15th of April George lets everyone know he recorded the song "You and I", originally sung by Stevie Wonder. George runs into problems with music company EMI. They threaten to charge him for every download of the song. Fortunately Stevie Wonder makes sure George will not be charged by EMI. "So it was about to turn into the most expensive Wedding pressie I ever gave anyone! I love you Stevie!!!"

A few days later he still doesn't know if William and Kate heard the song, because he lost his phone and he can't receive text messages. Just a few days after the song was presented on CNN.com, it was downloaded by more than 100,000 people.

The song was played at the reception

A day before the wedding George receives a message that Kate received his CD. "I'm told that Kate has my badly wrapped cd and that it will be given an airing at the reception! Hip hip... :)". On the wedding day George is watching the Royal Wedding on TV, like many others. He is a bit disappointed the BBC doesn't use his song for the broadcast, but he is very happy the bride and groom enjoyed the song. "Don't feel sad for me Twitterville, apparently the two people that really mattered loved it, which truly was the point.. :)"

You can find the song on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvZqp4FsXOQ

Sources: www.todio.nl