In theory, Michael Jackson's rumoured string of comeback shows at the O2, which some sources claim will involve as many as 30 dates, could be a career-saving masterstroke.

Just as Prince's O2 run in 2007 rescued him from exile by showing the gig-going public that he was first and foremost a gifted musician rather than a weirdo hyper-celebrity, a series of hit-packed gigs would remind everyone precisely why Michael Jackson was so famous in the first place: not because of his eccentricity, reclusiveness or bizarre flights of fancy - but because of his superhuman powers as a performer.

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Forget the oxygen tents, out-of-court settlements and baby-dangling debacles. In his pomp, Michael Jackson was probably the greatest song-and-dance man the world has ever seen. And if he can pull off these shows – pure live performance, no fakery, no Christlike, touch-the-hem-of-my-garment grandstanding – it could be a dazzling end to his career, one that would make us forget in an instant the frustrating, baffling idiosyncrasies of his wilderness decades.

There's just one problem. Michael Jackson has not sung live in 12 years. Even assuming he can physically pull off the dance moves at age 50 (and a one-off performance in 2001 suggests he's not exactly limber these days), it's by no means certain that he can still hit the high notes, or indeed any notes. On his last world tour, in support of 'HIStory' in 1996-7, he mimed throughout most of the shows.

Since then his rare live appearances have always involved blatant miming of a kind that only super-famous, deluded US pop stars (see Britney Spears on 'The X Factor') still think is acceptable. In May 2008 Jackson was lined up to sing a medley of hits on 'American Idol' but he pulled out with just 24 hours notice, by all accounts because he was simply too nervous.

If he can't handle a pre-recorded TV show, what are the chances he can pull off a full arena residency? Given the catastrophic state of Jackson's finances – humiliatingly, he was recently forced to auction the contents of his ruined Neverland ranch - there's a very real danger that these comeback shows will be nothing more than lazy, minimum-effort emergency cash-ins.

But I really hope not. Michael Jackson has the opportunity here to redeem his reputation after decades of sloth, lunacy and freakish solipsism. For the sake of his legacy, let's hope he doesn't squander it.

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