Michael Jackson is immortalized. LET’S JAM!

Here is a link to the Michael Jackson Hand & Footprint Ceremony held in Hollywood at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on January 26, 2012:  http://www.chinesetheatres.com/red-carpet-live.html

I know that I am dreaming of the impossible, but I wish Michael Jackson had been there. His presence was very much missing and this was probably the mood which prevailed almost throughout the event – until the actual procedure of pressing Michael’s sequin glove and shoes into cement started and until Cirque du Soleil took over.

The Cirque performance was absolutely smashing and this was what really brought back the atmosphere of Michael’s fun, energy, spirit and perfection.

Apart from that, the ceremony was a little sad. There were other good episodes besides the Cirque – the dancers of Debbie Allen’s Dance Academy featuring an amazing child star, the warm and funny words of Chris Tucker and a very sincere tribute from Justin Bieber, as well as of course everything Michael’s children and mother said and did there. But in the background of all that there was still some diffused sadness – a sort of bitter happiness – a mixed feeling that it is good that we are celebrating, but we would prefer it under different circumstances if we could…

Quincy Jones is making a speech

There was also a slightly dissonant note about the event. The host looked to me a little too formal and some famous producers and composers who tend to talk about themselves only were invited there as usual.

I don’t have anything against these renowned people who, probably due to their age, are living somewhat in the past, but Michael was all about the future – and this is all the difference in the world between them which the producers of the ceremony should have taken into account.

This contrasted very much with the spirit of the man they were commemorating and forgot that where there is Michael Jackson, there is no room for formalism or lack of harmony. He was all about joy, fun, innovation, game and perfection at that.

Watching the ceremony I suddenly realized that a crowd of children would have belonged on that stage much better than some of those renowned grown-up and serious people. They never understood Michael and never will, so what were they doing there?  Cirque du Soleil is different – people who have created the show have caught up with Michael in their pursuit of fun, excellence and perfection and from what I could see turned their tribute to him into a fantastic show worthy of the grand master.

Listening to the speech

Another discovery I made during the ceremony was that Michael’s music sounds today as fresh as ever – considering that some of the songs were composed and sung more than 20 years ago this is a totally amazing fact. Some songs are even growing on me only now – like Jam or Scream, for example. Michael’s music definitely belongs to the future…

At some point of the ceremony I couldn’t resist the temptation to make a few screen shots, so here is my collection with a very short comment:

still listening to the speech (please excuse me!)

"Thank you for being here..." Blanket is showing a V-sign to someone

Katherine Jackson takes the microphone at 48:30 (what a beautiful woman she is!) and thanks everyone, especially Michael’s fans, for celebrating this occasion with the family:

“I’d like to say thank you for being here for this very, very solemn occasion for myself, and I know if Michael was here he would agree…”

If Michael could only see her!

Then Paris Jackson comes on the stage.  If Michael could only see her now and what a beauty she is turning into! I think he would cry…

Paris introduces Justin Bieber. Is the shadow of her father present too?

She introduces Justin Bieber. There is a poster on her left which shows the profile of her father.

It looks like the shadow of him standing by her side and this is how I took the picture.

Justin Bieber says at  50:20 –

• “I don’t usually get nervous but I’m a little nervous right now. He meant so much to me. He was more than an entertainer. He was an inspiration.

People are going to remember for his dancing and singing, but people gotta remember him for the man he was....

I want to be the best I can be. That’s what Michael did. He was always dancing. He was always practicing.”

"People got to remember Michael for the man he was"

Debby Allen says at 57:40 – “Michael Jackson was an explorer, an inventor, an engineer, an architect, a Genius…and he was my friend. He was my friend because of one thing, one thing – dance.

Dance is all we talked about. He practiced for hours, for hours every day. Music may have been his muse, but it was dance which was his mistress. He had an insatiable appetite to continue to expand his language of dance – a language he spoke like no other.

So here, in tribute to the Great one, the young men of the Allen Dance Academy are

doing what Michael Jackson inspires them and millions like them to do every day. They JAM.”

Is the father's shadow looking at them again?

Prince Jackson says at 01:03:50

“”My dad won the lifetime achievement award. It was an award he strived and worked the hardest to get.

But for me, and I think for him as well, this right here is his lifetime achievement award. This is what he strived to get and this is what we are giving him now today.”

Paris writes her father's name and adds a heart to it

The rest of the story is told by the ABC news:

Jan 26, 2012

She presses the sequin glove into concrete

(LOS ANGELES) — Michael Jackson’s musical legacy was remembered at the first annual “Michael Jackson Immortalized Day.”  Jackson’s children attended the star-studded event at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.

It suddenly seems to be a reassuring gesture of a daughter tenderly touching her father's hand....

this is where his foot was meant to be

Jackson’s son, Prince, who has always been quiet in public, spoke: “This was my dad’s lifetime achievement award… this is what he strived to get and this is what we’re giving him today.”

The boys had to redo the shoe prints and move them to the left

The King of Pop’s three children pressed his famous moonwalk shoes, sequined glove, and their hands into cement outside the theatre. Paris, Jackson’s daughter and a budding actress, wrote her dad’s name in the cement.

“It meant a lot because my dad always wanted to have his name here at the Chinese theatre and I just feel like he is a legacy,” she said.

Paris then introduced a performance by Justin Bieber, a star who found fame at an early age like Jackson.

“I don’t usually get nervous but I’m a little nervous right now,” Bieber said. “He was more than an entertainer. He was an inspiration. People are going to remember for his dancing and singing, but people gotta remember him for the man he was….I want to be the best I can be. That’s what Michael did. He was always dancing. He was always practicing.”

Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, got choked up a few times at the ceremony.

He probably moonwalked in them

All people watching the ceremony have one and the same expression on their face. Smokey Robinson. Tears?

People watching the ceremony. Chris Tucker. A faint smile over sadness?

People watching the ceremony. Justin Bieber, Katherine and the Jacksons. Sad joy?

“I’d like to say thank you for being here for this very, very solemn occasion for myself, and I know if Michael was here he would agree,” she said.

The show closed with the premiere of Cirque de Soleil’s Immortal World Tour.

The show, filled with sequins and dancing, is one that likely would have made Jackson proud. Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio 

And this article tells us of the Cirque du Soleil show:

Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour performs in Los Angeles at Staples Center January 27-29, 2012.

The production is a riveting fusion of visuals, dance, music and fantasy that immerses audiences in Michael’s creative world.

The show literally turns his signature moves upside down, unfolding his artistry before the eyes of the audience.

The children left the prints of their palms

USA Today called it “A Thriller of a show!” and Rolling Stone raved about ‘the hit-packed King of Pop spectacle.”

Commenting on IMMORTAL’s success, Forbes noted “That should come as no surprise, given the extraordinary spectacle that audiences witness with each performance” while Entertainment Weekly said that, “Even the most casual of Jackson followers will be entertained, and Jackson acolytes will revel in every glittering, peculiar moment.”

Aimed at lifelong fans as well as those experiencing Michael’s creative genius for the first time, the show captures the essence, soul and inspiration of the King of Pop, celebrating a legacy that continues to transcend generations.

“His legend lives on,” wrote US Weekly. The album, IMMORTAL, available on Epic Records, is the soundtrack for Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour.

Michael Jackson is one of the most beloved entertainers and profoundly influential artists of all-time. To date Jackson has sold an estimated 1 billion records worldwide, released 13 No.1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Jackson as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time and “Thriller” as the Biggest Selling Album of All Time. Jackson won 17 Grammy Awards including 8 in one year, a record in itself, and received 26 American Music Awards, including the Artist of the Century Award.

After the ceremony

Jackson defined the art form of music video with such ground-breaking short films as “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and the classic “Thriller,” which in 2009 became the first and only music video inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Jackson’s sound, style and dance moves continue to inspire today’s performers and new generations of fans worldwide continue to discover his artistry.

Cirque du Soleil quickly took the sad spell away

At Grauman’s  Michael Jackson’s legacy will be enshrined alongside such entertainment icons as Fred Astaire, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Sidney Poitier, Clark Gable, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Michael Jackson’s Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located on the sidewalk in front of the theatre.

There was so much movement on stage that this is the only other picture I could catch

The Grauman’s Chinese Theatre forecourt is one of the most photographed tourist sites in the world, annually attracting as many visitors as the Taj Mahal in India and the Prado Museum in Madrid. Grauman’s Chinese Theatre hands and footprints ceremony is rich in tradition and provides the four million plus people a year who visit the site an up close look at the hand and footprints of Hollywood’s most notable talents.

after the ceremony

Movie exhibitor Sid Grauman, one of Hollywood’s most creative showmen, opened The Chinese in 1927 and launched the handprints-footprints ceremony a year later. The event is one of the most selective in the world, and very few are chosen to be honored.

Source here

Also present at the ceremony was actor Harry Shum Jr. of Glee, who took part in the show’s Michael Jackson’s tribute episode that airs next week. Here is an article about it:

Michael Jackson getting Glee treatment

Dec 08, 2011 11:06 AM by Castina Watson

MUSICAL-COMEDY PLANNING MJ TRIBUTE

The music of the late pop king Michael Jackson will be featured in an episode of Gleeairing next month, FOX said Wednesday.

A Michael Jackson-themed episode of Glee will premiere next month.

A full-on MJ-themed show is being hustled into production on the heels of this week’s episode, which featured a trifecta of Jackson family songs — one from The Jackson 5, one from Janet and one from Michael. Glee bosses have fast-tracked the long-proposed tribute show so it will be ready to air Jan. 24 on FOX.

Producers of the Emmy Award-winning series plan to feature 10 to 12 of the “Thriller” icon’s most popular songs in a 90-minute special, TV Guide reports.

Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” featured on Glee Super Bowl episode >>

The first scenes will be filmed just before Christmas. The second half of the show will be completed when the actors return from their winter break in early January.

Glee creator Ryan Murphy says excited cast members are already “flooding him with requests to sing their favorite Jackson numbers.”

The King of Pop is the latest music legend to inspire a tribute from the Gleekster of McKinley High. Pop divas Madonna, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears have all provided the soundtrack for their own musical spectaculars since the show’s premiere in 2009.

But, as The Hollywood Reporter points out, the tribute specials don’t always reasonate well with Glee’s core audience:

“Glee‘s tribute episodes have had mixed results for the series, with its Spears in November 2010 scoring a series high at the time and besting the show’s Madonna effort, while its Gaga special didn’t fare as well, registering a season low in viewership and the key adults 18-49 demographic for the season to date.”

Michael’s tunes have turned out to be a huge profit generator for the estate of the late singer, who died of a propofol overdose in June 2009. Jackson’s estate and Cirque du Soleil are splitting the costs and profits of the hit stage production Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour.

Michael’s family has given “their enthusiastic support” for the Glee project.

the Dance academy

I’ve almost forgotten to post a picture of the Dance Academy performance which featured a very talented child dancer. You fill find their dance at 59:00 in the video.

Taking this opportunity let me repeat what Debbie Allen said about Michael Jackson before her dancers came onto the stage. I find her words very insightful and inspiring:

"Music may have been his Muse, but it was the Dance that was his Mistress." LET'S JAM!

Debby Allen at 57:40

“Michael Jackson was an explorer, an inventor, an engineer, an architect, a Genius…and he was my friend. He was my friend because of one thing, one thing – Dance. 

Dance is all we talked about. He practiced for hours, for hours every day. Music may have been his Muse, but it was Dance which was his Mistress. He had an insatiable appetite to continue to expand his language of dance – a language he spoke like no other. 

So here, in tribute to the Great one, the young men of the Allen Dance Academy are doing what Michael Jackson inspires them and millions like them to do every day. They JAM.”

And though I don’t know what exactly the word “Jam” means,  for some reason I also feel very much like saying  –  LET’S JAM!