TIME TO REMEMBER THE REAL MICHAEL Best Tributes To Michael Jackson

Michael’s birthday was a great chance to get some respite from all this AEG sordid business. They say that in September there will be fewer court sessions so we can relax a bit and remember the man we are talking about here. The real man and not another of those caricatures painted to us by AEG and whoever is serving their needs.

Actually what I wanted to find was the best 2013 tribute to Michael Jackson on his 55^th birthday, but as a result of several days of looking ended up with a whole collection of the greatest MJ tributes for the whole period after his death. All of them are remarkable and even if they were made four years ago forgetting them would be a crime.

This is how this collection came into being, so let us remember the way Michael really was… 

BLACK AND WHITE

Behind the scenes of Black Or White. Shooting the panther dance

Several great videos were made by a black man who goes by the name of Phonchrist on Youtube. His tributes to Michael are in themselves a work of art and great inspiration where he says words of wisdom about Michael:

“Michael was touched by God and persecuted by Man but honored by Us, his fans.”

He also collected in one video other people’s thoughts about MJ that are a must to know. I managed to make out only a couple of things:

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  Michael Jackson with the girl Sage on the set of making Black or White

  “Michael Jackson … is becoming a politically, spiritually and very morally-conscious young man. And what those in power are afraid of is that he will use the magnetism of his appeal to awaken his fans and take them to a higher level of consciousness. 

• He is an extraordinary young man. Very much not of this world. You know why he loves children? Not because he is a ped-le. You know why he loves animals? Not because he is crazy. But he sees in children God… They love Michael and Michael loves them, and he feels at home with children because he is in non-threat.
• But when he is with adults everybody would come to him with a gain, with a hand-out, with some kind of deceitful thing he don’t want to be bothered –  that’s why he said that if children were not on the planet I’m done.  –And that’s what Jesus said — Unless you become as a little child —-”

• “I’m proud of my heritage. I’m proud to be black. I’m honored to be black. And I just hope that one day they will be fair and portray me the way I really, really am. A loving and peaceful guy who wanted to make wonderful and unprecedented entertainment – songs, music and films for the world – that’s all I wanted to do. I’m no threat, that’s all I wanted to do.” – Michael Jackson

• “To the country and the world. A young man has left Earth… This was a talented, multi-talented person who entertained the world with his dynamic portrayals, the songs he had written, by his style of dancing. And we think it is appropriate to say that we pay tribute to the culture that he has left us” – In US Congress

• “His heart couldn’t get any bigger and yesterday it arrested. I come on the floor today on behalf of the generation to thank God for letting all of us live in his generation and in his era. With that, madam Speaker, we will ask to please stand for a moment of silence.” -In US Congress

The era of Michael Jackson… Though these words may look to some as an exaggeration the truth of the matter is that in a couple of decades few will be really able to say off hand what particular presidents were in power during Michael’s lifetime and an opposite thing is most likely to happen – people will remember who was in power by the pictures of Michael with Reagan giving him an award or Michael singing at Clinton’s inauguration, which will actually show to mankind the value of each of these figures – at least in the minds of ordinary people.

Michael Jackson  A Black Man’s Dream

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The video is called Michael Jackson: A Black Man’s Dream. And it is perfectly correct of course. Michael belongs to the black heritage, so how can it be any different? But it also true that due to his Vitiligo the Heavens made this black porcelain white. And there is something deeply symbolic about this transformation which was none of his doing and was actually a source of much suffering to him.

It was as if the Heavens wanted him to belong to both races at once and probably use him as a way to bring them together or even put him above any race and thus turn the race matter into a non-issue. And a non-issue it will become when all people are given equal opportunities, and then each will be judged individually and not as someone carrying on his shoulders a ton of prejudice in favor or against his race.

It looks like God didn’t want it to be a confrontation, but wanted it as black and white fused together and showed it on the example of a singular person like Michael. To me Michael seems to be more than just a black man’s dream – he is more like any man’s dream because it is actually everyone’s dream to be free and have equal opportunities with others. And it should also be everyone’s dream to devote one’s life to striving for perfection as Michael did and bringing out one’s talent, and working very hard to make it happen.

I really hope that one day Michael will become every person’s dream and example to follow in terms of  selflessness and generosity similar to the one with which he shared his talent and whole self with us. In terms of his unaffected humility and lack of arrogance and total absence of self-conceit that makes too many people now put their precious ego into the centre of the universe.

What a fantastic world we could live in if only Michael became everyone’s dream as to his gentleness and love for others, his innocence and purity, his love of God and striving for perfection!

STRIVING FOR PERFECTION

It was from the point of view of seeking perfecton that I continued to look for the best tributes to Michael Jackson made since 2009. And the next video came from Phonchrist again. It was made in 2012 and is called “Better on the other side” after someone’s song . Remembering what Michael had to endure when he was alive this is absolutely true – we here are living in so much hell that he is for sure now on the better side of it if I understood the meaning of those words correctly.

Here is a great quote from the video which says that Michael is a beacon that could show us the way out:

• “People are now trying to remember the joy that he brought into everyone’s life, and also the sheer greatness of his talent which is what you should be applauding. This is probably once-in-our-lifetime that we saw a real beacon”

Michael Jackson – Better On The Other Side

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You won’t believe it by the next best video will again be by Phonchrist. It was made in 2013 and is called “Michael Jackson 4 years among Angels”. The author said about MJ:

• “Your presence on earth was a blessing for many of us and even after you’re gone we are still feeling the love we learnt from you everyday in our lives”.

That’s true. Michael had a lasting effect on all of us, and I will even venture to say that people have done some reflection on a mass scale and have already changed a little bit. The people in the video also say something to this effect:

• “Sometimes you don’t know what you have until you lose it. And if we had known what we know now, we would have taken better care of him”.
• “All of us want he were back here”.
• “He was the prime definition of someone who would care for everyone.”
• “He made me believe I could do anything I want to do.”
• “People called him a freak. People called him different. People said he wasn’t doing things the right way. But he did it the right way!”
• “Okay, you don’t like Michael, but you probably don’t like puppies and kids either?”
• “This man has done monumental things people can only dream of….”

All of it is in this video:

Michael Jackson 4 years among the Angels

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Next comes Andre Rieu’s tribute to Michael Jackson part of which we have already heard. The tribute included Michael’s Earth Song, Heal the World, Ben and probably some others. The concert took place in Maastricht, Netherlands in 2009 and was broadcast by the German Television ZDF on Aug. 1, 2009.

Our Susanne watched it and was amazed to see so many people crying in what could hardly be a fan audience.  It looked like it dawned on all these people all at once that they had lost someone dear to them, someone too young and someone too special, and these sincere tears is the reason why I included Ben performed by Andre Rieu into this collection.

André Rieu – Ben / Tribute to Michael Jackson

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If the above made you recall the time after Michael’s death as weeks of almost incessant crying the next video will probably make you laugh, and also inspire and amaze you by the skill, youthfullness and childlike spirit of an old man dancing to Michael’s music.

This footage was made behind the scenes of ‘Hollywood tonight’ video where the old man was taking part (he was shown there standing on the pavement and nodding his head to the rhythm). Well, over here he is actually dancing, and given that he was almost 70 at the time of making the film this is indeed a miracle Michael’s music is capable of doing to people.

The Best Old Man Michael Jackson Dancer

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And this young man is another phenomenon. His name is Kurt Hugo Schneider and he is singing a medley of Michael Jackson’s songs as several men in a choir. You have probably seen this tribute before, but I absolutely don’t want to lose it, so it also goes down into the collection:

Michael Jackson Medley

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That time inspired people to create absolutely phenomenal things. One of them is the 2 Cellos Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser playing their arrangement of Smooth Criminal. The performance is indeed remarkable – in fact I never knew that a cello as a musical instrument is capable of such a superb sound:

2CELLOS – Smooth Criminal

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And Smooth Criminal performed by David Garrett has long been one of my favorites. There is no word to describe what a marvel it is:

David Garrett – Smooth Criminal

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Next comes the dance page of the collection.

MICHAEL MADE THE WORLD DANCE

The flash mob that started it all was first held in Sweden by a Bounce dance group who danced to Michael’s Beat on July 8, 2009. This was the time when everyone was still in a state of shock from Michael’s death and their flash mob gave a new direction to outpouring the feeling – it was unexpected, mass, top professional and much fun.

A minute ago they pretended they never saw each other and the next minute the whole square was dancing like one, and after doing so remarkable a thing they returned to their everyday life leaving everyone around stunned and shattered to their very core. Michael was a prankster and if he were alive he would appreciate it very much.

It even seemed to me that there was something defiant about the dancers’ gesture at the time – the media was habitually pouring tons of dirt on Michael and in these conditions it was extremely important to show them what the ‘masses’ think. And they did show.

This is how the Swedish group set the ball rolling and since then the wave of ‘Beat it’ flashdances circled the planet several times over and is still not ebbing away. From the videos I’ve seen this year it is going full swing in Japan and their part of the world.

Stockholm Michael Jackson Tribute

July 8, 2009

[Copyright Pierre Wikberg]

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The Romanian fans also did a great job. They had a great many variants of flash dances and not one but several teams stopping the traffic here and there, but for this collection I’ve selected this one:

MICHAEL JACKSON DAY – IN ROMANIA-BUCHAREST

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In fact after Michael’s death there were so many flash mobs that a young man named Petenaldo on Youtube made a compilation from almost everywhere giving us the idea of the great tide that swept the world in its manifestation of love for Jackson.

Seeing it one commentator made an absolutely true observation. It contains some words not meant for print, so I’ll translate his idea as follows: if so many people around the world are doing the same great job all at once why the hell is there so much international bickering and wars?

Remembering that the song the people are dancing to is ‘Beat it’ and Michael wrote it to show that it is absolutely unnecessary to arrange fights in order to look ‘cool’ the above observation does not sound to me like a mere joke it first seemed – why indeed is it so difficult to find common language if Michael’s music and dance can so easily and so effectively bring people together?

Here is Petenaldo’s collection of flashmobs:

 Michael Jackson ♫ Best FLASHMOB ♥ (Around the world)

A tribute flashmob-compilation to the greatest entertainer ever = The King of Pop:  0:08 Stockholm, 1:12 Berlin,1:32 Bucharest, 1:54 Paris, 2:17 Seattle, 2:35 Tokyo, 2:49Napoli, 3:08 Moscow, 3:29 Bremen, 3:35 Macau, 3:49 Berlin,4:03 Mannheim, 4:42 Hong Kong, 5:02 Montreal, 5:31 Munich,5:40 Perugia, 6:42 St. Petersburg, 7:15 Strasbourg, 7:31 Sydney,7:43 Taipei, 8:03 Torino, 8:44 Tübingen, 9:01 Hamburg, 9:07Mexico, 9:24 Cologne, 9:45 Amsterdam.

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The collection of flashmobs will be incomplete if we forget about the dancing of prisoners experiment in the Philippines.  In 2009 CNN informed its viewers that the warden of a prison on the island on Cebu, a fan of Michael Jackson introduced dance as a method to reform the worst criminals kept there. First of all it kept the people busy training 4 hours a day 5 days a week and it also allowed many of them to show their talents and introduced an element of healthy competition between themselves, as a result of which the relations between the inmates changed and all the in-fighting that had plagued the place ceased.

People are getting their self-esteem back and even the children of those serving life sentences for murder are proud to show their fathers on the screen when the performances are put up by the chief warden on Youtube. Public performances are held once a month (they are probably even earning money this way), so it does not leave time for any nonsense for both inmates and prison administration.

CNN reported that “dance was introduced into prison life as a way to eliminate gang and violence” and that “this form of rehabilitation has outstanding results”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhkIRtKJwyA&NR=1

The version where the warden is dancing among the prisoners to Michael Jackson’s Dangerous is probably the greatest one – it is indeed amazing stuff that gives you a totally surreal feeling.

Who said that miracles are impossible? You simply didn’t try!

Dancing Inmates are “Dangerous”

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If you think that flash mobs have subsided by 2013 you will be wrong. It is only in this part of the world that our minds are crammed with AEG’s stuff and media nastiness taking away half of our energy and spirit, but if you look at what is going on Japan and that region as a whole you’ll get a different impression. The people there do not allow themselves to get so easily distracted and know what they are doing.

This is a Japanese flash mob repeated on June 23 this year twice during the day – at 1pm and at 3pm. The second one was even better in quality but shot at a distance so I have chosen the first one for the collection:

20130623 MJフラッシュモブお台場 Beat it 13:00

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And in this flash mob I was especially taken by a middle-aged woman in a kimono with a flag behind her back:

Tribute to Michael Jackson（大須観音2013）

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I really had to omit numerous other flash mobs held in the streets of Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and other places this year because there are too many of them to quote. The general impression is that the whole region is dancing to Michael Jackson’s music. Some flashdances are turning into full-time concerts:

名古屋でBeat It ! 2013 （オアシス21 銀河の広場）

　

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And this 2013 flash mob comes from the opposite part of the world – from Chile:

Flashmob Michael Jackson – Estación central 2013

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In short once it started I hope it never stops. Another great video from Petenaldo is explaining why this is happening – the reason is that Michael simply made the world dance. 

Here are some quotes from the video:

• “Michael Jackson… I don’t even know where you even begin to describe a global superstar like Michael Jackson was.  We will not see his like again. He changed the face of music and dance in the world. Not just in this country, but in the world. He did Indian dancing. He did American dancing. He did African dancing. He did Russian dancing. This was a man who tried to bring the world of dance together, for himself. This is a life to celebrate, this is a life that remains inspirational for anybody who listens to music, anybody who wants to dance… Every single week we go out to audition, and at every single one you hear ‘I started dancing because of Michael Jackson.’  And that is the legacy he leaves us. He changed the face of dancing around the world, he changed the whole idea of pop videos round the world”.
• “His music combined energy and imagination with irresistible beats and bass lines. His genius earned him thirteen Grammies, fourteen Number One singles and record-breaking album sales captivating fans around the world.”
• “I think it’s worth remembering that he was probably the single greatest dancer and musician the world has ever seen.”
• “And I hope people understand that this was a human being who cared deeply for humanity.”
• “Music has lost the king, music has lost the legend, music has the icon… God needed an extra angel, so he came and got Michael to work for him”
• “This music had an extra layer of inexplicable magic that didn’t just make you want to dance but actually made you believe that you could fly, dare to dream, be anything that you wanted to be. Because that is what he rose to… and Michael Jackson was  a hero.”

(someone should read these words to AEG because they simply didn’t know who they were dealing with).

Will.i.am:

• “There’ll never be an artist that will impact the world the way you have. There’ll never be an artist to sell as many records as you. Never. Thank you so much. You’ve made the world a wonderful place. You’ve brought us joy and we thank you for that. And we will pray for you and your family. We’ll always love you. Thank you, Michael Jackson”.

Madonna:

• “I want to end this on a positive note and say that my sons aged 9 and 4 are obsessed with Michael Jackson. There is a lot of crotch-grabbing and moonwalking that’s going on in my house, and it seems like a whole new generation of kids has discovered his genius and are bringing him to life again. I hope that wherever Michael is right now, he is smiling about his. .. Yes, Michael Jackson was a human being, but damn it, he was a King. Long live the King”.

Even if it did not contain the above quotes the video should go into our collection for the unique episode of Michael’s sequined gloves falling from the sky in a snowfall of gloves. Here is the video:

 MICHAEL JACKSON made the WORLD DANCE

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Professional dancing is going a slightly different way. They learned from Michael everything he taught them for the past 40 years or so and are now taking his legacy further. In some cases it inspires them to create truly fantastic choreography.  I’ve selected some videos dropping those whose authors have the cheek to ask who is better – this dancer or Michael Jackson?

To me it sounds like an absurd, silly and ignorant question. First of all Michael wasn’t only a dancer – he was an all-round musician who composed his own phenomenal music which none of these dancers can do, and second Michael looks to me like the origin of this dance. He created the concepts of today’s choreography out of which they are now building something new. If it weren’t for him the singers would probably be still standing at the microphone today, at least in some countries.

Here are the examples of dancers making tributes to Michael Jackson. Temecula Dance Company performed the Man in the Mirror dance on July 9, 2009 at MGM Grand Hotel KAR National Finals.

Michael Jackson – Man in the Mirror Dance Tribute

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Jabbawockeez – Michael Jackson Tribute ABDC episode 5

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Keone Madrid | The way you make me feel

Keone said about this video:

• “No concept or story behind this. Just wanted to explore the art of MJ. It’s pretty hard to find good, genuine music these days. So going back to blasting MJ on the speakers never fails. *Michael Scream* OOOOOOOh … Miss you Mike!

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The French twins are dancing to a remix of “Whatever happens” by Michael Jackson.

Les Twins – Michael Jackson

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Kenichi Ebina: “A Tribute to Someone Special” Michael Jackson

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To close the subject of professionals making tributes to Michael Jackson let me show to you one of the most impressive ones. It is coming from Northern Uganda and was posted by Phonchrist again.  Despite all the sophistication of the other videos some looked to me as a slightly artificial experiment while the tribute from Uganda is genuine, warm and heartfelt which makes you come back to watch it again and again.

Actually I am almost addicted to it. The singer seems to be singing not only about Michael Jackson but the whole of his family, mentioning mamma, pappa and baby Jackson and each brother and sister by their names.

Here is a memorial dance by Acholi Heartbeat dancers from Northern Uganda (Gulu).

Dr Abe Greatest African tribute to Michael Jackson

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We’ve seen the fun of flash mobs and perfection of professional performances, and heard all the good words said about Michael’s genius and his great musical legacy.

But does it give you the impression that all this is describing Michael the way he really was? I’m afraid it doesn’t. Well yes, partially it does, but even if we fully agree with every good word said about his phenomenal art you still feel that a whole lot more is still missing.

CAPTURING THE INVISIBLE

In the attempt to capture this other thing which is evidently invisible to the eye I went in another direction and tried the interview which Michael’s bodyguard Marvin Butts gave soon after his death. From Marvin’s demeanor you can gather that it is extremely painful for him to talk – he often sighs and shakes his head. But what he is saying is crucial for understanding what Michael was like.

Unfortunately the sound is a disaster, so here is what I managed to decipher (please correct):

Q. What part is the easiest one for you? What part can you talk of without breaking…?

A. (shaking his head) I don’t know… It was fun working for him… and it’s hard to realize he is gone.

Q. What made him different?

A. Michael had a certain type of magic.  I know people hear his songs and say he’s magic, but Michael had a way… just if you spent any time with him you become changed for the better… He uplifted. Eye-opener. Your spirit changed more for the joy and happiness. You become like him and help change the world. Or change people……. It was just so much spirit, uplifting and fun….. and (pauses)… it’ll never be another Michael…. (shakes his head)… there is no way to replace him.

You know… I know a whole lot of people that’s connected who are hurting right now. And they think about what they are going to do… and how they feel…. But the good part of Michael is what he’s leaving behind. A legacy of love, peace, a job that he didn’t finish, so hopefully we can get together and do what he wanted. And that was world peace and solve the hunger problem.

Q. Do you think the kids and the world peace meant to him more than his music?

A. Oh without a doubt. They had one neck in neck – his music and his kids. Not his personal kids – just kids of the whole world. That’s what he lived for. That was his energy, that was his motivation.  If you listen to every single song… up to Billie Jean came, that’s when the whole music changed… There was so much about Michael… When I realized that James Brown’s ‘Camelwalk’ was Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk in reverse that was eye-opener. Like he took better and made it better. And I worked for James, and James’ energy was totally different than Michael’s.

Q. Why do you think he was able to achieve musically what he was able to achieve?

A. Michael was special. He was the Chosen one. He was the one God looked upon and pointed his finger on. That’s why Mike survived everything he did. He was spiritually blessed.

Q. The world mourns today. What did they lose?

A. I think everybody feels a piece of him has died as well, lost a piece of him because Michael crossed everybody (shaking his head). Michael is 50 years old, I am two years older than Michael, and he has touched people in the whole universe… I don’t think there is another person who can say that, not even a president. That’s just my opinion. 

Q. What makes it so painful for you? You consider yourself Michael Jackson’s friend, correct?

A. When you get to know somebody… and when you get to know somebody like Mike and it connects (shaking his head) it’s magic…..  It’s magic (sighs).

Q. Is there anything else you can say?

A. It’s a whole lot I’d like to say but I just can’t…

Q. What drives your emotion like right now? What can’t you bring to the surface because you break down if you say it?

A. Because Michael had so much to give and didn’t have the chance to live it

Q. Because Michael was so young? He wanted so much more to do?

A. Yes, and part two of Michael’s life was just to begin….. He’s gone too soon. 

Q. Was he capable of reclaiming his life at this point?

A. Oh, without a doubt.

Q. When you heard your heart broke?

A. And spirit too….You know, Michael, Farrah Fawsett, James Brown, my three sisters, my mother, my dad, just too many people died. I think that was the motivation we heard in that one song “Gone too soon”. I mean he’s definitely gone too soon.

Q. There is one thing when I do the story I might tread on this… So this is what I offer you: what do you need people to know about Michael Jackson? I mean they know his music, they know his videos, they know his art, but in Cincinnati, what do you need people to know tonight?

A. Michael was an angel (smiles)…. was an angel. Forget what you’ve heard. Michael made a song once “How can you judge me even if you don’t know me?” If you listen to the verse of that song … he’s an angel….

Michael Jackson Bodyguard – Marvin Butts “Michael was an Angel”

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It is only those who didn’t know Michael find it easy to babble some nonsense about him, while those who did know him can only cry, sigh and shake their heads in utter frustration.  A similar reaction came from the girl who knew Michael very well but never made public her friendship with him. It is Kellie Parker who played the part of Katie in Michael’s “Moonwalker” when she was a little girl. Her interview about Michael is a great tribute to her friend:

Michael Jackson and Kellie Parker

Kellie Parker (Moonwalker) talks about MJ, 2009

What was taken can never be replaced: Kellie Parker who played ‘Katie’ in the film Moonwalker shared her story and relationship with Michael Jackson in an interview with Steve Freiss

Kellie: “It’s hard… (losing composure, pauses) I’ll always feel that way. I’ll always be waiting for him.”

Steve Friess: “As I understand it you remained in contact with Michael up until very recently.”

Kellie: “Yeah. I remained very close with Michael for about ten years. Then after that I continued to stay in touch with him but not as regularly, every couple of years and then I did actually see him a couple of weeks before he passed away.”

Steve: “What was the occasion?”

Kellie: “I was working on a show he came to see, sort of randomly…”

Kellie: “I do know that in his life he would struggle with being so well known, that was sort of a constant struggle throughout his life. But I do have to say, I spent a lot of time with Michael alone on set, he and I had a lot of scenes together and he taught me so much. He was so dedicated. We would go through – before we even shot he and I would spend sometimes like half an hour together just improving, ’cause he was so committed to it.

Steve: “How was the audition process for something like this, how did that go?”

Kellie: “You know it’s funny, I auditioned for it, then didn’t hear anything for six months and thought somebody else must have gotten it. Well, originally it was caused Chicago Nights. And they weren’t quite sure what exactly it was going to be.
And I actually found out a couple of years later, I was doing a press thing with Michael, and they’d asked how he’d chosen each of us. Apparently what got me the job was, they got me in to do a screen test and after the screen test they’d left the cameras rolling.

And I was such a tomboy, that was me – I had braids in my hair, I was raggedy, ripped up jeans. I was just tough! I wanted to be a guy. And Brandon did the screen test with me and we had a ball or something and he was playing with it and I went up to him and was like, ‘You’re doing it wrong! God!’ But they’d left it rolling. So that’s what Michael saw and he was like, ‘Oh my god, I have to have her.’”

Michael was magic, pure and simple. He was a man who believed in the goodness of mankind and embodied pure unconditional love for the world. I am so sad on so many levels. For the loss of an innovative genius and who was music and dance personified, for the loss of a man who loved the whole world and touched so many lives, but mostly, for me personally, the loss of a friend that I loved so dearly.

Most people don’t know about how close I was to Michael for many years following ‘Moonwalker/Smooth Criminal’ because I was never one to exploit that, even to this day I rarely talk about it, for that was a friendship that I honored and respected as private. I feel compelled at this time though, to speak of my amazing friend, as a witness to his life, and the gentleness of his soul.

He taught me so much, both as an actor and as a person, he continually inspired me to reach beyond my boundaries. He and I spent a great deal of time, one on one, while filming ‘Moonwalker.’

I remember that he told me once to never rush an emotion, that everything in life has a rhythm, and that it is the pauses and silences that speak the truth. He understood this better than anyone, he had a way of quietly inspiring everyone around him to be better than ever thought they could be. He helped so many, and inspired us all.

Michael believed in Magic, he believed that we could change the world, and he had such unconditional love that when you were around him, you couldn’t help but believe it too.

He is intertwined in all of who I am, I became a dancer because of him, I became an artist because he inspired me to dream, and a writer because he taught me the power of moving people through words and actions. I love you my friend, and I know you are in a better place, we were blessed to have you for as long as we did.” 

Source: http://mjtranslate.com/en/aboutmjs/1579

Making Black or White. Michael Jackson with Sage

Recently a video about another girl playing a part in Michael’s Black or White video surfaced and was posted exactly on Michael’s 55th birthday August 29, 2013. The girl’s name is Sage and the video is about her and Michael being photographed together behind the scenes of Black or White.

She is sitting on his knee and though the sound goes down each time he says something, this imperfect video takes us much closer to that invisible side of Michael that makes all these people sigh and shake their heads when they are trying to describe him.

He was a gentle, caring and loving soul.

He hugged, kissed and rubbed this little girl’s cheek as if she were his own little daughter and treated her like one of his greatest treasures.

Making Black or White. The games boys play

I am afraid even to think what the media would have told us had it not been a girl,and fortunately she is, but I am also sure that for boys MJ had something much more rough – like water fights and throwing pies into each other faces, which they also did a lot when making Black or White.

But as to little girls like Sage Michael treated them with much tenderness and total admiration. When you look at this scene you begin to understand why everyone said that he was born to be a father.

Behind the Scenes of “Black or White” – Sage with Michael Jackson

Uploaded 29.08.2013

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This treasure of a video was found together with another one featuring children with Michael Jackson. Do you remember the  NAACP ceremony in 1993 mentioned in the previous post? Surprisingly, a continuation of it was also found and it shows Michael backstage after that ceremony.

In this video Bob Jones takes Michael to the room of his security chief Bill Bray and invites to the place a photographer who takes some photos of the serious men in suits together with Michael Jackson.

He stoically endures several takes, but when all these serious guys group together and talk he prefers the company of the children who were together with him on stage and seeing so big a contrast between the two groups I, for one, realized perfectly well why Michael preferred children to all these men in suits.

Other commentators on this video had the same impression:

• I love how in the front all the adults are huddling up and talking to each other, and Michael’s just in the back talking to the kids, its adorable

• Being famous takes alot of patience. I’d hate to be always be surrounded by a bunch of people, taking photos in hot, uncomfortable formal ware, shaking hands and meeting people I don’t even know (not fans), being told to not go here not there we got another meeting when I’m already dying to go back, kick off my shoes and take a long bath. MJ handles all that so gracefully.

All of it is indeed quite a sight, and though formally it isn’t a tribute to MJ I still believe that it belongs here. It explains a whole lot about Michael:

Michael Jackson – NAACP awards Backstage 1993

P.S. 

When I thought that it would be simply impossible to add a single more video to this post another interesting thing came into view which totally amazed me. Fans were clapping to this rare footage while I naturally saw something different.

The video is about the fans listening behind closed doors to Michael Jackson rehearsing at the Forum three weeks before he died – on June 3rd, 2009.

What absolutely amazed me was the date of the rehearsal. The 3^rd of June? How can that be possible if AEG tells us that at the beginning of June Michael missed all rehearsals and appeared at the Forum sometime on June 6^th only? “Missing rehearsals” was their never-ending complaint to Michael and now we learn that about the beginning of June they were lying too?

Previously we thought that Michael’s first rehearsal was around June 6^th after which he rehearsed every single day until June 11 or 12 when he had a “bad day” according to Ortega, didn’t come on Saturday June 13th and Murray gave him a sick leave. This was followed by the June 16^th intervention and all the rest of the nightmare.

And now we find that Michael was rehearsing on June 3^rd ? So why was AEG so hysterical about it then? Michael had the full right not to attend any rehearsals, but he still did on AEG’s insistence and almost every day too and totally exhausted himself that way!

And the date of June 3rd cannot be a mistake because it comes from Michael’s fans who knew about his whereabouts and dates better than any police would!

Michael Jackson The Way You Make Me Feel June 3rd 2009 Rehearsal

Isn’t it incredible that no matter what you begin talking about it always ends with AEG?

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UPDATED December 25, 2013

Goodness gracious, how could I forget about Akon‘s great tribute to Michael? It is probably the best tribute to Michael of all times!

AKON – WE CRY OUT OF JOY

And this tribute by Cash Cash is a very nice way the new generation is singing to the King and his legacy:

EVEN THOUGH THE KING IS GONE THE BEAT GOES ON AND ON

DANCE ALL NIGHT, LOSE YOUR MIND, ONE MORE TIME, EVEN THOUGH THE KING IS GONE….