My Tribute to Michael Jackson
Alright, I’m not too sure where to start because I have never called myself an MJ fan, I didn’t even know how he looked like when he was still a black. But after I watched the MTV special on him last night, I finally understood why he was so legendary.

On the morning of 25 June 2009, while I was getting ready for work, my mum shouted across the house ‘Michael Jackson died!’ And my response to that was ‘oh ok’, the impact of his death on me was zero. I knew MJ when he was already a pop icon, and when I started taking more notice of pop music, he was already a plastic-surgery-gone-wrong pedophile; I actually found him scary-looking and I couldn’t comprehend why the whole world paid so much attention to this psycho. Even Justin Timberlake (who is about a half a decade older than me) said that he wasn’t there when Michael Jackson was performing, what more me?

I wouldn’t say Michael Jackson has excellent vocals coz he sounds a little gay, and I’m not too impressed with his songs (probably because it’s music from a different era), but I must admit, he has excellent stage presence and a very sincere voice. When I was watching his special last night, I kept telling myself ‘whoa, I’ve never seen anyone with so much stage presence. It’s obvious he’s really enjoying the music and his moves show how passionate he is about his performance’.

Actually come to think of it, apart from the extremely illustrious career he had, his personal life was quite pitiful. I did a wiki search on him and I found out that he was physically and mentally abused by his dad when he was a child. And having entered showbiz at a tender age of six, he had been in this industry for 45 years! Even though MJ is somewhat past his prime, I still think he’s quite an admirable figure. The accusations he faced about his legal suits and physical changes must had been quite hell for him. Well and I am sad to admit, but I am one of those ignorant fools who believed the tabloid news about him bleaching his skin to look white. And even up till last night, I was asking myself ‘why on earth would he want to bleach his skin? He looks completely fine as a black and with his tremendous success as a black, why does he still want to be a white? Was it some childhood trauma?’. But guess what, he was actually suffering from vitiligo and lupus, which made him sensitive to sunlight, and the medication made him paler. With regard to the changes in his facial features.. I’m not too sure what struck him to do so, but I’m sorry I was too superficial and too judgemental to discredit his musical talent after seeing how he looked like. Honestly, I don’t think the change in his facial features affected his performance competence at all, his whole performance had already transcended beyond makeup and special effects (unlike jolin and aaron kwok; both of whom would probably have died long ago without makeup and special effects), the whole performance was boiled down to Michael himself. I’m not exaggerating, but he simply stands out even when there are 20-30 background dancers behind him; his moves are just too sleek and it seems to be part of him.

Another big discovery I made was that he’s the same age as my mum. I was quite stunned when I found out he was already in his 50s coz it never struck me that he was already so old. Actually.. I always thought that he only came into the entertainment industry in the 1990s. yes I’m very suagu coz his peak was in the 1980s. I saw footages of the rehearsal for his comeback concert this july, he was dancing with the agility of a man in his 20s! and it’s almost unthinkable that he’s my mum’s age. oh my.

I’m now listening to ‘You are not alone’. The MTV special on him played this song while featuring his life in the 1990s and 2000s when he was plagued by his health and legal issues.

I just want to end off by saying I’m so sorry I had dismissed you as a crazy pathetic pedophile without first realising ur musical talent and contribution to the musical industry.

I’m so sorry and be assured that you would always be remembered to be the king of pop.