Monday, July 13, 2009

Tribute to Michael Jackson

I'm not sure how many people are still talking or blogging about Michael Jackson, but I am. I didn't really have the time to blog for the last 3 weeks, so I am taking this time, before I'll be away for another 2 weeks, to blog about one of the people I grew up watching--The King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Love him or hate him, he was arguably the greatest entertainer of all time.

I don't know why, but the first time I saw MJ on TV doing his dance moves, I was mesmerized. Back in the early 1990s, when I was only in Primary school, I started to imitate his dance moves. Around that time, he came to Singapore for his world concert tour but I couldn't attend because my parents wouldn't allow. So when his concert was shown on TV, I took a video tape to record it on my VCR! (Remember that those were the days when VCD & DVD were non-existent.)

I still remember the times when I stood in front of my TV, imitating his every move. I would press play, pause, rewind, play, over and over again just to follow a short dance sequence. It was anything but easy. Of course, pressing the play, pause & rewind buttons over and over again is not the best way to treat your VCR, especially if yours is old and cranky. So it wasn't surprising that my video tape got jammed in the VCR on more than one occasion. In fact, it was almost an hourly affair!!!

In the end, what I got out of the whole thing was a swollen feet full of blisters!

To me, MJ was simply amazing. He made all the complicated slick moves look easy. I can only imagine the number of hours and the pain he went through to perfect his moves. And how can I forget the famous Moonwalk? It was just soooo.....wow.....& speechless........! I know I'm not the only one who tries to impersonate MJ, there could be thousands or even millions who does that. I don't know. But I know that till now, no one has come close to what he could do on stage.

So it was with great sadness that I learnt about his passing on June 25th morning in Indonesia while we were conducting the Super-Teen Holiday Camp outdoor activity. My mentor, Dr Ernest Wong, was the first to receive the tragic news on his mobile phone. He immediately broke the news to us and I was shocked, but didn't show it on my face. Ernest also grew up watching MJ and so naturally, he was saddened by his sudden death.

It is interesting to note that Ernest and I are one generation apart but we were both watching the same person growing up and were somehow affected by MJ's passing away. You can easily see how MJ's influence and impact transcends generation, race, and location.

Ernest decided that it was only fitting that we hold a tribute to MJ so he arranged to show some of his music videos and we sang the song "Heal the World". Ernest also led us to observe a one-minute-silence to remember the King of Pop.

More recently, during the Camp in Medan, Ernest decided to do a tribute to Michael Jackson again. It was a day after the memorial service in Los Angeles. But this time, he invited me on stage to share about my feelings and thoughts about MJ. And after that, I was the one who led everyone to observe the one-minute silence! I would never, eeee....eee....ever, thought that I would do that. But I did. It was a whole new experience for me to say the least.

Looking back, my MJ dance "training" during Primary School days served me well. In a Karaoke session, everybody was singing their favorite tunes. Ken sang, Ernest sang, but I couldn't sing. I know fully well that I have a voice of a broken recorder, so singing will only irritate all the ear drums that were there. Instead, I decided to do a dance. Not any type of dance but MJ's dance. I put in my best efforts to dance to the beat of "Smooth Criminal" and it was a blast! I got into the groove and did my best impersonation of MJ. To top it all, I even did the Moonwalk! Yes, the Moonwalk! Everybody was cheering and laughing away the whole time! I know, maybe they were just laughing at me making a fool of myself on stage!

It was obvious that my dance wasn't anywhere near MJ's standard, but it was a dance from the heart to entertain everyone present and to remember the greatest entertainer of all time. I have no regrets.

Will I do the dance again? I'm not sure. But if I were to do it again, I know that it will only be better. I hope!

Michael Jackson's death was a shock to many. It was to me. Many people have different opinions about him. Some good, some bad. It is not surprising since his life is shrouded with controversies. For me, I also don't agree with some of the things he did, or allegedly did. I don't condone his actions. I just like his dance moves and I respect him for his dedication and hard work that made him the King of Pop.

After dancing "Smooth Criminal", my Life was NEVER, EEEEEEEEEEE....................................EEEEE.......................EEE...............EEVER, THE SAME AGAIN!!!

3 comments:

Jeanice Ang said...

too bad i didnt watch you dance to smooth criminal. :D

Anonymous said...

good luck peter in perfecting the moonwalk!

Huang Junkai - Super Teen Student said...

hi, i am also a michael jackson fan like you. i can also do the moonwalk almost as good as him. my goal for 2010 is to master at least the billie jean, man in the mirror and beat it dance. i wanna be michael jackson's successor or like the next michael jackson or wadever you call it, so i trying to use the goals method and other study methods that i learnt from super teen to achieve my "dream". i'm still having alot of 'stress' when i think of it, sometimes i get confused too like if i need help?