Last weekend I had my glorious chance to watch 'Michael Jackson's This Is It'. And believe me it was more than a thrilling experience. With people all around me clad in Michael Jackson t-shirts and some even in complete MJ attire, it was a treat to my experience.
It all began with the high volume strumming of the dancers and the guitarists. 12 world class dancers were selected from thousands of them personally by MJ. It was only one time saying and they could pick up what MJ intended to say. Orianthi Panagaris was the lead guitarist and Thomas Organ as the rhythm guitarist. I was dumbstruck when I saw Orianthi strum her guitar more ferociously than I have ever seen. I always liked Slash for beating it harder and now I saw this girl, who studded with her blonde hair all over her face surely took off the audience off their seats. It was spellbound to see Jonathan Moffet – the drummer to tune into some of the world famous MJ tracks. With one song performed on stage with the American singer Judith Hill and the rest with either single or with the dancers on stage - it was worth an experience. Kenny Ortega has made his lifetime best piece of work by directing 'This Is It'. His masterpiece was truly visible in every scene.
MJ was the hero. He IS the hero. The mere presence of MJ in a scene or on the stage could swirl in millions of fans and freeze all the audience. Such is his audacity. Only seeing him perform on screen was such an awesome experience, I just imagined what would have happened if we saw him perform live on stage. I would certainly have needed breath shots coz by every means. He would have swooped all of his audience. It was a memento of all his videos, news, his movie stills and his entire pop personality.
MJ was always irenic when he conceptualized his videos. May be it 'The Earth Song' or 'Heal the World'. No other man has been ever titled as the king of any kind of music. So the title 'King of Pop' itself exemplifies his greatness. 'This is It' was to be played in the O2 arena in London for 50 days, most of which tickets were already sold. It was going to be a huge event for any rock-star. It would have earned Michael few billions of pounds (the first 10 dates alone would have earned him approximately £50 million). The concept of "This Is It' was that MJ was enthralled by his audience and their love towards him for all these years. And this was his final curtain call for all his fans. Maybe he knew that something unsure and uncertain was beholding him at that time. He wanted to warn his zillions of fans that this was the last and the least he could have done for them. He was noted to be very genuine and humble on the production sets. Not even the slightest of red muscle was seen during the shooting and rehearsals.
Inspite of number of controversies that got him involved he retained his popularities among his fans. His India was tour was something to cherish for lifetimes. His energy was seen to be a little bit drooling but certainly it was something that caught my eye that at an age of 50 years he kept himself in sync with his other dancers who were very young compared to him. He always conflated the other stars. He believed in unity. He also popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk.
Time described Jackson's influence as "Star of records, radio, and rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color too". The NYT wrote that, "In the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else".
With This Is It', he was punctilious with the dance moves, the sounds and even the lights. It was like the perfectionist is at work. He was cognoscente when it came to music. He knew all his notes, rhythms perfectly. He danced casually as it was born for him, within him. He need not be with dance, the dance needed to be with Michael.
The world has truly lost its greatest hero of all times. A great musician, a great humanitarian, a philanthropist and above all the 'King of Pop'. We love you Michael. You are an immortal legend.
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