REVIEW: "MICHAEL JACKSON: 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION"

1. Heal The World sounds like We Are The World - the ending especially. Must not be hard to write a tribute song. But can we do without the obligatory robe-bedecked massive choir swinging back and forth? Once unique, now tired.
2. Shaggy's got a strong voice. What was that song he was singing? I didn't know it but the audience seemed to. Maybe I'm out of it.
3. . . . They took a lot of audience shots with the people singing along and cheering and crying. Crying. I mean, get over it. Get a life! Some of those people were way past teenagers. It's a bit much.
4. The closeup people in the audience near the stage sort of looked like they just created that row of seats for the TV special and that they "staged" part of the show. Had the feel of a mockup. Maybe not, but that's what I thought.
5. . . . Many people in attendance when they taped it got ticked off by the endless waits and re-sets between acts. You know it's the kiss of death if you go to a concert and it's being taped for TV. You'll be waiting around forever.
6. Michael Jackson doesn't look out at the audience much when he sings/performs. He's in his own world.
7. Liz Taylor sat beside MJ. She's got big hair. Sort of rusty blond/brown or something. Sometimes she clapped her hands funny, like hitting one wrist on another. Maybe she's got carpal tunnel.
8. Liza Minnelli looked hideous with all that makeup. She was Norma Desmond up there. Her face looked wider.
9. Luther Vandross still has a really great voice, but he seemed bored.
10. James Ingram and Gloria Estefan sang I Just Can't Stop Loving You. She seemed preoccupied. Not a good one to sing a duet with. Her voice is distinctive but not that good. Ingram was great as usual and took his voice up at the end of the song with that famous high squeal.
11. Rapper Rah Diggah - a female - has a powerful, strong voice for doing what she does. Basically rap. Is that singing?
12. Whitney Houston is bone thin. Her legs looked like sticks; her knees knobby. But that girl can still sing. (I hope so. She just signed a super million dollar 5-year contract with Arista records. They better get their money out of her.)
13. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' is a great song and it was done terrific with Mya, Usher and Whitney. Usher dances cool - like an updated Michael Jackson. He makes it look easy too. Michael should dance like him.
14. It was weird watching Michael as he watched all the acts do the songs. He looked in wonder and awe and would squeeze his hands like it was so touching. Embarrassing.
15. His whole face is bad - not just the nose. God, what did he let himself do? And it looks now like his mouth area and cheeks are caved in. And that nose could poke a hole through something it's so sharp looking.
16. His mother Katherine was up there with him and Michael sort of bussed her. (Not busted her.) Guess that's European.
17. His reunion with his brothers was pretty good. They sang a lot of songs. On the early hits though he showed he didn't still have that teenage voice. Noticeably lower now.
18. Can You Feel It and Shake Your Body - NOT Shake Your Booty. That's K.C. & The Sunshine Band - are great songs and they sounded good. It was boogie time.
19. I think there was a lot of post-production to this show music-wise. Is that a cheat? Maybe not. Most people wouldn't notice.
20. Jackson did his moonwalk and it still looked smooth. McCauley Caulkin was up there watching and looked like he couldn't still believe it. Later Jackson did what looked like a Frankenstein kind of walk. I liked that. I'm trying to do it. I'll practice so next time I'm at a party I can show off.
21. He kept cupping his face when he sang. He had on one of those mikes that wraps around the had and you could see it, but maybe it wasn't working right or something and it seemed like he was holding it closer to his lipsticked mouth, maybe to get the sound right. It would seem to me that that wouldn't be good for the sound - that it would be too close and would muffle it and make it sound unclear. That's why I think maybe he re-recorded the songs later.
22. The crowd really screamed when he miled the Billy Jean thing. He came on carrying a suitcase and pulled out of it the single glove and the signature hat. The audience sang all the words. "The kid is not my son ..."
23. Comedian Chris Tucker is a good dancer.
24. No, Michael's kids weren't there.
25. Someone said Michael Jackson looks like a Muppet now.
26. The special was overall pretty damn good and it's a shame to say this, but it was hard watching it because of the way Jackson looks now. People say he's scary to look at.
27. His brothers and his mother aren't light-skinned like him. People say he's got alopecia but that means loss of hair. It's another word.
28. He has a limited wardrobe and it mostly looks all the same. Puddle jumper pants and white socks and a V-neck undershirt and a silk overshirt and flat shoes. He's always dressed like that.
29. Little Billy Gilman sang Ben. It reminded one of the very young Michael Jackson. And remember, the song's about a rat.
30. We're sick of the King of Pop designation.
31. 'Nsync and 98 Degrees were on. Are they the same group? They're all whiny boys.
32. Marc Anthony got too dramatic drawn out on She's Out Of My Life. Lots of wrought emotion and pauses. Cut the drama. Just sing the song and get off. (He doesn't impress me much.)
33. Jackson likes to get air blown up from under him so it makes his shirt and everything rise up. Then he stops/freezes in a pose.
34. At the end of the show there was a closing ad for American Airlines showing a nice plane flying. That seemed inappropriate for what just happened in Queens, N.Y.

rocci@roccifisch.com

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