0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

There'll never be another Michael
August 25, 2011, 10:33:39 PM
Updated 10 hr(s) 57 min(s) ago
By TONY MOCHAMA and DAVID ODONGO

Watching Tusker All Stars two weeks ago, it was apalling to hear Eve D'Souza say that Tanzanian contestant Hemedi, is Africa's Michael Jackson. It was incredulous to hear Eve repeat this assertion a second time. To compare the bearded reality TV show contestant (who used his last moment of fame to call Ian Mbugua a ‘farmer’) to the King of Pop borders on artistic sacrilege.

Exactly two years and two months after his demise, it is perhaps time to remind the likes of Eve D’Souza why one cannot throw around the name MJ loosely.

Michael Jackson wowed the whole world. He was the sound track of our childhoods with his Billie Jean, Dirty Diana and Man in the Mirror. He was named in Time Magazine’s 1999 edition of 100 Greatest Personalities of the 20th Century.

MJ was a performer and a perfectionist. He was the ‘Gloved One’, and after his death, the loved one! He achieved that one name thing – When one said ‘Michael’ in normal conversation, it was assumed one was talking about Michael Jackson. Even that other MJ (Michael Jordan, not Michael Joseph) needed a title ‘His Airness’ because there was room for only one Michael.

MJ was a mesmeric figure, who lived life weirdly, but did it his way.

He was angelic in disgrace and a shaman on the stage, who retained an air of androgeny. Often, Michael did not seem quite real to the rest of the world. He grew up on our Tvs, an electronic piece of dancing wizardry, literally from the age of five to the time he stopped being alive at 50.

Michael single-handedly revived the music industry with his monster hit, Thriller, still the best selling single of all time, that captured the sinister air of the start of the 1980s in America, released almost a year to the date that the scary Aids virus was announced in the USA.

MJ became, by far, the biggest pop star of the 1980s by an infinite margin, leaving stardust in his back slide. By the 1990s, his personal demons seemed to be on the ascendant, but he was only human. And as Eminem sings: "Superstardom precedes post-mortem."

Michael Jackson took his voice as a Brazilian bullhorn for his message to ‘heal the world’, and used his body as a volatile vessel that amalgamated dance and melanin experimentation. When his spiritual drive was exhausted, sapped by pain medication addiction, cash flow problems and legal battles, his body burnt out.

Yes, Michael Jackson never made the great ‘comeback’ he was attempting to at 50, in London, by doing 50 shows in 50 days. He died in the middle of the rehearsal period. But he had done enough, we dare say, so that in 2055, there will still be an anchoress of whatever passes for TV then main-streaming him in a quote. However random!

For like Elvis, Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra before him, Michael Jackson’s influence has continued, and grown, since his untimely death on June 25, 2009.

Michael Jackson figures

$72million: According to Box Office Mojo, Jackson’s post-humous concert film, This Is It, has grossed more than $72million to date domestically and $189 million in foreign markets for a worldwide take over more than $261million. It ranks as the #2 music documentary of all-time behind Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never (which is really degenerate of our youth).The film has also generated nearly $45 million in DVD sales in the US

$15,000 (Sh1.4m): The number of videos submitted by fans since March for the crowd sourced video for Behind the Mask. After they were edited down by a five-person team over two months, the resulting clip used submissions from more than 1,600 participants from 103 countries.

$3m (Sh278m): The amount of copies sold of the Ubisoft Michael Jackson: The Experience video game worldwide.

$57m (Sh5.3m): The reported cost of Cirque du Soleil’s traveling MJ show, The Immortal World Tour, which is slated to kick off on October 2.

$1b (Sh9.2b): That gaudy figure is the reported amount the Jackson estate had generated by last June on the first anniversary of the singer’s death. According to Billboard magazine, the revenue was generated by a combination of music sales ($429 million), film/TV revenue ($392 million), music publishing ($130 million), licensing ($35 million) and a $31 million recording contract. (A spokesperson for Jackson’s estate declined to provide updated figures for this story.)

16.1m (Sh1.5b): MJ was always a big singles artiste. Yes, Thriller is one of the best-selling albums of all time, but even in death, fans can’t resist cherry-picking some of Michael’s best songs. That explains why he’s sold more than 16 million digital tracks since June 28, 2009, the first sales week following his passing, according to Nielsen SoundScan. To put that in perspective, from the time Nielsen began counting digital tracks in 2004 until the week before Jackson’s death, the singer had sold just over 8.1 million digital tracks, a figure that has doubled in just the past two years.

2013: The projected launch for a second, non-touring Cirque show celebrating Jackson. The yet-untitled show is slated to open in the spring of 2013 at a new theater being built at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Last Edit: August 25, 2011, 10:37:36 PM by simalves
friendly
0
funny
0
informative
0
agree
0
disagree
0
pwnt
0
like
0
dislike
0
late
0
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions

Re: There'll never be another Michael
August 25, 2011, 11:58:47 PM
Brilliant!
Should we hold out for Spring 2013?  ;)
I'm not final on that of course..
friendly
0
funny
0
informative
0
agree
0
disagree
0
pwnt
0
like
0
dislike
0
late
0
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions

Re: There'll never be another Michael
August 26, 2011, 07:42:59 PM
Love this!  party/
friendly
0
funny
0
informative
0
agree
0
disagree
0
pwnt
0
like
0
dislike
0
late
0
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
"You can't do your best when you're doubting yourself. If you don't believe in yourself, who will?" - Michael Jackson...Moonwalk

*

MashMike

Re: There'll never be another Michael
August 27, 2011, 10:07:16 AM
brilliant, awesome post!!!! michael-jackson/
friendly
0
funny
0
informative
0
agree
0
disagree
0
pwnt
0
like
0
dislike
0
late
0
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
NO BROKEN BRIDGES CAN TURN US AROUND,CAUSE WHAT WE\'RE SEARCHING FOR, WILL SOON BE FOUND,CAUSE WE\'RE ALMOST THERE, JUST ONE MORE STEP,JUST ONE MORE STEP,DON\'T GIVE UP CAUSE WE\'RE ALMOST THERE

*

Chinbie

Re: There'll never be another Michael
August 27, 2011, 11:43:33 AM
brilliant content
yes.when i am talking abt michael and mj they will know this is michael jackson and not others
it;s just the unique one ,no others can replace .this is michael
beloved one :'(
friendly
0
funny
0
informative
0
agree
0
disagree
0
pwnt
0
like
0
dislike
0
late
0
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions

Re: There'll never be another Michael
August 27, 2011, 11:49:49 AM
it's unfortunately tragic that he was loved immediately after his death when he should have been adored his entire lifetime. It's good that MJ is getting a lot positive publicity in his "posthumous" phase of his career. However, i'm actually glad that his image of being a bit to eccentric and perceived to be evil is relinquishing fast. This hoax sure has brought some added insight into the liberation of a genuine kind souled man.  beerchug
friendly
0
funny
0
informative
0
agree
0
disagree
0
pwnt
0
like
0
dislike
0
late
0
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions


Coming soon to a trial near you; MJ: the resurrection

 

SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal