In the beginning we were told that the performance was to be a spiritual seminar on the legacy and dimensions of Michael Jackson. For the first half of the show this meant rather long winded "academic presentations" on how Jackson can be conceptualized from the cultural studies perspective, the most interesting being how Jackson's figure embodies several different "bodies" ranging from the angry body (Jackson clearly uses dancing as a way to express anger through his art) to the "messiah" body, through which Jackson can be viewed as being portrayed as some kind of a world healing saviour figure.
The latter part of the performance featured more dancing, which was called for after all that lecturing. I personally liked the fact that Jackson's music was remixed with electronic beats giving it all new, "clubby" look & feel. That just goes to show how universal and versatile Jackson's music is and that is why we all were there for. The music continues to live on, even if the man himself has gone.
Of all the different speakers and performers, the best bits were a very personal declaration of love for Michael Jackson from a guy, who re-performed a Jackson inspired song he'd written as a kid. He still had the C-casette from those days with the original on it. And when they had the tape on playing an interview with a Finnish MJ lookalike, where he was talking about the abuse he gets when he's in character and dressed up. You get a harrowing sense of what it must be like when you've become a public figure for the people to rip apart. Maybe even a sense of what life must've been like for Michael? This is sad considering what he died of in the end.
The seminar ends with a silent moment respecting Michael and by this point it has become very clear just how much of an icon MJ is. The finishing song written by Michael's sister Janet Jackson leaves the audience with a spiritual feeling and injects a little bit of, what Michael Jackson essentially was about, hope, into us. This is exactly what we need in today's dystopia. And this is why Michael continues to inspire so many of us.
