The feeble connection with
American Idol
is, of course, the very first week of the finals of the past season.
"Tonight, we're celebrating the hits of Michael Jackson," Ryan Seacrest
said, before the Top 13 kicked off their trips to stardom singing songs
from the so-called King of Pop. (
That episode will be aired again this Monday from 8pm on Fox.)
I'm just in my early 20s, and I'll admit to being too young during his
heyday, so watching that show was quite a revelation: "I didn't know he
sang that!" was my most prominent line, once song after song after song
started to sound so familiar.
I suddenly remembered that when
news of the musician's death started filtering through. The sketchy
details--of him suffering a heart attack, of being found not breathing
in his home, of him being brought to a Los Angeles hospital--gave way
to unconfirmed detail after unconfirmed detail after confirmed detail.
And then, the tributes, in 140-character bursts, from celebrities to my
friends who, for the most part, were too young to have a grasp of his
hits.
The death is, of course, a shock. Save that retrospective on
Idol, he's been enjoying a comeback of sorts: just last year, he re-released his iconic album
Thriller,
25 years after it was released. He was even preparing for a massive
50-date concert stretch in London, supposed to start next month.
Apart
from his music, of course, were the controversies. After that episode
of Idol wrapped up, I remember reading many comments on this website,
from viewers furious because the show paid tribute to someone who has
allegedly sexually abused children. Why glorify it, they say? There's
more, of course--the Neverland ranch, the baby on the hotel balcony,
the years of plastic surgery, the trips to Bahrain. My mother, who has
a thing for nostalgia, always recalled him when he was younger, from
his years with the Jackson Five to his highly successful solo career,
from "Bad" to "Thriller" to "Billie Jean" to "Beat It" to "Human
Nature" to "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"...
Everybody's probably
said it at this point, but Michael Jackson's some sort of an eccentric
personality. Musically, he's very talented; his songs are still being
sampled to this day, if not being played on radio stations altogether.
He's put together many genres, throw in his lyrics, and made them truly
his own--and arguably revolutionize pop music for the better. His
performances are also much remembered; his choreography have inspired
many dancers, and he (also) arguably turned the music video from just
shots of the artist singing to an art form in itself.
Personally,
I think my interests in the art of music would've been a lot more
different--or non-existent--if not for him. And I believe everybody
holds the same sentiments.
Sure, he's had his own share of
controversies, and I won't be an apologist for it. He wasn't like many
of us: his childhood was, he admitted, very lonely, born down by
stresses of performing as well as abuse. The accusations of sexual
abuse changed him, or at least our perceptions of him. And then there
are all of those other rumors and eccentricities. But we cannot deny
his impact on the world. He isn't just any other singer. I don't
think anyone can put a finger on everything he's done, for the way he
took the world by storm and got us dancing for five decades. I know I
can't. I guess it's something we can't exactly put into words--and
yeah, this will sound like a mere excuse, but it's something that
you've got to experience rather than read or write. I may be too
young, but his impact was so huge, I can still feel it.
Michael Joseph Jackson, born August 29, 1958; died June 25, 2009.
-Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist(Image courtesy of WENN)