Portions of this week’s Billboard charts have been revealed by the publication today, including some interesting data regarding what type of Michael Jackson content the public wants to see.
The official U.S. chart-week kicked off with an Estate-funded ‘hologram’ performance choreographed to Timbaland’s remix of “Slave to the Rhythm,” which is featured on Sony Music and the Michael Jackson Estate’s newly-released Xscape album.
The hologram was constructed from secretly filmed multi-angle HD footage of Michael Jackson impersonator Earnest Valentino – attempting to execute Jackson’s signature movements and gestures.
The only problem was that to hardcore MJ fans, the hologram looked, moved and felt nothing like the pop star they adore.
The performance was staged at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, and was later uploaded to the official Michael Jackson YouTube account.
“Our other goal is to use new and innovative ways to create entertainment on a grand scale that allows the world to experience Michael’s magic,” said the Estate in one of four statements issued to fans this past week.
“After all, [this] is what we all want – for the rest of the world to see and love Michael the way that we all do. The efforts of the last few weeks, and especially, the performance on the Billboard Awards is working… The illusion has put Michael back in the forefront of the entertainment world and helped promote Xscape… No one will ever replace Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. And certainly no one can dance like the greatest entertainer who ever lived – not even an illusion.”
As a result of the hologram performance, “Slave the the Rhythm” debuted at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100, with 75% of its sales credited to 3.9 million streams in the U.S. – 2.2 million of which came from views of the hologram on YouTube.
This marks the 50th time a Michael Jackson song has charted on the Hot 100.
However, something far more impressive also happened this week – both in the world of both Michael Jackson and on the Billboard charts.
Michael Jackson’s #1 hit “Billie Jean,” originally released as a single in 1983, has re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at the astonishing position of #14.
During a talent show in Turlock, California, seventeen-year-old Pitman High student Brett Nichols dazzled classmates with an impressive dance tribute to Jackson’s Motown 25 “Billie Jean” performance.
A video of Nichols’ performance was uploaded to YouTube, and went completely viral online.
The video has been downloaded and re-uploaded dozens of times, was featured on the YouTube homepage, and some of the world’s biggest online publications have tweeted about.
All of this attention resulted in tens of millions of views around the globe.
The video, which features the original audio from Jackson’s 1982 Thriller album, was viewed so many times that it out-ranked Sony’s recently-released Michael Jackson single “Love Never Felt So Good” featuring Justin Timberlake on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
According to Nielsen BDS, the “Billie Jean” tribute performance amassed 11.2 million eligible streams in the United States alone.
Both the ‘hologram’ performance and the “Billie Jean” tribute were the work of Michael Jackson impersonators – the hologram by Earnest Valentino and “Billie Jean” by Brett Nichols.
However, one was misleadingly advertised as being a performance by ‘Michael Jackson like you’ve never seen him’, while the other featured a teenager who certainly wasn’t trying to trick his audience into believing he was Michael Jackson.
In one of their statements in defence of the hologram, the Estate of Michael Jackson said:
“The best entertainment is that which evokes ‘suspended disbelief’; it’s about entertainment, not reality. When David Copperfield makes an airplane disappear, the illusion is no less compelling because it is not real.”
But I disagree.
For me, the excitement, wonder and brilliance of Michael Jackson was all about the reality of it.
The reality that a human being could perform real-life, gravity-defying magic as he floated across the stage under a single spotlight – all on his own – physically embodying the music while mesmerising his audience.
That, in my opinion, is the best kind of entertainment. That’s real. That’s authentic.
That’s Michael Jackson.
Huffington Post journalist Charles Thomson hit the nail on the head with his commentary of the issue.
“The suggestion that Michael Jackson would somehow become ‘irrelevant’ or ‘forgotten’ if the Estate didn’t screen holograms of impersonators on awards shows has no basis in reality,” said Thomson.
“There are artists who died decades ago and are still as famous and respected today as they were then, without holograms of impersonators, or old songs being tampered with by new producers. Jimi Hendrix. John Lennon. Marvin Gaye. All doing just fine. Michael has one of the greatest legacies and bodies of work in music history. He simply cannot and will not ever be forgotten – hologram or no hologram.”
Damien Shields is the author of the book Michael Jackson: Songs & Stories From The Vault examining the King of Pop’s creative process, and the producer of the podcast The Genesis of Thriller which takes you inside the recording studio as Jackson and his team create the biggest selling album in music history.
