The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Tributes paid to Michael Jackson

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Saturday, Jun 27, 2009
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Tributes paid to Michael Jackson

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Music lovers in the city on Friday were shocked and saddened by the unexpected demise of legendary pop singer Michael Jackson.

“I was stunned when I heard the news,” said Jagan George, a lead vocalist with ‘Evergreen,’ a rock band, who was woken up from his sleep at 3 a.m. with the news by one of his friends in the U.S. “I immediately started sending text messages to all my friends in the city,” said Mr. George who sent about 20 messages before switching on the television.

Mr. George, like most other Michael Jackson fans in the city, was looking forward to the pop superstar’s comeback next month.

The American legend was all set to engineer a career re-launch with a series of concerts across the world, including Asia, in a few weeks time. However his fans were also aware about his numerous health-related issues. “Last year itself we heard a lot of talk about his declining health, including reports that he moved around in wheel chair,” he said.

Mr. George who admires Michael Jackson for his soothing voice, inimitable style and mannerisms said that the band would pay tribute to the music legend by playing his songs for a live performance in the city on Saturday. “Our band members already had a practice session this morning,” said the lead vocalist who singled out the Album ‘Dangerous,’ for its “melodious songs” and “foot tapping beats”, as his favourite.

It was Michael Jackson’s signature singing style, dance moves and military-inspired fashion sense that inspired Vivek Thomas, a city based rock musician and lead singer with ‘Soul Burn’ to become a fan of pop.

Though ‘Thriller’ continues to be Michael Jackson’s biggest selling album of all time, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide and blockbuster hits such as ‘Beat It’, ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Thriller’, Mr. Thomas too picks up ‘Dangerous’ as his favourite. “I think his (Michael Jackson’s) real talent is revealed in that album,” said Mr. Thomas. “His music is going to live for ever,” he said.

T.J. Gopinath, a sound engineer vividly recollects the experience of travelling to Mumbai in 1996 to watch the King of Pop in action. “It was a wholesome experience,” said Mr. Gopinath describing the two-and-half-hour show. Being a sound engineer Gopinath was magnetised more by the mind-blowing technical extravaganza of the show.

“I could hardly take my eyes off the action on stage,” he said.

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