PALACE NEWS (PMG)-The Michael Jackson performance on the Billboard Music Awards
was the result of nearly half a year of planning, choreography and
filming, not to mention the development of new technology.
Producers of
the Billboard Music Awards did not see even a portion of the film until
eight days before the broadcast.
"We've been talking about it for the last five months and
while we were talking about it they were still inventing the process,"
says BBMA director and producer Larry Klein. "It was really strange
talking about something that did not exist."
Jackson, in hologram form, performed "Slave to the Rhythm"
midway through Sunday night's show with a five-piece band and 16
dancers live onstage. Jackson appeared in gold jacket, white T-shirt and
brick red trousers on a set modeled on the art work for the album
"Dangerous," an appropriate choice as the track was recorded in 1991
with L.A. Reid and Babyface during the sessions for that album. Released
this week on "XSCAPE," which is neck-and-neck with the new Black Keys
album for No. 1 on the Billboard 200 next week, the track was produced
by Timbaland.
BBMA producers Dick Clark Productions built a special
stage at the rear of the MGM Grand Arena that was used only for the
Jackson performance. Dancers moved through aisles as Jackson was seen
rising from a throne, walking down steps before going into several
trademark routines, a moonwalk being one of the them. Lasers, streams of
flames and dancers in ancient costumes were part of the film.
Klein shot it to give the presentation the feel of a live
performance. "You were watching the magic of Michael Jackson just like
you would have when he was performing," says Klein.
The selection of "Slave to the Rhythm" for the hologram
performance was made late last year; Jackson associates the Talauega
brothers and Jamie King were brought in to choreograph and direct the
video, which was produced by Pulse Evolution and Tricycle Logic.
"At the time we made the decision," says Jackson's lawyer
and adviser John Branca, "'Slave to the Rhythm' felt like a song was
something people could dance to, a potential club song. We talked to
Jamie King, who directed the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil shows and
we all felt the song was very likeable."
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The Talauega brothers, Rich and Tone, were brought on
right after the new year and they started to draw up dance moves for
Jackson and the other dancers in the film. Their involvement with
Jackson dates back to the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards; they also
choreographed the HIStory tour in 1997 and if one had to guess, the
image of Michael used in the performance appears to be from that era
based on his hair and clothing.
"We knew we didn't need to go so far left field with his
dance moves -- we just kept it within his world," Rich Talauega says.
"Its just the way you reconfigure his steps so it looks different.
You're still speaking the same language, it's just a different dialect."
Tone Talauega, who was still in high school when he
started working with Jackson, says they studied the singer's moves and
had small things adjusted - the angle of a hand, the tilt of his head.
The performance is "classic Michael, but we put our spice on it," he
says.
Demand for the Jackson hologram was considerable, but in
the end Branca and the estate felt it needed to be shown with a live
audience.
"It's so important to experience Michael Jackson in a live
setting," Branca says. "This is something where we wanted a live
performance in front of a live audience and nothing speaks to that more
than an awards show."
