I was eager to see the last hurrah of Michael Jackson in the movie of his planned tour called, “This Is It.” I wasn’t sure what to expect but I expected more than I got. It basically is a film of a rehearsal; but then originally I thought, what else could it be? From the comments I heard from those who had seen it, I expected to see more about his life, more of him talking or commenting, maybe the costumes for the show, something ... but I didn’t get it. He seems like a sweet person—very, very professional and focused. The incredible thing to me was how he could remember the choreography to each number so well and his easy precision dancing with the back up dancers showed that he knew the routines perfectly. I enjoyed hearing the old songs, Billie Jean, Black or White, Thriller, etc., and seeing some of the background of how a show is put on was interesting. We were never shown how or why the sets appeared as they did; we just know it was a concept and someone put it together. Everyone was so incredibly polite and decorum reigned during the entire film. I have been on sets (Madonna) for music videos and they are long and arduous with lots of takes of scenes. It is NOT glamorous; it’s long and hard work and lots of standing around UNLESS you are the star or a principal in which case you have either your own trailer or private dressing rooms. And there is often chaos and depending on the director and crew, it can be not too nice for the background actors; it’s “dog eat dog” until you are in the VERY BIG time. That is because there are hundreds of people that you just happened to ace out in the auditions that are waiting impatiently to jump into your spot and the people in charge know that!

The pyrotechnics, lighting and music were fun to watch for a while, then I found myself wondering, is this all there is? … And it pretty much was. I enjoyed it and am glad I went, but I wouldn’t be interested in seeing it again. The one message he left at the end was basically what we always knew about him...love the children and love the earth! It’s a shame he had to go the way he did at such a young age.

I saw him once down in Hollywood in a memorabilia store. There were just a few of us in there, so we all said hello and he was very sweet and polite. No one hung around; just a few words and moved on. He was recognizable in that he had on the fedora, Elvis sunglasses, and facemask. He was much taller than I had imagined, maybe 5’10” or 11 and very thin. He had a couple of big Polynesian looking men dressed in uniforms who were his bodyguards; and when he exited, one held the door and the other the umbrella. Then off they went in the Rolls-Royce Limo with a gold crown on his passenger door ... but it was an old Rolls ... nothing wildly pretentious but then I thought about the crown and obviously he believed his own hype about being the King of Rock ... not to me ... that was Elvis! But are they really kings? I think not. Entertainers? Yes!