Culture

Michael Jackson Thriller Tribute Performed by Cebu Inmates

by Amy Judd | June 27, 2009 at 09:01 am

1844 views | 38 Recommendations | 5 comments

A Michael Jackson tribute dance has been performed by the Cebu inmates, the same ones who made the 'Thriller' dance famous a few years ago.

More than 1,500 inmates rehearsed for nine hours straight to put on the show just two days after the pop singer died.

The inmates have previously performed songs like 'Jai Ho', but it was their dance to 'Thriller' that made them so famous. They started their tribute with a prayer to Jackson, then they sang and danced to his hit with Lionel Richie, 'We Are the World'.

They then performed the other hits 'Ben' and 'I'll Be There' before finishing with their famous dance to 'Thriller'.

The original 'Thriller' video by them has been watched over 23 million times on YouTube, and prison officials had heard that Michael himself had watched it. Their choreographer Byron Garcia, said he was shocked at the news that Jackson had died and that many of the inmates were devastated.

"Without MJ, the inmates would never have become world-renowned. That is why Michael Jackson is a God to them," Garcia told AFP. "Inmates had hoped that one day, he'll come to dance with them."

The inmates had only performed the dance hours before Jackson died on Thursday.

Jackson's music served to help the facility in rehabilitating the inmates, Garcia said.

"Music is the language of the soul, and dancing is a form of positive expression," he said as press photographers jostled for positions. "I am sad. Forty years ago, I learned singing his songs."

Hundreds of people came to watch the inmates perform the tribute in person today.

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Roy C

at 11:57 on June 27th, 2009

A real find and some of the best evidence I have seen as to the extent of MJ's influence.

I do remember when I first got to Itay and went to a dance club. Not a single song was Italian. A few years later they had quite a dance music industry developed, made easier by new electronic technology.

The point is that it is quite different to be outside the country and see the power of our popular culture.

Right now, "Law and Order" is playing all around the world, sending out images of police work, courtroom procedure and the fallibility of the whole process.

Even the Ayatollah Khomenei, who banned all American TV shows in Iran, allowed "Little House on the Prairie" to be shown.

We are such sons of b's that we sneak in one way or the other. :)

QueensHart

at 15:17 on June 27th, 2009

Click on one that shows all the in mates in formation doing the song from beginning to end. It brings tears to my eyes PRISONERS! DOING ...the choreography ..so many people there practicing ..dancing. WHAT DOES THIS TELL THE WORLD? DO THEY DANCE FOR A CEO DYING? I DON'T THINK SO. Music, dance and art..is UNIVERSAL...WE ALL LOVE IT...

..As usual the wealthy do not get the right treatment or therapy...If only he had met someone outside his sick family. They created this child man..it is another typical tragic story of development of only one aspect of the energy systems of the body. He never became 'whole'....childhood wounds never heal when not owned and processed......

sara star

at 16:17 on June 27th, 2009

You are right, but these wounds are what created the genius in the first place, out of necessity. He could have healed some though, I guess Lisa Marie tried, not that she's a role model...