Report says that the inmates are planning to perform a new tribute to Michael Jackson.

Excerpt from AFP:

Hundreds see Philippine inmates perform Jackson tribute

 

CEBU, Philippines (AFP) – – More than 1,500 Philippine inmates at a maximum security prison on Saturday performed a Michael Jackson tribute for the public with a dance routine that has become a global Internet hit.

 

Hundreds of spectators arrived at the jail to see the convicts, including murderers and drug-traffickers, put on the show two days after the music icon collapsed and died.

 

One by one the performers, wearing their prison-issue saffron uniforms, filed into the fenced-off exercise yard at Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, where officials had hung a picture of the star.

 

The event began with a prayer for Jackson before singing and dancing to his hit “We Are the World”, which he co-wrote with Lionel Richie to raise funds for famine victims in Ethiopia.

 

They then went on to perform to two other Jackson ballads, “Ben” and “I’ll Be There”, before taking positions for their popular dance routine based on the singer’s megahit video “Thriller”.

 

The inmates’ four-minute synchronised performance first aired on the video sharing website YouTube two years ago, and has since gained a cult following, generating more than 23 million hits so far.

 

Officials at the prison also said they had been told Jackson himself had even seen it.

 

Choreographer Byron Garcia, a prison consultant and the brains behind the dance exercise, said he was shocked by Jackson’s death at the age of 50 and that many of his wards were grief-stricken.

 

“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.”

 

He said the prisoners had performed the routine for visiting tourism officials on Thursday afternoon, just hours before Jackson died.

 

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.”

 

Inmate Michael Carunngay, 31, a former drug trafficker, said: “We are sad that Michael Jackson passed away because he was our inspiration and the reason why we have found fame.”

 

Millions of fans around the world have held tributes to the “King of Pop” who died on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles.

 

Tourists had flocked to the prison hours before the performance started at 3.00pm (0700 GMT) Saturday, with one official saying an unusual number of people had been signing in.

 

The video has become such a big hit that the inmates have themselves become tourist attractions, with visitors having their pictures taken with them after each performance.

 

They have also performed the dance for government officials and the Archbishop of the Catholic church in Cebu.

 

afp.com

Michael Jackson, the sensationally gifted “King of Pop” who emerged from childhood superstardom to become the entertainment world’s most influential singer and dancer before his life and career deteriorated in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. He was 50.

The person said Jackson died in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.

Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

His 1982 album “Thriller” — which included the blockbuster hits “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” — remains the biggest-selling album of all time, with more than 26 million copies.

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves, his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove and tight, military-style jacket were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.

As years went by, he became an increasingly freakish figure. His skin became lighter and his nose narrower. He surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, often wore a germ mask while traveling and kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions.

In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him. The case took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital as word of his death spread. The emergency entrance at the UCLA Medical Center, which is near Jackson’s rented home, was roped off with police tape.

In New York’s Times Square, a low groan went up in the crowd when a screen flashed that Jackson had died, and people began relaying the news to friends by cell phone.

“No joke. King of Pop is no more. Wow,” Michael Harris, 36, of New York City, read from a text message a friend sent to his telephone. “It’s like when Kennedy was assassinated. I will always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died.”

Source: Yahoo, By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY and DERRIK J. LANG, Associated Press Writers Nekesa Mumbi Moody And Derrik J. Lang, Associated Press Writers