Saturday night, Madonna took the stage at O2 arena in London where Michael Jackson was to perform a 50-show run in a couple weeks. Michael Jackson, who died last week, was to begin a series of 50 concerts at the 23,000-seat O2 starting July 13 and so, Madonna thought this place fitting to pay tribute to her long time friend and the biggest pop artist of all times.
The Material Girl halted the regularly scheduled show of her Sticky & Sweet tour in order to honor the superstar with whom she shared the Billboard charts and MTV airwaves in the mid-’80s.
During Madonna’s performance of “Holiday,” in front of an estimated crowd of 17,000, including the fashion designer Valentino, a Michael Jackson impersonator came onstage (Madonna’s dancer, Kento), wearing MJ’s trademark fedora, white glove, white socks and a white T-shirt, while an image of a young Jackson was projected in the background. The impersonator’s appearance would not have surprised anyone paying close attention to Madonna’s Web site, which had a picture of him dancing in rehearsal. The impersonator mimicked Jackson’s spinning, gyrating and then moonwalked to Jackson’s “Wanna Be Starting Something.” But he didn’t sing.
MTV reported that from the stage, Madonna lead the cheers for one of the only other ’80s icons who could eclipse her. She clapped her hands, swayed from side to side and jumped up and down while images of Jackson over the years flashed on a big screen.
According to Hollywood.com, toward the end of her show, after the reigning queen of pop shouted, “Let’s give it up for one of the greatest artists the world has ever known,” she and her dancers brought the house down. They honored Jackson in their last dance by wearing a black armband and a white jeweled glove on their right hands while the lyrics to one of MJ’s most touching hits, “Man in the Mirror,” flashed on the screen behind her.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper, Madonna had said she was “terribly sad” about Jackson’s death. “To be able to do what he did at such an early age was unearthly, everybody grew up in awe of him,” The Sun quoted her as saying.
“To work with him and become friends, and hang out with him, was exciting for me. I used to love picking his brains about musical stuff.”
The special choreographed dance number dedicated to the King of Pop was reportedly a huge hit with Madonna’s fans and is likely to be repeated for the duration of her tour engagements.
However, Madonna wasn’t the only mega-star paying tribute to Jackson in the last few days. At its world tour opening show in Barcelona last week, U2 performed “Angel of Harlem” and Bono threw in some lyrics to some of Jackson’s greatest hits.
Madonna - Michael Jackson Tribute (London O2 Arena - Sticky & Sweet Tour July 4th 2009) Video
