Mariah Carey andTrey Lorenz: “I’ll Be There”
Mariah started out hoarse and a little pitchy as she tried to lower the range, but Trey lent a hand (just as he did in 1992) with smooth lower notes and trills. Mariah got stronger as the performance went on—or they adjusted her mic levels—to finish serviceably, but not strong, and Trey had to bring it home on the hight note.
Queen Latifah: Repping Generation X, Queen dusted off a memory of dancing to “Dancing Machine” with late brother Lance, whose mention seemed to choke her up as least as much as Michael’s death. Her refrain of “but we had him” while he lived spoke to blacks specifically, but she extended the love. “From the Eiffel Tower to Black Star Square in Ghana, from Birmingham, Alabama to Birmingham, England, we had him. And we are the world.”
Lionel Ritchie’s “Jesus is Love” was a moving opener that brought the first hint of “chuch” to the proceedings. Backed by a choir (with the requisite white guy), Lionel laid the way for the speakers to follow.
Berry Gordy was stiff, reading cards the entire time. Granted, the man’s not a speaker, he’s a music executive. But as the man who watched Michael grow from a ten-year-old phenom to an international super star, it was surprising that he never directed any words to Michael himself.
Stevie Wonder said “This is a moment that I wished…I hadn’t lived to see come.” His rendition of “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer,” among other songs, were filled with a heartfelt sadness that gave the first real moment of grief of the day.
Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson: Kobe kept it short and uninspired. Magic wasn’t much more articulate, but unintentionally made it clear that he’d gone whoring with Jackie and that he’d developed genuine feeling for Michael after hanging out with him eating KFC. Surprisingly, Magic opened up politically, saying Michael’s celebrity opened doors for African Americans in entertainment.
Jennifer Hudson: “Will You Be There”
Jennifer (seven months pregnant) looked beautiful in a white chiffon empire waist white frock with monochromatic paillettes. Too bad her backup dancers/chorus line was neither inspiring, nor coordinated. The highlight was the fun-size boy in back wearing a black tux with white trim. He vogued, pouted and popped for all he was worth. He must’ve known he was in the direct camera line.
Al Sharpton: A bit gaunter than usual, Al took the podium before 17,000 with the same confidence he’d have shown for a crowd of 17. Michael received partial credit for the successes of Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods and President Barack Obama, and rightly so. He was the first to offer the Jackson clan not condolence, but thanks. “Thank you, Michael, for eradicating barriers, thank you, Michael, for teaching us to love. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Al (of course) received the biggest applause of the show.
John Mayer turned “Human Nature” into smooth jazz while giving his best blue-eyed soul performance, complete with earnest leans and solemn moans. He received polite applause for his efforts. But he did the job, which was mainly to douse some of the crowd’s post-Sharpton euphoria.
Brooke Shields: fought tears before she even got behind the microphone good. Her rambling, stumbly story of sneaking into Liz Taylor’s bedroom with Mike to sneak a peak at Taylor’s wedding dress had the boring smack of real grief. You don’t remember the best times, but small moments of laughter when you’re hit in the face with tragedy. Still, her quote from The Little Prince felt a little forced, and whoever insisted she shoe-horn in the line from Charlie Chaplain’s “Smile” at the end to awkwardly transition to Jermaine’s forgettable performance should be thumped.
Bernice and Martin Luther King, III spoke for America’s other black royal family. Bernice, in a lime green pantsuit and pewter jewelry, related a touching story of Michael calling her mother before Coretta’s death in the hospital three years ago. Some here at Grownheadz swear her mention of “sisterhood” before “brotherhood” in a line on Michael’s influence is a lesbian tip-off, but that’s currently under dispute. She does, however, walk rather dude-ishly.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), representing the Congressional Black Caucus, called Michael’s an American story, and presented Resolution 600 to recognize Michael Jackson as a world humanitarian. Her speech was more official than personal, and not overlong. But she had more false endings than Lord of the Rings. At least three times audience members were lured into applauding a wrap-up that didn’t come. Tricky!
Usher: Ersher’s performance was one of the most competent musical performances today, but that didn’t make it any less eye roll-inducing. From his Number One Fan opener: “Michael, you meant so much to everyone, especially me,” to his fake choked-up pause before the last words of “Gone Too Soon,” Usher brought the notes but not the soul.
Smokey Robinson walked onstage to a video of the Jackson 5 on the Ed Sullivan show, with Mike singing his heart out to “Who’s Loving You.” “I wrote that song, you know,” Smokey reminded us with a laugh. Without notes, without a script, Smokey delivered the most natural and heart felt speech of the event, expressing his belief that Michael lives on in the afterlife. “He will live forever, two ways,” he said, “because the world will never forget Michael Jackson.”
Shaheen Jafargholi sang Who’s Loving You, but kept it quick. Kenny Ortega, Michael’s choreographer, came on to introduce Shaheen and other supporting members of the This Is It tour, and they closed with all presenters onstage to sing “Heal the World.”
The Jackson family closed it out, with thoughts from Jermaine (Michael’s “voice and his backbone”) and Marlon, who
shared a time he caught Mike disguised as an old man with crooked teeth buying up discs at a record store. “You’re my brother,” he said he told him. “I’d know you anywhere.” Marlon, more than anyone else, spoke of Mike’s pain, being judged and ridiculed everywhere he went. “Maybe now they’ll leave you alone.”
Random Thoughts:
Best Dressed: Jackson’s five brothers, in black tuxes, yellow silk ties, red rose boutonnieres and one white glove with silver sequins on their left hands.
Best Quote: Al Sharpton. “I want his three children to know, wasn’t nothing strange about your daddy. What was strange was what he had to deal with, and he dealt with it anyway, for us.”
Saddest: Marlon called Janet to speak, but for some reason Michael’s daughter, Paris took the mic instead. Her voice shook but her words were clear: “Daddy has been the best father you could imagine and I just want to say I love him…so much.” If you didn’t cry, you’ve got the heart of a gargoyle.
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Hey, you heads keep doing what you are doing. I added you guys to our Culture Directory.
I read the one February article about the Lil Wayne. It was cool. I understand today’s youth on what they call dope, but their options of listening to authentic Hip Hop music is limited to heavy rotation on radio and music video. They do not truly look for authentic Hip Hop culture because it is foreign to them! We had waaaay to many choices because back in the day because we were battling style for style and not just record sales.
Also, rappers verbally dissing each other on YouTube is wack. Whatever happend to battling song for song or on stage? Calling each other names like school girls is wack!
The thing is Lil Wayne does not understand the essence of Hip Hop. He is just a hood rat who got lucky with smoke and mirrors to disguise his lack of talent. If we got back to battling style for style; skill for skill the music will go back to the essence. Peace.