remember the time

In my hotel room in Manchester, I hear that Michael Jackson is in hospital... suffering from cardiac arrest...within minutes Sky News changes it breaking news to say there is an unconfirmed report from TMZ that he is dead.

I sit up in disbelief. I'm feeling weak... sick to my stomach... just like the time I found out that Princess Diana had died; another person whose end was tragic... in my mind both gave so much in life.

My phone rings... it's Niata calling from Nigeria, crying.

My blackberry starts singing again... and again... and again... I check... more new messages about Michael Jackson...

On facebook I see only one new status update... then I see another... then another... I add my own status update to facebook... more and more are updated as each minute passes.... many saying RIP MJ... some saying MJ is just in hospital... others saying don't kill him with your mouth... and one saying he's not dead until CNN says so... so I start to hope again... why? because it is the quintessentially human.

Then LA Times confirm he is gone...and finally CNN do too.

I keep watching the news; then memories of him...HIStory... his songs... come flooding into my mind...

I remember watching Thriller through my fingers as a child and being scared shitless... I remember Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna be Starting Something... I remember trying to do the moonwalk after watching Motown 25 and failing miserably. To be honest, one of the actual reasons I started learning ballet at the age of 9 was because I wanted to be an En Pointe dancer... there was nothing cooler than being able to stand up on your toes... it was MJ's signature move!!!

I remember Bad... especially, how badly I wanted to be like Tatiana Thumbtzen who featured in his music video for The Way You Make Me Feel. I remember trying to spot the stars/celebrities littered in his Liberian Girl music video... all the time forgetting that I hadn't seen Micheal Jackson until the very end. I remember his other songs like Man in the Mirror, Dirty Diana, I Just Can't Stop Loving You and of course that famous anti gravity lean in the music video for Smooth Criminal...

Please who can forget his epic song We Are the World?... not me... never me...

What about his songs from the Dangerous Album?... Black or White ... OMG, I remember Maizah trying to teach a whole bunch of us at boarding school the dance moves in the music video Remember the Time. I remember Naomi Campbell in In the Closet as well as Michael Jordon in Jam... I remember waiting endlessly to watch the UK music video exlcusive of Who Is It on TV and then thinking chai... na wa for billionaire's boys club escort agency o!!!... I remember re-playing his song Will You Be There… I played that song over and over again in my dorm room in school so I could learn the lyrics.

I remember crying to his Heal the World song... I remember his song Gone Too Soon. *sighs* ... at only 50 years old... isn't that just the truth?!

I remember the amazing visual effects in the Scream music video when it was released... just watching Janet Jackson and her older brother left me in complete awe... funnily enough, I only just watched that same video on some music channel about 2 weeks ago and still thought it to be awesome.

I remember smiling as I watched Michael Jackson's Scarecrow Ease on down the Road with Diana Ross's Dorothy in the film 'The Wiz'.

I will always remember the time I found out that Michael Jackson died.

RIP Michael Jackson... your legacy lives on... know your music was the greatest... it touched so many... the man in the mirror made that change... I'm forever your fan... even though you are gone and I can no longer Rock With You... know still... You Rock My World.