.... Onto Piers Morgan a bit.. Maybe I'm weird, but I sort of like him. I mean, not when he was on Britain's Got Talent (? I think..) and The Apprentice, and can't brush it off that he was editor of News Of The World and daily Mirror, two of the trashiest tabloids out there... But. He seemed to have been consistent as far as his impressions of Michael have gone. Both shortly after interviewing him in '99, and now. I cropped this from the
http://archives.cnn.com interview with Janet, and I'm impressed:
“When your brother, (Jermaine) did the Charlie Chaplin 'Smile' routine at the memorial for Michael […] It seemed completely appropriate to anyone that knew him, because what I remember about Michael is this amazing smile he had, apart from the genius talent. You know, I still say to people I saw him in Paris in the early '90s. I have never seen a concert like it in my life. […] I mean (he was an) incredible performer. But he had this amazing smile. […] I interviewed Michael. […] And I found it fascinating to actually talk one on one with him because, A, he seemed completely normal to me. And we had a great discussion about all sorts of things. Great sense of humor. But what was really interesting -- and I wanted to read you some of this -- was what he said about Princess Diana who had just died. He said to me, "I told her that no normal person could possibly understand the life that she led. I've had that attention since I was a kid. Diana had it only from only the age of 19. I had it all my life, so I knew how to handle it. I just said to her, rise above it all. I would tell her how I would go on stage sometimes and the worst pain, either emotionally or physically, was something like a toothache. And I would put whatever it was out of my mind and perform. And I said to her be strong, be determined. No one can hurt you. You can only hurt yourself. So, be defiant. I think she appreciated and got something from my words. I think I was able to comfort her." […]”
.. I'm sorry, but when I see people like that, however dogs they may be in their public life, however unscrupulous and ruthless, maybe that's their survival technique in the crazy jungle, I'm not here to judge them. But as a journalist, to be able to remark the things he did about Michael, for instance, such as about his smile... I mean, what other (esp) male journalist does that? It's obvious Piers likes Michael, that when he mentioned about Joe's physical abuse on them, and when he repeatedly (although not rudely) called his family a disfunctional one, he was.. a bit involved? Like he knew that to be the truth. And to crop his memorable words on Princess Diana for the interview, I thought that was a touching thing to do. Like he did his homework or something.. He was respectful throughout all the interview, haven't watched his others', but my opinion of him changed almost dramatically now. He's still the same Morgan, blunt and all, and funny, all in all and more mellow. It takes so little, oftentimes, for some to be impressed by what they see, esp when they seem honest. .. Don't know, but him mentioning Michael's "amazing smile"... made me warmhearted, really wasn't expecting that, and I'm appreciating him if only for this simple thing he said. It's true.. Michael really did soften many tough guys in his lifetime and continues to, however temporarily..