Re: October 30, 2008
i found some news here
here is wesite
:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/zombies-re-enact-thriller-in-times-square/?apage=1
October 30, 2008, 2:13 pm
Zombies Re-enact ‘Thriller’ in Times Square
More than 70 people gathered at Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in Times Square to zombie-dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” in an attempt to break the Guinness world record on Thursday. (Photo: Jennifer 8. Lee/The New York Times)
Updated, 4:53 p.m. | They heeded the call the day before Halloween and came in droves: driving up to four hours, arriving in Times Square when the sky was barely light. They wore tattered clothes, glitter gloves and rhinestone belts.
They showed up at Madame Tussaud’s wax museum for a stated purpose: to break the Guinness world record for the most people doing the “Thriller” dance at the same time (which they believed to be set at 62 in Toronto in 2006, but actually apparently is not that at all).
It was in effect, the Guinness world record that never was.
The 28-year-old dance instructor, Eunice Kindred, shouted orders to her impromptu army of zombies: “Dead. Dead. Dead,” and “Out of the grave. Out of the grave.” (We still think dancing zombies are not as cool as yoga zombies. Downward dog!)
Even as Michael Jackson has spiraled off to a fantasy land, the music he created has proved to have staying power. “Thriller” — both the song and the dance — have lodged in popular imagination, charming many who were not yet born in 1982. The original 14-minute horror video, with its narrative plot line, was more a short film than a true music video.
While Michael Jackson was not at the event, proxies from various points in his career performed in his stead: “Beat-It” Michael Jackson, “Thriller” Michael, and “Black or White” Michael. Garrett Wilson, 17 — the “Black or White” Michael with aviator glasses, Geri-curl and an admirable falsetto — praised Mr. Jackson’s music, saying, “He talks about real issues in his music.”
The “Thriller” album has seen a resurgence on its 25th anniversary, with a commemorative “Thriller” album of the original music and remixes with Kanye West and Fergie. On YouTube, one can find remakes done with Legos (the skeletal Legomen are particularly intriguing) and Bollywood-style, alongside the original. It is arguably one of the most famous music videos ever made, if not the most famous.
The original 1982 review of the album in The Times said:
“It is as hopeful a sign as we have had yet that the destructive barriers that spring up regularly between white and black music — and between whites and blacks — in this culture may be breached once again. Most important of all, it is another signpost on the road to Michael Jackson’s own artistic fulfillment.”
It continued:
Ever since the craze for the castrato in the 17th century, high male voices, with their paradoxical blend of asexuality and sensuousness, ecstasy and pain, have been the most prized of all vocal types, and Mr. Jackson epitomizes such singing for our time better than anyone, in any musical genre.
“I always thought Halloween and ‘Thriller’ fit each other like a glove,” said Mr. Jackson, who turned 50 in on August 29, in a statement issued by the Madam Tussaud event. The period of life when he made “Thriller” was one of the happiest times of his life, he said in an interview with “Good Morning America.”
His birthday did not pass unnoticed in New York. Reva Thomas, 34, organized a tribute on Aug. 23 and Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn borough president, officially declared “Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008, as Michael ‘King of Pop’ Jackson 50th Birthday and 25th Anniversary of ‘Thriller’ Celebration Day.”
On Thursday, Madame Tussaud’s did break the record, as 73 people showed up — which they claimed was a world record.
Many readers have pointed out in comments that many more times that number have performed the Thriller dance elsewhere, including Austin, Texas; Macon, Georgia; and most famously in a Filipino prison. A spokeswoman for the Madam Tussaud’s event explained that an event has to be sanctioned by Guinness before it can break the record. So it’s not enough simply to be a world record in spirit, it must be a Guinness world record. Guinness has online instructions on the application process.
But in fact, City Room did some more poking around, and it seems like that Toronto record has long been broken. In April 2008, a secondary school in England broke the record with 147 dancing zombies. And on October 25, last Saturday, 881 people assembled in Austin to dance as part of the global Thrill the World project, which tried to set a worldwide record of people dancing Thriller. ”
“It does take a while to be officially certified but it does take a while and we have submitted our paperwork. We are officially in the review process,” said Indiana Adams, an organizer for Thrill the World Austin. “They have to verify that everyone in our group signed in and signed out.”
“We just have to see what exactly what our record is because some numbers might have been counted out by Guinness stewards” she said. “I just don’t think 72 is going to stand a chance. Poor things.”
here is website:
http://www.theboombox.com/2008/10/30/t-pain-hangs-with-michael-jackson-works-on-king-of-pops-new-al/
T-Pain Hangs With Michael Jackson, Works on King of Pop's New Album
Having collaborated with everyone from Ludacris and Ciara to Chris Brown, T-Pain has worked with most of his peers. So who's left for him to work with? No one, he says. "I pretty much did it already. I did two pieces with Michael Jackson, so I'm pretty much done; my list is all checked off."
And it looks like MJ's upcoming project will have T-Pain's touch. "I just worked on his new album," Pain says. "He actually invited me to his house. So I went to his house and it was pretty much that day where we just hung out ..."
While the vocoder-laced singer/producer seems to be taking his success in stride, he admits that he never imagined he'd have a chance to collaborate with the King of Pop. "I never thought Michael Jackson would ever work with me. He actually sent for me, so that was kind of weird and cool at the same time."
Being a big-time producer does have its benefits. Besides working with Jackson, Pain just returned from working with producer/rapper Kanye West. "I just went down to Hawaii with Kanye for four days and I came back making beats and songs like Kanye, like people can hear it."
Of course, it's not as glamorous as it sounds. "I was working on his album, but it was all work," he says. "So all I saw was the hotel and the studio."
here is website:
http://hangout.altsounds.com/news/8...s-up-with-michael-jackson-radiohead-move.html
Kanye West Teams Up With Michael Jackson
Kanye West tells MTV News that like Will.i.am, he’s working on new material for Michael Jackson, explaining, “If I like a person's outlet or what a person brings to the table then I'll speak to them.”
Justin Timberlake has become the first male solo artist this decade to have six Top 40 hits from one album, Billboard reports, following the entry of his most recent single, “Until the End of Time,” on the Top 40 this week. Michael Jackson was the last male artist to achieve this success, with seven singles from Dangerous.
