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Why did Michael always only have 4 back singers ? He could've have used more for MITM for example. Also maybe he could've have more dancers ?

Svis

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Now maybe comparing to today's pop artist is unfair. But I'm still wondering if he could've used like 7 backup singers or more, which could've made MITM backing vocals fully live for back vocals... Also make songs like WBSS more like the original with the choir.

Now even though This is it doesn't have much more dancers than his other solo tours I feel like they used them more, the stage was more filled, you can see it in Smooth Criminal for example. So I wonder why he didn't have more like 15 or more.

I see today's artist using tens or dancers and singers
 
i honestly felt at times that the dancers (even his brothers) got in his way. my favourite performances/short films are the ones where he’s on his own and free-styling. he had enough charisma to fill up that entire stage on his own. I don’t even want to see a band, or anything that will distract my attention from him.
 
83magic said:
i honestly felt at times that the dancers (even his brothers) got in his way. my favourite performances/short films are the ones where he’s on his own and free-styling. he had enough charisma to fill up that entire stage on his own. I don’t even want to see a band, or anything that will distract my attention from him.
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Well said!
 
bluemoon7 said:
Why would MJ need 10 dancers? He stood out so much as a dancer and didn´t need them, IMO
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He had eleven dancers for TII. I loved it, thought it looked fabulous. Tbf, TII was the first time I'd seen Michael onstage (I mean, apart from J5 / Jacksons on tv back in the day) so I had nothing to compare it to. First time I saw Jam at Bremen with only 4 dancers I was shocked. By the time I caught up with BWT 1987 I was still shocked.

The staging for TWYMMF in TII was awesome. Yes, partly the set design but also the number of dancers. Looked amazing to me.
 
Svis said:
Yea you're right but I still feel the stage feels "empty" sometime like in Smooth Criminal during the BWT and DWT
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It does look empty. It's one of the reasons I'm not keen on watching DWT or HWT shows (there are many reasons, tbf).

bluemoon7 said:
Tbh, I never look at the backup dancers anyway :LOL: 😄
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Just me then, lol. :ROFLMAO:

Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Staging was empty during those tours..and yet. Who hardly notices.
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Me. :D

83magic said:
i honestly felt at times that the dancers (even his brothers) got in his way. my favourite performances/short films are the ones where he’s on his own and free-styling. he had enough charisma to fill up that entire stage on his own. I don’t even want to see a band, or anything that will distract my attention from him.
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I'm the complete opposite. I love watching Michael with his brothers. No, they are not even close to his level of genius or anything. But I love the onstage chemistry they have (yes, yes, offstage is a whole other story, lol).

I love seeing the band - that's one of the reasons I prefer BWT 1987 over DWT and HWT shows. I WANT to see the band, fgs!

Absolutely love watching Michael interact with his people. Love it. I want more of it. This has a lot to do with why I love TII so much in spite of the many problems.
 
zinniabooklover said:
It does look empty. It's one of the reasons I'm not keen on watching DWT or HWT shows (there are many reasons, tbf).


Just me then, lol. :ROFLMAO:


Me. :D


I'm the complete opposite. I love watching Michael with his brothers. No, they are not even close to his level of genius or anything. But I love the onstage chemistry they have (yes, yes, offstage is a whole other story, lol).

I love seeing the band - that's one of the reasons I prefer BWT 1987 over DWT and HWT shows. I WANT to see the band, fgs!

Absolutely love watching Michael interact with his people. Love it. I want more of it. This has a lot to do with why I love TII so much in spite of the many problems.
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someone who likes TII more ! I also really like TII because the staging is very good imo
 
zinniabooklover said:
It does look empty. It's one of the reasons I'm not keen on watching DWT or HWT shows (there are many reasons, tbf).


Just me then, lol. :ROFLMAO:


Me. :D


I'm the complete opposite. I love watching Michael with his brothers. No, they are not even close to his level of genius or anything. But I love the onstage chemistry they have (yes, yes, offstage is a whole other story, lol).

I love seeing the band - that's one of the reasons I prefer BWT 1987 over DWT and HWT shows. I WANT to see the band, fgs!

Absolutely love watching Michael interact with his people. Love it. I want more of it. This has a lot to do with why I love TII so much in spite of the many problems.
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I also notice the lack of dancers, now I doesnt bother me to the point of making me dislike the show but it's just something that I wonder why he didn't change before This is It
 
At the most basic level of answer - because any more backing singers would drown him out, lets not forget Michael himself was an awesome singer and we wanted to hear him first and the most. Also most of the songs in album form, only had Michael singing and other singers were often muted or soloing, or most likely backing tapes of Michael singing in various tones.
 
zinniabooklover said:
It does look empty. It's one of the reasons I'm not keen on watching DWT or HWT shows (there are many reasons, tbf).


Just me then, lol. :ROFLMAO:


Me. :D


I'm the complete opposite. I love watching Michael with his brothers. No, they are not even close to his level of genius or anything. But I love the onstage chemistry they have (yes, yes, offstage is a whole other story, lol).

I love seeing the band - that's one of the reasons I prefer BWT 1987 over DWT and HWT shows. I WANT to see the band, fgs!

Absolutely love watching Michael interact with his people. Love it. I want more of it. This has a lot to do with why I love TII so much in spite of the many problems.
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the dancers in the ‘beat it’ video do not synchronise with michael. the guy on the left in the brown jacket goes viral these days, but I’ve noticed him for many years. it’s only the choreographers michael peters and Vincent patterson who look decent in my opinion. michael is still better than them, and he never even had any formal training. yet I understand that a group is necessary for the story and setting, as it is in many cases. michael was already engaging in the previous glimpses we got of him dancing in the hallway, and around the billiards table.

marlon’s spins are flat footed and anti-clockwise. his movements are not graceful, and he almost bumps into michael during ‘I want you back’, in the Motown 25 performance.

my eyes automatically focus on michael always. that’s one of the reasons ‘billie jean’ is my favourite short film. the surrounding elements compliment michael, but he is the nucleus. same with ‘don’t stop til you get enough’
 
83magic said:
the dancers in the ‘beat it’ video do not synchronise with michael. the guy on the left in the brown jacket goes viral these days, but I’ve noticed him for many years. it’s only the choreographers michael peters and Vincent patterson who look decent in my opinion. michael is still better than them,
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He is. He is way more fluid than Peters or Patterson. Vince Patterson, in particular, is not hugely impressive as a dancer, imo. His physique is not great, either. I find it interesting to watch him and Peters bc I always enjoy watching dancers unless they are absolute rubbish. I do love to watch Lavelle Smith Jr. He has skills. And stage presence.

83magic said:
[...] marlon’s spins are flat footed and anti-clockwise. his movements are not graceful, and he almost bumps into michael during ‘I want you back’, in the Motown 25 performance.
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I really like Marlon as a dancer. I love watching him on Destiny and Triumph shows. And I think there is great chemistry between him and Michael onstage.

83magic said:
my eyes automatically focus on michael always.
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Same. That's his star quality working its magic. I spend more time watching Michael than all the other dancers put together. But I never watch Michael 100% exclusively. I love watching dance too much to limit myself to just one person. Even when it's Michael.
 
It is so mesmerizing to watch Michael dance, the way he moves with the music, footwork, hands, body lines everything! The backup dances just got in the way. Of all the Dangerous performances, my least favourite is the one where he has too many backup dances. They choreography is still great, but I have to mentally move the backup dances 'out of the way' to enjoy Michael's performance. They made sense where they were really part of the performance like in SC.
 
Hiker said:
It is so mesmerizing to watch Michael dance, the way he moves with the music, footwork, hands, body lines everything! The backup dances just got in the way. Of all the Dangerous performances, my least favourite is the one where he has too many backup dances. They choreography is still great, but I have to mentally move the backup dances 'out of the way' to enjoy Michael's performance.
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My fave is 1993. That one works for me. Later on there's definitely a feeling of 'overload' with the extra dancers. They weren't needed, imo.

Hiker said:
They made sense where they were really part of the performance like in SC.
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Good point. Although there are loads of dancers in the SC music video it never feels / looks like too many for me. It works perfectly. It's so beautifully staged, I wouldn't change a thing.
 
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