Michael Jackson... I would like to thank my Dad for introducing me to Michael. When we came back from Canada, Dad recorded lots of videos (in Beta format at the time) for good memories sake. One video that intrigued me the most was the clip of "We Are the World". I loved how the song was sung by so many people, which, I was definitely sure were sung by lots of famous artists ( I was 4 years old at this time) and Michael was the one that made my eyes bulged more because of his glove and his famous 'sparkly' tux. I don't remember if I loved him right away.
1985 we arrived in Rome, Italy. I know that Italy made me fall in love with him for the first time and it came out gradually.. in 1988. I remember getting a 3x4 mirror framed with a picture of him from the BAD cover album. I worshiped that frame like crazy. I had it on my wall, took it, kissed it, putting it back, taking it again the next day, looking at it, daydreaming I will one day meet him, kissed it again and then go to bed. It became a daily routine for awhile.. That year Michael came to Rome to have the BAD World Tour concert and I didn't go because, adoy! I was only 7 years old and the concert is for grown ups. I felt shut down by my own idol, but I knew I was too little to watch him. My parents -who knew how much I love MJ- gave me a pin, a shirt and a poster of him, all of it were cover of the BAD album. I think I fell for him because of his sharp eyes and curly hair with the cool pose wearing that black leather jacket of his.
I dragged my best friend, Giulia, to watch 'Moonwalker' with me and Dad in 1989 at the theater in Rome. Now, mind you all, this era was the the time when MJ and Madonna were worshiped like gods in Italy and so imagine the chaos and craziness when we all watched the movie together. The girls kept on screaming "Michael!!!!" whenever he's onscreen -which is, like, every second!-, or just shouting nonsense, hysterically. Some even had to be taken outside coz they were too hysterical and had to throw up and some even fainted! True Story. That was the MJ fever, everybody.
1992. The year that I graduated from 6th grade. At the school farewell, Prita, Novi, Ayesha and I danced to the song 'Remember the Time'. Yeah, we rocked! Some moves I could still remember, especially watching the clips being played on TV over and over again after his death. I had this crazy idea at one point to commemorate him by dancing to it again... Whaddya think gals?? Hehehe... (It was just a thought). One other thing I remember, is the design of our dancing uniforms. Prit, I still HAVE IT!! Hahaha.... ;)
1993. MJ came to do a concert in Bangkok, Thailand!! Yeeiyy, so excited! I finally get to see him coz I was already 12 and eligible to go to the concert with a grown up, which I did went with two siblings, mas Indra and mbak Hani. They both worked for the Indonesian Embassy at the time and are half Thai-Indonesian. Wonder where they are right now, hmmm... Anyway, they took me to the concert, had my ticket ready -looked like a grey credit card, really cool- cost like 1000baht and went inside the stadium. At this time, I had no clue how standing in festival would look like (went to a Kenny G concert previously and sat in tribune, safely) and just when he was about to start... People started to push!! and I was physically thrown down to the ground and almost got stomped by those crazy fans. I couldn't breath and then ... I left the stadium. Yup, I did not get to see MJ after all. The two siblings did though. They stayed, and my parents picked me up and we went home. I was sooo very sad :(( Not long after that concert, MJ was accused of those mean molestation accusation by this boy, who is actually around my age -gee, man! how do you feel now that MJ's gone?- and I was devastated, angry and confused. What is 'molestation'? What the hell is going on? Anyway, I kept supporting him throughout those long years of bad critics and publicity until he married Lisa-Marie Presley and made that infamous video called 'Scream'. From then on, I gradually forget.... and grew up listening to Babylon Zoo and Spice Girls (with tons of other Brit Bands that followed after).
1997. MJ is back in Bangkok and this time, I get to see his full performance on my nice seat with other kids from the Indonesian School of Bangkok. So glad I finally saw him.
Thursday, 25 June 2009, 2.26pm, LA time. MJ is gone...Forever. I woke up on Friday at around 8.20am and mom came into my room, saying 'Did you know that Michael Jackson is dead?', and I replied, 'What? Farrah Fawcett just died several hours ago!". I came out from the room and saw CNN with the Breaking News. I was actually online till 2 a.m in the morning before, and found about Farrah. That was just 5 hours before MJ was found not breathing at his home.
It took about 30minutes to sunk in that Michael is really..really.. gone. I was still saying, 'Poor Farrah! Her death is being overshadowed by Michael's death!' to my parents... Then tears just poured down while Larry King is talking on TV. Until now, I still feel it's surreal. I can't believe Michael is gone, and yet is true. I will truly remember him as a true inspiration and influence on my life, honestly, I do think he's the one that made me love music this much. His powerful performances on each video clips, concerts, albums.. You know his life was Music. He breathed Music. He lived Music. He died making more Music. I love you Michael Jackson... Thank you for being a part of my life.
Bexie
Thursday, July 2, 2009.
ended writing at 11.41pm
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