SECTION D


November 24-30, 2010 Reflections By Steve Holsey


‘Rainbow dancing’ One of the things I like about “Dancing With


the Stars,” aside from its lively entertainment value, is that when the stars are partnered with the professional dancers, ethnicity is not a factor.


White man/Black woman, Hispanic woman/


White man, Black man/White woman, Hispanic man/Black woman, Middle Eastern man/Asian woman, etc. Or they might be the same race. None of it seems to matter, which is a good thing.


Mankind would be further along, and racism


would not be such an underlying — or overt — factor if people would realize that we are far more alike than we are different.


Michael Jackson’s videos and short films now in one deluxe collection


By Jason Donovan Just in time for the holiday buying


frenzy — which will no doubt be less “frenzied” due to the shaky economy and the public’s general uncertainty — Epic/Legacy Recordings, in collaboration with MJJ Productions and the estate of Michael Jackson, has released a spec- tacular three-DVD set titled “Michael Jackson’s Vision.”


Like the artist, the package can only


be described as special. There are two regular discs and one bonus disc, for a total of 42 performances — ten of which had previously been unavailable on DVD. Four-and-a-half hours of some of the most memorable music and images of all time.


In addition, there is an attractive 64-


page color booklet featuring many never- before-seen pictures along with details on every video and song.


It would not be far-fetched to say that


Cheryl Burke and Emmit Smith (left). Brandy and Maks Chmerkovskiy.


in 1983 Michael Jackson transformed the music video into an art form with the groundbreaking big production “Thrill- er.” That lengthy video (an unprecedent- ed 14 minutes), directed by the great and prolific John Landis, was, in fact, a “little movie.”


“THRILLER,” which raised the bar


considerably, was named the most suc- cessful music video of all time by none other than the Guinness Book of World Records. The cultural phenomenon is also the first and only music video in- ducted by the Library of Congress into the elite National Film Registry.


Jackson’s follow-up video, for “Bad,”


Lacey Schwimmer and Kyle Massey.


People are what they are, period — Black,


White, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, straight, gay, thin, large, quiet, talkative, ag- gressive, passive, etc. In the greater scheme of things, these things are not what count most.


But one negative thing about “Dancing With


the Stars” was Bristol Palin making it to the finals when Brandy (Norwood) and her Ukrai- nian partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, did not. What a travesty!


This has obviously been an organized effort


to make Sarah Palin’s daughter last longer in the competition than she deserved to. The well- organized, misguided Tea Party and others of their type strike again!


Maks and Brandy are incredibly good. SOMETIMES people make what is basically


a good point, but go a little too far with it. Russell Simmons,


entertainment in- dustry entrepreneur, recently declared that society is largely responsible for hard- core rap/hip-hop stars like T.I. and Lil Wayne ending up in jail be- cause society and the industry glorify crime and other bad behav- ior.


True, they do, but Russell Simmons


no one makes anyone do anything, and if these artists are as


smart and essentially decent under the surface as Simmons says they are, they should have sense enough to “act right.”


No intelligent, enlightened person is going


accept any of the blame for what hoodlums do. If they choose to be “thugs,” then that’s on them. Leave us out of it.


KUDOS to song-


stress Angie Stone and actor/comedian Anthony Anderson for all the work they have been doing to help people who are dealing with diabetes.


The artists, who both


have type 2 diabetes, have been going around the country spreading the word that eating right can improve the lives of those with diabetes and even lessen the chance of people getting the disease.


Angie Stone Praise also to rock


singer/rapper Kid Rock for standing up for De- troit. He recently said in a national publication:


“The city’s been Kid Rock


devastated, but there’s a lot of hope here, a lot of people who really care. I believe when you have that, things can only get


better, and I am confident that things will get See Reflections Page D-2


utilized the skills of another legendary director, Martin Scorsese.


Disc 1 features “Don’t Stop ’Til You


Get Enough,” “Rock With You,” “She’s Out of My Life,” “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Thriller,” “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Dirty Diana,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Another Part of Me,” “Speed Demon,” “Come Together,” “Leave Me Alone” and “Liberian Girl.”


Disc 2 includes “Black or White,”


“Remember the Time,” “In the Closet,” “Jam,” “Heal the World,” “Give In to Me,” “Who Is It?,” “Will You Be There?,” “Gone Too Soon,” “Scream” (with Janet Jackson), “Childhood,” “You Are Not Alone,” “Earth Song,” “They Don’t Care About Us,” “Stranger in Moscow,” “Blood on the Dancefloor,” “Ghosts,” “You Rock My World” and “Cry.”


Disc 3 bonuses are “Blame It On the


Boogie” (the Jacksons), “Enjoy Yourself” (the Jacksons), “Can You Feel It?” (the Jacksons), “Say Say Say” (with Paul Mc- Cartney), “They Don’t Care About Us” (prison version), “Why?” (3T featuring Mi- chael Jackson) and “One More Chance” (previously unreleased).


ASIDE FROM being a born enter-


tainer — his mother says he came into the world rhythmic — Michael Jackson always had an unusually strong sense of competitiveness. It meant everything to him to be the best, to do things no one else could. Today his influence is easily seen in artists such as Usher, Ne-Yo, Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown.


Like them, Jackson was influenced by others. He loved Fred Astaire, James


Brown, Gene Kelly, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Wilson, Diana Ross, Quincy Jones and others, noting, “The greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work.”


Moreover, nothing he did could be second


rate or flawed. “I’m a perfectionist,” he once said. “It’s part of who I am.”


Jackson was a figure of global importance


and admiration for a remarkable four decades and will continue to be so. He is said to be the most-awarded artist in the history of re- corded music. The New York Times went so far as say, “In the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else.”


An overstatement, true enough, but one


based on certain realities of the time. It was his close friend, legendary screen star Eliza- beth Taylor, who dubbed him “the King of Pop.” The occasion was Jackson receiving the Soul Train Heritage Award, presented by Taylor. Her exact words were that Jackson was “the true king of pop, rock and soul.”


In the 12 months following his passing,


on June 25, 2009, Jackson sold an amazing 35 million albums worldwide. Virtually all of his solo albums returned to the charts, at one time dominating the Billboard magazine Top 10.


It is widely believed that Michael Jackson


would have approved of the release of this meticulously assembled collection. — Steve Holsey contributed to this story.


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