Michael Jackson’s brother Jackie is adamant the King of Pop would have supported the hologram show at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night (18May14). The star-studded crowd at the prizegiving in Las Vegas was wowed when virtual technology was used to make it appear as if the Thriller hitmaker, who died in 2009, was performing onstage.
The stunt, titled the Michael Jackson Xperience, included a hologram of the legendary superstar singing Slave to the Rhythm, a track from the newly released posthumous album, Xscape. After witnessing the spectacle, Jackie Jackson is convinced his brother would have been thrilled by the stunt.
He tells People.com, “I’ve been hearing about the hologram, and people were talking about it, but to see it with my own eyes was incredible, amazing. “When he got up and started walking around – oh, my God… When he started dancing, unbelievable. It took me back. If Michael were here he would say thumbs up!”
The performance almost didn’t go ahead – businessman Alki David, who claims to control the rights to the hologram technology, filed suit against Jackson’s estate executors and Billboard Music Awards producers in a bid to stop the stunt. However, a Las Vegas judge dismissed the complaint on Friday (16May14).
