The gates of Neverland opened and the bronze statues came to life in this magical place. Five Jackson lookalikes danced in and out of various songs, representing his fans, kicking off with Wanna Be Starting Something, Ben and Smooth Criminal. The Thriller sequence marvelously recreated the video’s original choreography along with zombies and bats with red eyes.
Throughout the show there were strobe lights, pyrotechnics, a dancer dressed as Bubbles the chimp, dancers who came close to out-moonwalking the master, and images of Jackson and his passions (everything from world peace to animals). There were contortionists, aerial silk artists, tango work-outs suspended in space, an excellent strong and flexible pole dancer, and a wildly applauded one-legged acrobat. Musically too the band was a cracker, with a scantily clad cello player who, after firing off an impressive solo, went on to duet with hard rock guitar solos. In the second half, the audience was told to get up and given a quick lesson on the dance sequence for Beat It. That built to a sequence with white gloves and loafers, while the choreography intended for the This Is It tour was used for They Don’t Care About Us. A video of Jackson singing I’ll Be There, Jam with basketball inspired hip hop movement and Ninja style acrobatics on Scream built up to the exhilarating megamix of Can You Feel It, Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough, Billie Jean and Black Or White, ending with Man In The Mirror.
