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This Is It proves to be a thriller

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-29 11:07

A Beijing fan dressed in Jackson's trademark black and white dances at the ceremony held before the premiere of the movie This is it.

Michael Jackson fans gather at Solana Plaza in Beijing for the premiere of the movie.

The deceased King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who never held a concert in China during his lifetime, has finally thrilled his fans here with the movie, This Is It.

The singer's cancelled London concert This Is It will forever remain a painful loss for his fans. But the movie, which is based on footage of his London concert rehearsals, provides at least some compensation.

At 9 pm on Tuesday, a ceremony for the official premiere of This Is It was held outside Saga Cinema. Thousands of Michael's fans gathered at Solana Plaza in northeastern Beijing, and many were dressed in Jackson's trademark black and white. Guest stars such as movie director Jia Zhangke, singer Zhang Jie and actress Chen Shu walked the red carpet and were followed by performers from Jackson's Chinese Fan Club.

As the ceremony drew to a close, everybody sang Heal the World, waving fluorescent sticks.

At midnight, This Is It blazed across all screens of the cinema, simultaneously.

At the same time, the cinema hall in northwest Beijing's Zhongguancun area began to fill with Jackson fans, almost all of whom were 20-35 years old.

The movie keeps to the order of songs in the rehearsals for Michael's planned London concert. All the footage is from the period March to June.

While the singer looks thin, he seems healthy and energetic. There is nothing in the voice or moves to suggest this is coming from a 50-year-old man. The footage shows a devoted artist who liked to be involved in all aspects - from the auditions and training of the background dancers to sound-system checks. Some melodies and movements are totally spontaneous and vintage Michael.

The movie also reveals the many incredible high-tech effects that were supposed to form part of the London concert. For example, during the song Smooth Criminal, Michael and Greta Garbo appear together in a story of the 1930s and Thriller comes in a 3D version, with Michael emerging from a huge spider on stage.

When the theme song This Is It played at the film's end, the audience stood up and clapped heartily, clearly loathe to leave the hall.

At the Zhongguancun cinema, long after the last song ended, more than 30 people remained in their seats, waiting quietly. Finally, Wang Xin, the theater attendant, had to ask them to leave. "Seldom has the audience been so unwilling to leave," Wang said.

"It's such a moving film," said Zhang Jinmao as he stepped out of the cinema. Many others said they would see it again - and again.

Since Michael Jackson's tragic death on June 25, numerous memorial events have been held around the world. His Chinese Fan Club named October 2009 as "Michael Jackson Month", and organized a series of events, such as publishing the Chinese version of Jackson's autobiography, Moonwalk. The fan club also co-organized the worldwide Thrill the World project in China this year. Thrill the World first began in Canada in 2006, with 62 people performing Michael Jackson's most famous song Thriller simultaneously, and setting a Guinness World Record.

Ever since, the record has been broken several times. With the superstar's sudden death, the event has become even bigger and spread wider. China is participating for the first time, and thousands of people in 14 cities are involved.