A more embarrassing use of the technology...
http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/04/tupac-hologram-merely-p retty-cool-optical-illusion/

Hence the quotes.

Wow! That sounds pretty great

It's not so strange. That was who he was at the end. He was a credible candidate for best pop star before his emptiness and his excesses began to eat away at him, and after he died, people simply took the long view. Michael Jackson was born the same year as I was. When I heard he'd died I posted a picture of him on POE-NEWS at age 10.

Think of Elvis Presley. No one remembers him as he was at the end, looking like Dom Deluise with a Toupee. Why would you want to?

I'll admit it; I loved this! This took me back to when I saw MJ perform in the Motown Anniversary special in 1983. Like this, that was partly bullshit. He lip-synched through "Billy Jean", but he did the moon-walk for the first time, and I went out and bought the album.

Many people have short memories / attention spans. The only way this guy could get peace is when he finally croaked, which is sad.

What's sadder though, this video is way more grotesque to me than MJ dancing with an elephant man. Now that we've cut out the bullshit, he's basically a puppet for our amusement now.

My biggest memory of MJ was that video for Black Or White that aired after the Simpsons, the full one where he flips out at the end after contextually ruining the cute "music caused my George Wendt Dad to go up to the sky through the power of rock and roll" theme. I think I was like 8 years old but boy were parents pissed. In hindsight it makes sense but back then I didn't understand why he was going around busting up storefronts and morphing into a panther. I don't think most parents did either.

It was kind of my generation's "Elvis Pelvis" moment if you will.

Kinda wish I liked the song more but yeah this was cool.

Micheal Jackson was our nation's most under appreciated resource. Its a shame how we abused it until it was too late.

I think it's important to remember that Michael Jackson went *from* omg best pop star to creepy surgery pedophile, then back to omg best pop star after he died. It wasn't a new development, it was simply a return to the idyllic Michael everyone wanted to remember.

One should also remember that the Michael narrative we're seeing now is (as it has always been) largely a product of the mass media industry; such narratives reflect the current interests and vagaries of business at least as much as they reflect any grassroots sentiments amongst the proles. It's a lot easier to market his merchandise if you don't keep reminding people that he was a diddler.

Sorry, _alleged_ diddler. I got in more than a few fights with people at work over the horrid way people were treating him both during and after the trials; no one deserves mob justice, no matter how weird they might be, and I'm glad the judge and jury were able to remain objective, even if the juris populi was not.

Fucking agreed, I kept hearing people praising him recently and thought they were being ironic. What ever happened to Whacko Jacko?

It's also important (and largely way overlooked) that Michael Jackson's antics were largely irrelevant outside of the Anglosphere. Japan, for instance, unironically continued loving him well after the allegations surfaced, as did Latin America and even the Middle East, if I'm not mistaken. They were probably aware of the controversy, but, as Kat Williams observed, he made Thriller and nothing forgives a scandal in the third world (or Japan) like some grooving tunes.

Jreid, how recently? Because if it's very recently, like less than a few months ago, here is the likely culprit:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/13/showbiz/music/michael-jackson-ne w-album-xscape/

We might go back to hating him again once the initial sales pitch dies down; at that point, a prominent display of cynicism might help drive "ironic" purchases from people who would not have otherwise bought any of this new stuff.

Can the dude not be a great musician as well as an insane person? I'd personally make the argument that there wasn't a lot to like about the last half of his discography, but still. I don't think it's unreasonable to say "hey, this guy made some amazing music, but I definitely don't want him babysitting my kids".

Spikes nails it.

The song is pretty solid. It was originally recorded in the 80s. It may have not been released due to the subject of slavery being possibly touchy for African Americans.

If you go back and watch some of MJs amazing live performances, you can see how this falls short, but I think they got the moves down perfect. Live, wjhen he was at his peak, he was better than perfect.

Michael Jackson was acquitted, and if he was just a lonely guy who enjoyed sleepovers with kids without any sexual interest, that would hardly be the most remarkable thing about him.

I really like Xscape. Of course, they could go through his entire catalog of unreleased demos and hand pick the best (most marketable) ones, then hire the best production team to create modern arrangements and remixes, without Michael himself getting in the way by inserting his own paranoid politics into the whole thing.

Clearly, that would be awesome, but due to Micheal's strong convictions, you'd have to emphasize that it in no way endorses a belief in the occult.

God yes! He was already a half synthetic surgical puppet at the end: can't we just reanimate the fucker and squeeze some more money out of him? I want to smell the formaldehyde!

Considering how much his estate owes to various creditors, I wouldn't be surprised. They're gonna make their money back one way or another.