This is it

Last night I went to see This Is It. I had bought my tickets the moment they went on sale to ensure I got them for the first day. I know the premier was much earlier but as eager as I was to see it I wasn’t that eager. I went with my mum. (damn this is harder to write about than I thought it would be) We got there half an hour before it started and the queue was immense. By the time we got into the screen it was about two thirds full. Still we managed to get seats in the row I usually like. The variety of people in the audience was amazing. Every age and culture you can imagine was there. It was brilliant to see how far reaching the love of Michael is.
I had heard both good and bad reviews of the film and having seen it I can see why. If you go into it thinking you are going to learn something new about Michael or that you will see his illness you are going to be disappointed. However if you look at it purely as if you were at the arena watching the rehearsal you will love it! From the opening of Gotta Be Starting Something to the closing of Man In The Mirror it is brilliant. A true insight into a genius at work. This Is It would have been a phenomenal show.

My love of Michael began when I was very young. I had several of his songs on vinyl and tones of tape. I credit Man in the Mirror as being the first song where I paid attention to the lyrics. Not only were his songs toe tapping, bum shaking wonders they had messages too. His shows were outstanding to look at. Moonwalker was a film I could watch over and over again. The height of my childhood was in August 1992 when my parents took me to Roundhay Park in Leeds to see him live on the Dangerous Tour.

My Dad has never been a fan really but to this day he says it was worth it for my face the moment Michael came on stage!

The love continued throughout my life as I started going to clubs and dancing to Billie Jean etc. I hadn’t realized until watching This Is It how much my own dancing style has been influenced by Michael. It’s great to watch Spadgersdottier dancing to Michael now and seeing how she will be influenced too.
The dancers on the This Is It tour certainly tug the heart strings. Each and every one of them was inspired by Michael and awe at least part of their decision to go into performing to him. You can really feel from all of them how important it is to them to be there.

He had left such a wonderful legacy in music and entertainment in general. He has inspired millions and is continuing to do so. His untimely death has brought his music a whole new generation, Spadgersdottier included.

I plan to get a copy of Moonwalker in time for Christmas along with This Is It and sit with Spadgersdottier and watch them. I’m sure I will cry again as I did in the cinema last night. It’s silly really. I never met him. I did not know him. But he was such a big part of my life. I know many people don’t get the whole idol thing and I can really understand it. However I will always miss Michael. The way my mum says to look at it though is at least I got to see him perform. Her idol was Elvis and she never got to see him. I feel privileged to have that tangible memory of Michael.