Michael Jackson at American Dream
You know Christmas season at American Dream Mall: crowded, busy with shoppers weighed down with bags (what sales do to you), the warm scent of coffee or a pretzel or a, Douglas Fir? I spent my visit there throwing myself back to the early 2000s and got to see Michael Jackson perform right in front of me. No but seriously I did get to meet the reincarnated Asian version of him, Cai Jun! I was lucky enough that my photography teacher was the official photographer for his performance and so I got to go backstage and see everything come to life from the very beginning.
Michael Jackson back for the holidays!
We arrived there before everyone else and settled down to a cozy lounge area. Once CJ and his team got there, we got introduced to them all (they’re all really sweet and kind), and he started to do his makeup. It’s crazy the way his face and bone structure shifted around so much within 20-ish minutes with the power of makeup (contour especially!). I got to see it all from the start of him beating foundation to him taking his final bow. Backstage CJ was incredibly encouraging and kind, literally forcing me to move around and take photos when I was a little shy and scare to :)
The performance itself was also amazing. A small crowd quickly accumulated into a larger gathering with layers of people sticking out their phones, even from the second level people stopped to watch. Loud, iconic music blasted out from large speakers as I shot away at him from an island corner. You could really feel the soul of Michael Jackson entering him and taking over as he hits his famous moves with power and confidence. It was a really fun and entertaining watch, especially when CJ interacted with the audience to try and give out some demonstrations and high-fives.
After his performance came to an end, crowds of people came tumbling up to CJ asking for a photo, some even chased him down for a little run. He tried to get a nice selfie with everybody and it made for a very sweet moment with some patient fans.
That day, I brought my Nikon Zf with me and shot with that mainly, but my teacher also let me try out his Nikon D850 for wider angles. I’m really happy with the results I got from both cameras and am glad I got to have this experience!