I've never been a fan of Pop music. I actively and intensely dislike listening to Opera. Because I don't like a genre doesn't mean that genre doesn't have it's great performers.

I do love dance and I love theater. I know a lot more about dance than I do about theater or pop music

I never followed MJ's career, but on those occasions where by hapstance I saw a televised performance or music video, I knew I was watching great performances. Although I had seen him perform Thriller on stage on telvesion a number of years ago, and recall how exciting it was, I saw the Thriller video for the first time just a couple of months ago when my son downloaded it from iTunes.   I thought it was awesome. (I'm not real fond of music videos, by the way.)

These threads have piqued my interest, and like probably 3,000,000 other people who are avoiding doing chores on a Saturday, I've been watching MJ videos on YouTube this afternoon, and am working my way through the "Man in the Mirror" segments for which Lizzie provided a link.

I don't know if he was a musical genious or not. It is clear that folks like Quincy Jones and Motown's Goody considered him one. It is also clear that other "greats" from Motown and Pop music considered him to be remarkable gifted. I am coming away with the impression that he is, at least, a performing genius. Watch him dance. Notice how he embodies the music, notice the grace and the impression of weightlessness. Had he chosen to pursue a career in ballet or modern dance, there is little doubt he would have been a star.

I never saw him live. I suspect, though, he had the powerful, charismatic stage presence of Mick Jagger in his prime. (Most charismatic live performer I ever saw, reaching me all the way back in the bleachers on the 50 yard line of the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. Jagger's power never came across in the television and video performances I occasionally saw. MJ's power does.

Based on what one could read in the news over the years, MJ appears to have become personally weird, to say the least, but I don't think anyone outside of his immediate circle really knows, or really knows if he became "weirder" than a lot of other icons who lived out their short lives under the relentless lense of fame and publicity.

Pablo Picasso, if you have read any of his biographies, was a sick, unpleasant, missogynistic man. He was also a great artist. I would hope that, whether or not one likes pop music, highly produced music, dance, or has a negative opinion of Michael Jackson the person based on the publicity around him over the years, that one can still respect and appreciate his artistry.