Michael Jackson: His Doctor's Trial and Cirque du Soleil's New Tribute to the "King of Pop"

Just when you think Michael Jackson no longer fascinates, the public keeps him alive in ways both lurid and entertaining. The current court case involving the "King of Pop's" physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, is a case in point. The trial, dutifully reported in the LA Times, is a pointless proceeding. Of course, La La Land's criminal court system has the knack for producing such events; in fact, over the years, we have witnessed a parade of unflattering legal spectacles. The O.J. Simpson trial, which Ishmael Reed lampooned in his 2011 novel Juice!, comes to mind. The trial of Dr. Murray does not nothing to improve these sordid endeavors.

Meanwhile, Cirque du Soleil channeled the singer's musical sensibility for its new production Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. The show just began its world tour, with the Canadian-based entertainment juggernaut launching its opening in its home base, Montreal, and loonie land's principal commercial city, Toronto. The Globe and Mail, Canada's leading English-language newspaper, recently reviewed the MJ show. I haven't seen the show, but the review explores some of what it asserts are the performance's odd choices and chilly feeling.

Well, eventually Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour will come to the United States. In the interim, we'll just have to settle listening to recordings of the Gloved One. Some of his songs, such as P.Y.T. and Human Nature, are wonderful and I still enjoy listening to them. There's life in Jackson's recordings, a lot more life than in an absurd court case or what appears to be a painful stage show leveraging his life without genuinely understanding it.