I was at the Portland show. Kris performed beautifully and melted hearts. I recall that there was this enormous screaming and cheering for a long time and I knew that was for Kris. Kris came up on a lift and stood there with his head down waiting for the huge applause to die down. Then I heard: "In the night..." and more cheering and screaming. ^^
Adam did very well too and he was flashy and trashy as usual (he stripped LOL). I think some comments from Adam fans are insane. MJ RIP
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Allen performed two Michael jackson songs on American Idol
How Michael Jackson Helped Kris Allen Win ‘American Idol’
The champ remembers growing up in Arkansas with Michael's greatest hits.
Jun 30, 2009
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American Idolis back! OK, not really. But last night Fox, in memory of the late King of Pop, aired the episode from last spring when the top 13 contestants covered Michael Jackson songs. The show was strangely poignant, especially when Adam Lambert covered "Black and White"—in my opinion, his best performance on the Idol stage—and Kris Allen strummed his guitar to "Remember the Time." As Paula Abdul cooed, "Kris, I truly believe no one knows Michael's catalog better than you." You could even argue if it weren't for Michael Jackson, Kris Allen—who started his Idol career with a performance of "Man in the Mirror"—might not be our American Idol.
He might have died a sudden death, but Jackson leaves us with a music legacy for the ages.
But wait a minute. Kris Allen is only 24. He wasn't even born when Michael Jackson released Thriller in 1982. How did Allen, who grew up in Jacksonville, Ark., discover Michael Jackson? We asked him to tell us, and to share how the other Idol contestants reacted to news of Jackson's death. Excerpts:
Do you remember the first time you heard a Michael Jackson song?
I was probably 7 or 8 years old. The Dangerous album came out, and I bought it. It was a tape. It kind of stayed in my tape player forever.
Were either of your parents fans?
I think my dad might have listened to him before.
Did you have a favorite song on the album?
The whole album was good. One of my favorites of his was "Remember the Time," I did that on the show. There are so many good ones on that album. I think that could be said of every one of his albums. Not too long after that, I think his History album came out, with him on the cover as a gold statue. Then I was like, wow he's been around forever and all of his stuff was incredible. I have the Thriller album. I have the Off the Wall album. I have all that stuff now.
What is it about Michael Jackson that appeals to you?
Every time you listen to this music you get this feeling and you always feel good. And as a kid, that's a captivating thing. His music was so easy to get lost into. I remember being 8 years old and dancing in my room to his music. Trying to dance like him, as well. It was ugly, but it was fun.
Did you try to moonwalk?
I think everyone has tried to do the moonwalk, man. And it never works.
What about all the stuff in his personal life: the trial, him showing up to court in pajamas, how he dangled one of his kids from a balcony.
It never turned me off against his music. Because it was always a separate thing to me. There were always things that I saw, that I'd be like: awww Michael, what are you doing?! But when you put his songs on, you completely forget about that. And the nice things was, my parents would see even more of that stuff than I did, obviously they're going to watch the news more than me as a kid, and they never turned me off on him.
Did they worry he was a bad role model?
I don't think so. I don't think they were thinking that I was trying to model my life after him. It was a pure appreciation for his music.
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