Here's lookin' at you Michael.

A young Michael by artist CarinaT.

(www.carinatdeviantart.com)

The world has watched it all.

Watched The Jackson 5 - the young brothers, set to make it big in the music world.

Watched a young hopeful become a rock star - slowly and surely, he climbed that famed stairway to success.

Watched a bright eyed boy become a troubled young man. So much drama, so much eccentricity, so much to hide away from prying eyes.

Watched some amazing music happen. Thriller, Billie Jean, Bad, Beat It, Human Nature, They don't really care about us, Man in the mirror, Out of my life, Don't stop till you get enough - such an endless list.

Watched the moonwalk. March 25th, 1983. He performed live on a television special, Motown 25: Yesterday, today, Forever.

He invented it. We've all tried it sometime, haven't we? *grin*

Watched musical history in the making. Yes, we have. Put aside all the bad things you know about him and think for a minute. WE HAVE.

Watched some amazing collaborations. Guitar sets by Eddie Van Halen on 'Beat It' and Slash on 'Black or White'. Co-writing 'We are the world' with Lionel Ritchie, his duet with Sir Paul McCartney, 'The girl is mine'.

Watched a star crash and burn.

And finally, watched a memorial for a man who was a 'larger than life' talent, an amazing singer-songwriter, an artist who's music will live on for a long, long time.

There are some people who think that all this hype and media frenzy is undeserved. I've seen countless blogs, comments, letters to editors, newspaper articles - all claiming the same.

But my truth is this. It is usually, only in death that we remember the good about a person. This is true in everyday life. Why should this single mans death be any different?

We say we shouldn't speak ill of the dead...yet we do.

Yes, there were many allegations. But we all have skeletons in the closet.

Maybe there was child abuse. And that sucks. It's disgusting and horrible and sick and hurtful and deserves to be punished. I agree to all that. Some of you may think he deserved to die this way, for the life he lived. Perhaps.

People want to know why so much love now, in death? Why not when he was alive? Why so much adulation for a possible pedophile? Well, why weren't these people protesting every single day, since 1993, when those first child abuse accusations hit the stands?

It's the same concept of reaction...we're all just different people.

I'm not defending his life, or his doings. But I am voicing my opinion, like the rest of the world. My generation lost an icon we grew up grooving too. We always liked him, always listened to his songs, always loved his music. And we're only voicing it now, coz well, that's the way life is.

You rarely sing peoples praises when you realise they'll be around tomorrow, you can always join that Facebook fan page later, put in 10 different entries to win those tickets to a London concert when it's a bit more convenient. But when he dies....You remember. And you are grateful.

I think people need to calm down a bit and let the man rest in peace.

To be 'that' talented...is a gift. No matter how you look at it.

These were my two favorite parts of the Michael Jackson memorial.

No, I didn't watch the whole thing with candles all around me. I didn't have a tissue box by my side and I didn't recite a rosary for his soul.

But I did get teary eyed for all the memories his music brought back to me.

Queen Latifah read out a poem written by Maya Angelou, for Michael Jackson.

She's an amazing writer.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090707/maya-angelous-poem-about-michael-jackson-we-had-him.htm

And this...do give it a listen - perhaps you'll like it as much as I always have.

And for those few moments...remember the good times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvrtuAmHHnI&feature=related

Note: My second post in a row, on a Michael. Who'd have thunk it.