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CNN Saturday Morning News

Reporter's Notebook: Michael Jackson's Attempted Comeback

Aired September 08, 2001 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is time now for our "Reporter's Notebook" segment. In the last couple of weeks, Michael Jackson has been kind of trying to raise his profile a little bit.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, just a little bit, I think, yes.

MCEDWARDS: Yes.

SAVIDGE: His latest release, "You Rock My World," has jumped to number 11 on "Billboard"'s Hot 100 Singles chart, and his new album, "Invincible," releases next month. The king of pop has been turning up everywhere, for an opening from the Nasdaq to the MTV Awards, where he gave a live performance with 'NSync, and then last night was to be the real thriller, Michael Jackson reunited with his brothers for a star-studded show at Madison Square Garden.

Of course, the big question now is, can the undisputed king of pop for the 1980s reclaim the crown?

MCEDWARDS: That's right, and joining us live to discuss this, and also take your questions, we've got CNN entertainment correspondent Jodi Ross and "Vibe" magazine editor in chief, Emil Wilbekin.

Thank you both for being here.

JODI ROSS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning.

MCEDWARDS: Emil, can I start with you? You were at that concert last night. Tell us what you thought.

EMIL WILBEKIN, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "VIBE" MAGAZINE: Yes. Well, I have to say, I felt like I was 12 years old last night, and the king of pop's crown is firmly in place, along with his glitter glove and his glitter socks. And he did an amazing job. He really pulled it out.

You know, they opened up with the Jacksons singing "Can You Feel It?" and everyone really, really, truly did. Everyone was going crazy. And it was almost like this kind of church feeling that everyone was so involved in Mike on the dance moves and the songs. And he pulled it off. He won. I mean, his dance moves are still incredible. He -- you know, they did "Beat It," and it just made everyone else pale in comparison. MCEDWARDS: Is the new music still good, or did you hear much of the new stuff last night?

WILBEKIN: Well, he did "Rock My World," and that kind of got lukewarm response. But people were chanting over and over again to hear "Billy Jean." That was just the favorite, "Billy Jean" and "Beat It." He didn't do "Thriller," he didn't do "Rock With You" or "PYC (ph)," but "Billy Jean" definitely was the biggest song of the evening.

SAVIDGE: And I'm curious here, as you looked at those in the audience -- we asked this earlier -- was this sort of a trip down memory lane, or are we really thinking that he's being introduced to a new younger audience that may see him for the first time?

WILBEKIN: This was really a trip down memory lane. If you looked in the audience, you saw people like Denise Rich, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle, Geoffrey Holder. You saw Busta Rhymes, Clive Davis. There were tons of people there. It was definitely an older crowd. The tickets were so expensive.

But, I don't know, it was just this really kind of celebration of Michael, and I think that people just identified. I mean, women were screaming and guys were screaming, and people were fighting to get pictures of him from, you know, where he sat and watched the show with Elizabeth Taylor. There's definitely a Michael resurgence, and I think people just love hearing him with the Jackson Five doing "A, B, C," you know, doing "Dance Machine" with 'NSync. I mean, it was just a really, thank you great mood.

But it didn't seem like he was kind of playing so much to a younger crowd, but more validating the great work that he's done, and really just being Michael and proving that he's the best. And I think he did that.

MCEDWARDS: OK. Well, we want to get right to some viewer e- mail, if we could. Maybe, Jodi, this is a good one for you to tackle. We've got a question here, "Do you know if yesterday's concert is ever going to be air on TV?"

ROSS: We do know that it's going to, Colleen, we just don't know when. There's been some discussion about it airing close to the release of the album, which is, of course, October 30. Then I heard reports about it releasing in November. They have a lot of footage to work with, because of course there's another concert on Monday night. So I think that date has not been firmly set. But it will air at some point on CBS, we do know that.

MCEDWARDS: Actually, you know, we just had the wrong e-mail question up there. Maybe we can put it up again, and I'll put that one to you too, because we're sort of missing it in our pile. If you guys put it up, we'll, we'll, we'll get this, and Emil, if you want to take this. "How important is it that Michael Jackson stage a successful comeback?" And that's from Vynette (ph).

WILBEKIN: Well, I think that the real issue here is that, you know, Michael hasn't had a studio album in over five years, and he is definitely wanting to make this big comeback and resurgence. And I think this is a perfect way to do it, because the younger kids will want to see this type of concert to see what Destiny's Child and Usher and Britney and N'Sync do. But everyone knows Michael's music, and everyone grew up with his music, so it's honestly, can he top himself? Can he do another "Thriller"? Can he do another "Off the Wall"?

And I think those are the big questions.

SAVIDGE: Jodi, a question regarding how young some of these -- the new audience may be. They only know Michael Jackson, perhaps, though the tabloids, and the allegations that have made -- been made against him, almost that he's rather a strange character. Do they really know him as a musician?

ROSS: I think that's true, Martin. In some cases it seems like some of these kids, that's their sort of jaded view of him. But for the most part, no, what they've heard of him, or the old music that they've heard, they really enjoy.

It's funny, because last night Billy Gilman performed in a show. He's a really young country singer. I mean, the Jacksons are well before his time, but that's music that he's been listening to since he was a kid. It influenced his music today.

So I think, yes, this kind of freakish perspective a lot of people have on him is more for the older crowd, the ones who've seen him from beginning to now, less for the younger ones who are mostly just enjoying his music.

MCEDWARDS: OK, Jodi and Emil, stand by. We've got a viewer on phone, Joe in Georgia's got a question. Go ahead, Joe.

CALLER: Ah, yes, thank you very much. Great show. Jodi, what has been, in your opinion, the long-term impact of Michael Jackson and pop music on American culture?

ROSS: I don't think I can even say that at this point, Joe, because that continues to fashion itself. Everybody last night that we spoke to said Michael's had some kind of impact on some form of music since he began. I -- there was a -- literally, from the R&B stars we talked to, from the rap stars we talked to, the country stars we talked to, everybody said Michael influenced them in some way, whether it was the visual in the videos, which is, you know, where he sort of first showed his face, to the way that his music sounds, he continues to have impact. And even last night, again, the way people were speaking about him, I don't think he's finished.

So at this point, it's hard to say. I think his legacy continues.

MCEDWARDS: Well, Emil, and I guess even in terms of videos, he's been so influential. Was it that -- it was that "Thriller" video that really set the stage -- set a new standard, really, didn't it?

WILBEKIN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, if you look at "Thriller" and you look at, you know, the types of videos that Puff Daddy does or Buster Rimes does, or if you even look at the new Alien Ant Farm video that kind of mimics a lot of the Michael moves and the lighting up of the sidewalk, you just see his impact.

And I think that's the thing, you know, answering that caller's question, Michael's impact is huge, and from music to the dance moves to fashion, he just continues to inspire people. I mean, a lot of collections for fall from fashion designers show military-inspired things that are definitely taken from Michael's old look, and actually Michael's current look, from what we saw last night.

And in a lot of the music. And, you know, a lot of the hip-hop fans that were there, and just the fans in general, were just screaming with delight. And I think that that -- you don't see that any more at concerts, you don't see the people kind of dressing up to look like the artist. There were tons of Michael lookalikes in the audience.

And I think that that just goes to show you the power of his music. And even though he's kind of changed his image and his -- distorted his look, inside he's the same person, and that really came through when he performed with his brothers.

SAVIDGE: Let's take another phone call. We've got Cecily calling us now from Maryland. Go ahead.

CALLER: Yes, I'd like to know, will Janet be at any of the concerts, you know, coming up? Like if they televise it, will she be joining the reunion?

ROSS: I actually spoke to the Jackson brothers a couple of days ago, and they said that she could not be at the show last night because she had a show in Tennessee. But last night they told us that they did hope she'd make an appearance on Monday. But I believe she's just an audience member. I don't think she's getting up on stage unless there's the we don't know. But at this point, she's just there to watch.

His parents were also there last night, and a lot of grandchildren, so there's a big family support last night and probably Monday night as well.

MCEDWARDS: And what about the brothers, Emil? I mean, is this a sign that they might go -- they all might go on tour at some point?

WILBEKIN: Well, it seemed like the camaraderie and the stage presence was just amazing. I mean, they just really snapped right back into the dance moves. They were hugging each other, they were getting -- you know, standing side by side and doing their things together. It was just really cool.

So I see that there could be a reunion coming up, because the energy was so great between them. They just really worked well together. A lot of steps just seemed to pop out like they had been doing them for the last 20 years together. So I would be really interested in seeing a reunion with the brothers. There's really, really good chemistry.

SAVIDGE: All right. Emil Wilbekin of "Vibe" magazine, thanks for coming in this morning and joining us. And Jodi Ross, thanks for being there as well. We appreciate it very much.

MCEDWARDS: Thanks, guys.

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