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Even fellow stars pondered the enigma of Michael Jackson

By Philip Potempa
philip.potempa@nwi.com, (219) 852-4327 | Saturday, June 27, 2009 |

CNN's Anderson Cooper summed it up best during the cable network's ongoing coverage of Michael Jackson's death Thursday at age 50.

"I think people are more surprised by the news, than shocked," Cooper said.

"Could anyone have ever imagined a Michael Jackson at age 80?"

Everyone, both those famous to everyday folks and fans, agree Jackson was different.

Being different set him apart at an early age -- as did his undeniable talent -- as he was pushed and groomed for superstardom

In later life, being different, coupled with vast amounts of wealth and trying to stay at the top and to please others, set him apart, festering a troubled soul.

Legendary entertainer Carol Burnett says it best, with one of her own encounters with Jackson when he appeared on her CBS variety show. He appeared on her show March 16, 1974 with his brothers, the Jackson 5.

"I always said, when Michael Jackson was around, the earth moved, because he was such a special young man," Burnett said.

Of course, Burnett also is referring to what happened during a taping of the big musical finale, which featured Burnett -- in horned-rimmed glasses as a schoolmarm -- in a classroom with Jackson and his brothers. The "students" were sitting at desks and singing -- what else? -- their hit song "ABC," along with a jazzy version of nursery rhyme "This Old Man."

During that taping, an earthquake rocked Los Angles in the middle of the musical number. Everyone nervously looked up and around, wondering what was happening, especially with heavy lighting banks swaying overhead. The taping continued, with Burnett throwing in a couple ad libs. The incident can be seen in the broadcast episode.

Entertainer Cher told CNN's Larry King during his Thursday broadcast that she felt Jackson was a "different person" compared to the young man she knew during the 1970s. The Jackson 5 appeared on her solo variety show "Cher" in 1976.

She told King she preferred to remember the friend from the "early years." He wanted to go to the movies with her, be her date to see "Dreamgirls," dance all night while the two were together aboard the Queen Mary. And he was the guy who admired the custom "beaded socks" by designer Bob Mackie that Cher date Val Kilmer once wore at a party they all attended.

" I think of him more like -- like that, because in later years, he -- I didn't see him that much and when I did see him, his behavior was very strange to me," Cher told King.

" And so I didn't relate to that person as well. I didn't really understand him. The last time I worked with him, you know, we were doing something with Dick Clark. I don't remember the show. And he and I were rehearsing after one another. And they were carrying his baby. I don't know, I couldn't see because they had the baby all wrapped up. And I don't know if it was a baby or a toddler. I don't really know how old the child was. They were carrying it in this kind of blanket from our trailers outside into the rehearsal area on stage. And I just kept thinking, `Why don't they just leave this poor child, you know, in the trailer with whoever is watching him instead of just like carting him back and forth and back and forth?' And I just thought this is so strange."

Singer Celine Dion told King that the last time she saw Jackson was two years ago when he came to she her concert at Caesar's Palace. He came to her dressing room after the show with "a lot of questions" about performing night after night in Las Vegas, whether it was demanding, what it was like to live in Vegas.

Some of the most interesting and bizarre insights into Jackson came from singer Sheryl Crow, discussing with Cooper how she toured with Jackson as a backup vocalist during his Bad World Tour from 1987-1989. She always performed with Jackson during "I Just Can't Stop Loving You."

"Working with him? It was -- it was really surreal, " Crow said.

"For one thing, it was a huge traveling show. And, at this point, in his career, he was already starting to isolate himself. He wasn't nearly as open, didn't really hang out too much, although I was lucky, in that I got to hang out with him on a number of occasions by myself. Like, in fact, I -- I have a funny story. He invited me over to his hotel room in Tokyo. And we watched 'Amos 'n' Andy' videos and 'Shane,' the movie 'Shane,' and it was just completely unexpected. But he -- he was -- you know, he was funny. ... he had a big laugh. He loved practical joking. And I can remember vividly going to Disneyland and being on a ride with him, and he wouldn't let the ride stop. And I -- by the end of it -- I was just absolutely ill.

"And, yes, Bubbles the Chimp was on the tour. ... by this time in Bubbles' life, he was much too big and strong to have out in public, let alone on a tour. So, he didn't make the whole tour. And I can remember sitting with Michael, and him poking him in the chest with a ballpoint pen, saying, "That's the only way you can get his attention, and you can get him to stop doing what he's doing.'"

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at philip.potempa@nwi.com or 219.852.4327.

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