Talent shows give schoolkids an opportunity to get creative and indeed, they sometimes come up with brilliant skits or put on displays or musical virtuosity. If neither of those is in the cards, dance makes for a good fallback option: just turn on the music and bust out the moves. Often it’s something fairly easy, maybe the Spice Girls or Britney Spears. We are talking school children, not professional dancers, after all. But in this case, a 9 year-old boy took on a far more difficult dance challenge: Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
“Billie Jean” was part of Jackson’s smash-hit album “Thriller.” Released in 1982, “Thriller” is to this day still the best-selling album in history. “Billie Jean” helped it get there and when the song was released as a single in 1983, it was a best-seller in its own right. A few months later, Jackson performed it on the NBC special “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever,” introducing the “moonwalk” and his iconic white sequined glove. The importance of producing an excellent music video was underscored by the exposure “Billie Jean” got on MTV. One sign of the song’s huge popularity was that kids began dressing like their musical hero: black leather suit, pink shirt, red bow tie, and of course, the single white glove.
As you’ll see in the video below, this 9 year-old knows his stuff. What’s really remarkable is that he didn’t get any dance lessons. He taught himself by watching Michael Jackson’s music videos. He’s got the hat and the glove and once the music starts, he’s got all the moves and does a flawless job staying in step with the beat. His moonwalking is spectacularly good. You’re left wondering if he didn’t secretly oil-up the soles of his shoes so he could glide like that!
Were you thrilled by this young fellow’s “Billie Jean”? Let us know in the comments section below and don’t forget to like and share!
