Michael Of Sorts

Last week ABC aired the Michael Jackson interview, which was supposedly watched by a whopping 27 million people here in US. It is the most watched program since Barbara Walters interview with Monica Lewinsky(hmm… we know why). Well, I never knew it to become so serious as it did. Otherwise I would have watched it without blinking. Instead I was trying my hand on parathas. Martin Bashir, the award winning journalist had stayed with Jackson for 8 months to produce this interview. But what reflected was pure hype and hunger-for-high-rated-TV-show behavior. This is how media commands what we need to see and hear rather than the obvious. Poor Michael, he was portrayed as someone who allowed children in his bed. Yet another betrayal for him.

Tail Piece: The shopping spree of Michael Jackson really hit me hard. He bought some artistic stuff for more than a million USD in just 2 minutes. Hope it was not seen by Indian women 😉

Just after two days from this interview yet another Michael had to say bye bye to his era. It was Michael Jordan who played his last All Star NBA game in Atlanta and what a match it had been. During the half, Mariah Carey came along with the shortest skirt ever to sing Hero (her 1993 worldhit) to bid farewell to Jordan. Behind her were huge screens sporting Jordan’s pics from his childhood. Jordan took the center stage for a long 2 minutes cheers from audience including his contemporary giants(really!!) and he had to start talking to stop them abruptly. He meant whatever he said. Being an ardent fan of Jordan millions like me had goosebumpers all over. He was/is an amazing sportsman, which we have seen in times. When he came to the league to play basketball, his shooting skills were his minus. And it was for his sheer hardwork that he became the single most player in the history of sports to have a golden statue during lifetime. We miss you Jordan!

Tail Piece : 4.9 million people watched this on TNT, making it the largest metered market audience for a basketball game.