Fans and friends of Michael Jackson have issued tributes both touching and heartbreaking since his death Thursday, but perhaps the coolest tribute comes courtesy of the dedicated, dancing CPDRC prisoners in the Philippines (who also brought us the infamous "Thriller" dance video). The 1500 coordinated viral-video stars gathered together after his death to choreograph new Jackson-inspired numbers, reportedly sweating it out for nine hours in preparation for the tribute to their idol. Here are their interpretations of "Ben," "I'll Be There," and "We Are the World." Enjoy!
More Michael Jackson coverage on EW:
Michael Jackson: 18 Key Moments
Michael Jackson: 9 EW Covers
Michael Jackson: Global Mourning
More viral video from the EW Archives:
Thriller: The Prison Musical
Viral Video Hall of Fame
The 10 Best Viral Videos of 2007
Comments (1-30) of 34 Add your comment
that was really cool!!!!!!
Those prisoners are so much fun. Maybe we can get our prisoners in the U.S. to do the same? Maybe that will relieve the stress?
I’m having a hard time thinking any prisoners are so awesome. Also, thinking how if in fact Michael were convicted, he may have been forced into a healthier lifestyle and been in there dancing with them.
hey now we have another reason to support the death penalty!
AWSOME!!! This is the first time I have ever seen anything like this. They may be prisoners but they still have a heart. May God Bless them.
THAT’S SO COOL THANK YOU TO ALL THEM
m jackson was a superb entertainer without question. still, with so many jails available for the ills of society how is it this buy managed to escape his justice for child molestation is beyond me! money! if you have money you walk. no money. then its dead man walking. as for his family being up in arms that is baloney. money. they could not give a rip earlier nor of his several court trials to speak of so as i see it this is about rights and money.
I think the idea of having coordinated dancing as prison exercise is pretty cool, actually, though I’m not sure how well it would work in an America prison – but if it’s helping these guys, more power to ‘em! I have to say, though, the best part of that video is the semi-slow-motion “Thriller” dance done to “I’ll be there” – hilarious – and yet it actually almost works
That was beautiful..
To say, “they may be prisoners but still have a heart” !!! Thats a pretty broad statement. You’ve obviously never had reason to put anyone in prison. I loved Michaels talent just as much as anyone, but for Gods sake, how many child molesters, thieves, etc…do we need to honor here? In the process of missing his music and thanking him for his huge donations, we need to realize that there are some terrible unforgivable things he has done and children who are still alive living with it in them. Wake Up !!
This video is a couple years old.
And I’m not buying the child molester thing. Thousands of kids passed through that guy’s life and neverland and the only two claims of molestation had — by amazing coincidence — the same attorney and both parties asked for money FIRST before going to the police? Someone molests my kid my first thought (after killing him) is to have him arrested, not contact some attorney and ask for some money, that just doesn’t pass the smell test. What parent does that? While Jackson was definately gulity of poor choices and pretty much set himself up for these kinds of claims, the claims themselves just don’t hold water very well either.
That was absolutely cool.
AMAZING! That’s all I can say after that video,
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/06/28/tv-tonight-sunday-june-28th-2009/
WOW….rapists & murderers CAN be FUN!
Despite who they are, criminal offenders or not, they have the right to honor a great figure. Everbody’s just as devastated by the King of Pop’s death. Why can’t some people respect that?
Please. Remember. this is not America, therefore, the whole “Innocent until proven guilty” does not exist. So please do not call them rapists nor murderer.
Ignorance is bliss
You want to call people ignorant?
Americans are the most arrogant, ignorant drunken morons on the planet.
And the USA is bankrupt because of that.
THAT IS THE TRUTH!
A very nice tribute.
MJ may have been guilty of poor decisions in his adulthood, but I don’t for one second believe he ever sexually molested a child.
MJ might have been many things – king of pop, the guy who hooked a million+ people on MTV, alleged child molester, dumb dad…whatever. But nothing changes the fact that almost everybody has heard his songs or tried dancing his steps at least once in their lifetime. To see prisoners do this as a dedication is a positive sign in this age of constant self-promotion. And speaking of those who always manage to bring the child-molester tag, didn’t a good portion of the so-called priests in the catholic church in the US do the same thing to many many children? while 2 wrongs do not make a right, it is important to hold things in context before tarring somebody in life and after death.
It is a great tribute and most appropriate for the greatest entertainer in the world, whose music made so many people happy and will live on through the ages. Michael would have loved this and been thrilled that his music had reached prisoners in the Phillipines.
Hope he knows that he has fans in the US that loves him also.
Yea thats just great a bunch of drug addicts rapists and murderers Hero worshiping a wanna be white child molesting porch monkey!! then again its not like the have anything better to do huh?
dt’s comment of June 28, 2009 4:57 AM uses a hateful racial slur.
Only in the Philippines
May God bless you “DT” in spite of all your hate ….
This was wonderful. It gave me hope and inspiration and i cried. Michael touched so many lives during his life and this tribute is a testament to that. Every person deserves a second chance and these men used that opportunity to do something self- less. And for you nay sayers if you can’t say something nice then say nothing at all. You have no solutions so zip it!
I agree with WWP. I think the guy landed himself in trouble for telling he sleeps with children(other’s). ‘Sleep’ has been blown out-of-context to mean only ’sexual’ aspect this is a perverse world. I think the guy loved kids genuinely. When he told it so, media coverage distorted it out of proportion. MJ paid the price for his phenomenal success. People (few sleezy ones) took advantage of his goodness and vulnerability to get rich(after all proximility with a celebrity is a once in a life time opportunity). If someone had abused my child I would ve killed the guy!
Despite what these individuals have done to be incarcerated, they are at least in one moment of their lives uniting for a good cause and maybe we can appreciate that.
Moonwalk on over and play the Michael Jackson Grave Digging Game!
http://themichaeljacksonmemorialsite.com
National Geographic has a cool story on their site about bizarre Thriller videos from other countries (including the original Philipines one). Check it out here: http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/article/content.article/mj_indian_thriller/en