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Philippine prisoners repeat performance of Thriller in tribute to Michael Jackson

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Sunday, June 28, 2009

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Prisoners at Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center prison in the Philippines yesterday repeated their mass dance performance to "Thriller" in tribute to Michael Jackson, who died on Thursday. The YouTube video of one of their previous performances gained popularity and widespread attention for the prison, and its warden Byron F. Garcia, in April 2007.

700 visitors, including local and foreign tourists, watched from above the prison's exercise yard as prisoners performed at 15:00 local time (07:00 UTC). The prisoners had, coincidentally, performed the routine last Thursday, for tourism officials, mere hours before Jackson's death. Over Friday, they practiced for nine hours for today's performance.

The prisoners themselves expressed their feelings over Jackson's death. Wenjiel Resane, who played the role of Jackson's girlfriend in the routine, said "I felt sad because we lost our idol.".

Alfredo Gaballo, another inmate, said that Jackson "inspired us, so we are all sad about his death".

Other Jackson numbers performed by the prisoners included "Ben" "I'll Be There", and "We Are the World". At the end of the performance the prisoners displayed, on a 1.5-by-3 metre tarpaulin, a picture of Jackson holding a sword with his name written below.

Sources

  • Agence France-Presse. Tourists flock to jail for Jackson tribute — ABS-CBN News, June 27, 2009
  • Michael Jackson Tribute From Filipino Inmates (VIDEO) — The Huffington Post, June 27, 2009
  • Xin Lingui and Sybhel Cordero. Philippine prison inmates dance up to mourn Michael Jackson — Xinhua, June 27, 2009


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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
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