The Thai tribute concert 'This Is It' is fun enough but fails to do justice to the late, great performer
The tribute-to-Michael Jackson concert "This Is It" last Sunday at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, was no doubt organised with the very best of intentions but, in terms of performance, it was nowhere near mighty as the late, great king of pop. It was entirely different too from other concerts put on to mark the memory of other greats, such as the one commemorating the king of rock and roll Elvis Presley, which synchronised his scenes on screen with the artists' live show on stage.
Sony Music's Birathon Kasemsri says the concert was a success and so it was, in its own way. Played out on two nights, all the first round tickets went to a sponsor, who distributed them to its customers, while the second round was for the public and the media.
Some of the audience at round two were MJ fans though many - well, a lot of them, actually, were members of the fan clubs of participants younger singers such as Golf-Mike, Tor Saksit, or Dan Worrawech?
Sunday night's concert could be easily separated into two parts: the segment featuring stars with powerful voices and the show by the youngsters.
The former category featured a host of experienced stars, among them James Ruangsak who gave "She's Out Of My Life" a jazzy feel, Off Pongsak who sang "Smile" the old school way, Pat Suthasinee - superb on "Will You Be There - and Ben Chalathit and Gam The Star - harmonious on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".
The most applauded were Marsha and Anuchit who put on a highly charged and very seductive performance of "Thriller".
Also excellent and much appreciated by the crowd were pianist Tor Saksit and classical trio Vietrio, the latter offering a tight instrumental of "Earth Song".
Rock bands Slot Machine and Flure also put on striking shows, with Slot Machine donning MJ-type costumes for "Rock With You" and Flure performing a furious version of "They Don't Care About Us".
Tata Young performed covers of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Man In The Mirror" but her shows, while professional enough, lacked anything special. Mai Chareonpura sparked more interest with a see-through costume for "You're Not Alone".
Most of the younger artists, such as Shin Shinawut, Peck Palitchoke, Golf-Mike, and Dan, appeared to be lip-syncing to their pre-recorded voices, as they performed, variously, "Smooth Criminal", "Black or White", "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and Bad.
The concert ended with all artists on stage for "Heal the World".
An impressive enough concert to be sure, but not nearly enough to do justice to the late star.
