Jackson fans stage mass 'moonwalk' in Gemmayzeh
By Josie Ensor
Daily Star staff
Monday, June 29, 2009

BEIRUT: Scores of Michael Jackson fans descended on Beirut's Gemmayzeh street Friday for a flashmob "moonwalk" in tribute of the late king of pop, who died Friday morning of a suspected cardiac arrest. The gathering, which had been organized that afternoon through social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, saw around 100 people congregate outside the Gemmayzeh police station at 10 p.m., some even dressed in black fendora hats and gloves in homage to the pop icon's stage performances.

The micro-blogging site Twitter said that so many messages had been sent around the world about the singer's death that it came close to crashing.

In Gemmayzeh, Fans lit candles in respect of the late singer, while many more danced to the hits "Billie Jean" and "Smooth Criminal" that were being blasted from a car speaker.

The crowd then "moonwalked" the length of the street, holding up Friday night traffic, before reaching the bottom of Gemmayzeh stairs where an impromtu concert took place on the stage that was used for last weekend's Fete de la Musique.

Some of the braver fans showed off their moves to his recognizable songs, and even a young flower-selling boy was dragged up on stage, impressing the audience with his breakdancing routine.

The event's organizer, web developer Samer Karam, said 'This is a true testament that the world can unite in small ways. We saw that London and Paris were doing similar moonwalking events and we thought - why not here?

"It was all grass roots, spontaneously arranged. We celebrated his life here tonight and in our hearts he is not really dead because his music still lives with us and we proved that today."

Another young fan Samer, an engineering student at the American University of Beirut, told The Daily Star how important it was to hold such an event in Beirut in Jackson's memory: "It is so special we could commemorate Michael Jackson here because he is a great singer and the king of pop. We started spreading the word after I saw the post on Twitter and everyone was up for it.

"We had to remember him today for our generation because future generations will never truly know him, which is sad."

Most were there to celebrate his life, but when the music died down, there were some left a little teary. Yasmina Pannack, a 17-year-old student, said when the crowd dispersed that is when she was hit by the news.

"I am still in shock that it has happened, I don't really believe it. I'm so glad I found out about this, it is the only fitting memory we can really give him here. His music was a big part of my childhood, and he has always been a big part of Lebanon."

Michael Jackson was due to perform a highly anticipated 50-date "farewell" tour in London, starting next month after a 12-year lull.

The 50-year-old was pronounced dead at a Los Angeles hospital early Friday morning. Friends had been concerned about the prescription drugs Jackson took due to injuries suffered while performing.

link to source

Saturday, June 27, 2009
From the power to tweet to the power of music
writtern by Tinkeyeh (twitter name)

I woke up Friday morning and it was just another regular day. Except that day, I didn't really feel like working. So I decided to explore the twittersphere which I've only been familiar with for the past few weeks every since we started the Sawt Ashabab project.

One of the most amazing phenomenon that Twitter related lately was the Iran Revolution, with countless number of tweets, retweets, bitly and other technical terms that I have yet to completely understand.

My apologies go to the revolutionaries in Iran and across the globe, but POP came in bigger when Michael Jackson passed away Thursday night. The twittersphere and many other social networks went bezerk and started posting frenetically about the king of pop's death. Videos were viewed, albums were sold, prices of songs went up, articles were posted, reference pages were created, and most importantly, people around the globe decided to gather for one last moon walk dance.

Active twitter fellows in Lebanon decided to throw an impromptu last minute gathering in Gemmayzeh in front of Torino and naturally, all of us tweeter/geeky/web freaks followed the movement. We met up at 10pm, shy gathering of 25, courageously accompanied by many brave journalists that had to defend our march for MJ against the ISF. But once the music started playing, everyone was dancing. From Torino, to the stairs of Gemmayzeh, to White and Sky and the many other pubs and clubs that played MJ's songs, we payed a tribute, happily celebrating the life of a legend that contributed so much to POP!

It was a fantastic night, met a lot of great people, delved a bit more into the power of social networking and citizen journalism and felt, for a split second, part of the great gathering of humanity around the globe, celebrating music.

link to source

5297-LEBANON-MOONWALKERS


MOD-DATE: 06/26/09 22:25:39


WORLD-JUN26-5297-LEBANON-MOONWALKERS


WORLD: STORY 5297


5297-LEBANON-MOONWALKERS BEIRUT, LEBANON JUNE 26, 2009 NATURAL WITH ENGLISH SPEECH DURATION:02:39


SOURCE:REUTERS


INTRO:

HEADLINE: Lebanese fans pay tribute to King of Pop.


TV AND WEB RESTRICTIONS~**NONE**~

With help from Twitter and Facebook, tens of fans of Michael Jackson gather
in Beirut street to pay tribute to the late King of Pop by dancing,
moonwalking and singing to his songs.

SHOWS: BEIRUT, LEBANON (JUNE 26, 2009) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. WIDE OF MICHAEL JACKSON FANS ON STAGE PERFORMING TO HIS SONGS
2. BOY ON STAGE MOONWALKING
3. FANS OF JACKSON MOOKWALKING ON STAGE
4. VARIOUS OF MOONWALKING ON STAGE
5. CROWDS DANCING
6. MORE OF THE MOONWALKING
7. CROWDS
8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL JACKSON FAN SAMER SAYING:
''Samer over here tweeted on a website called Twitter that he would
like to do something here in Gemmayzeh so I found it really cool and we we
started spreading it, we created a Facebook event so that we commemorate
Michael Jackson here today because he is a great singer, the King of Pop, and
he marked his generation and our generation and it's too bad that our kids see
him because he won't be around anymore.''
9. WIDE OF REPORTER SPEAKING TO ORGANIZER OF MOOKWALK
10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL JACKSON FAN SAMER SAYING:
''So we send out a tweet on Twitter which basically is anybody want
to come and moonwalk down Gemmayzeh Street. It was spontaneous. It was all on
the spot so we didn't get the permission of the army and the police and we got
into a bit of trouble. In reality it was just all grassroot on the spot. We
got here, we celebrated his life and in our heart he is not really dead
because his music still lives in us.''
11. WIDE OF CANDLES LIT ON STAGE IN TRIBUTE TO JACKSON
12. WIDE OF STAGE AND MOONWALKERS DANCING

STORY: Bearing candles and accompanied by huge speakers blaring his hit
songs, tens of fans of the Michael Jackson walked down the streets of Beirut's
Gemmayzeh Street to pay tribute to the late artist whose death on Thursday
shocked millions around the world.
The tribute walk turned into an impromptu concert celebrating Jackson's
life and songs.
Tens of fans cheered and danced as others ''moonwalked'' on stage.
The fans turned up after a couple of friends used popular social
networking sites Twitter and Facebook to spread the word.
''Samer over here tweeted on a website called Twitter that he would
like to do something here in Gemmayzeh so I found it really cool and we we
started spreading it, we created a Facebook event so that we commemorate
Michael Jackson here today because he is a great singer, the King of Pop, and
he marked his generation and our generation and it's too bad that our kids see
him because he won't be around anymore,'' said Samer, 19, an electrical
engineering student.
Another fan, also called Samer, said the whole thing was spur of the
moment celebrating Jackson's life and genius.
''So we send out a tweet on Twitter which basically is anybody want to
come and moonwalk down Gemmayzeh Street. It was spontaneous. It was all on the
spot so we didn't get the permission of the army and the police and we got
into a bit of trouble. In reality it was just all grassroot on the spot. We
got here, we celebrated his life and in our heart he is not really dead
because his music still lives in us,'' said Samer, 27, an entrepreneur.
Fans and fellow pop stars everywhere revived memories of Jackson's
musical genius, tarnished over the last decade by accusations of child
molestation and eccentric behaviour.
President Barack Obama called Jackson a "spectacular
performer," but also said he believed aspects of his life were "sad
and tragic," the White House said.
His death was front-page news around the world as airwaves filled with
his greatest hits from "Thriller" to "Billie Jean" and
social networking sites were bombarded with messages and tributes from fans
and musicians.

In Lebanon, about 100 young fans lit candles and sang along to his songs in a downtown street lined with bars and restaurants. A few tried to moon walk while others cheered. - By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI Associated Press Writer