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Honoring the king of popLogan LoveStaff Writer

DeKalb | The Student Association’s Michael Jackson “HIStory” tribute concert was a real thriller, paying homage to the life and legacy of the “king of pop.”

The tribute concert featured singing, danc-ing and skits, all showcasing Jackson’s hits. The event was a collaboration among many student organizations and highlighted Jackson’s life-

long message of equality among people, said Randiss Hopkins, program coordinator and

junior education major.“Everybody has worked hard on the show,” Hopkins said. “I’m just glad to

see the whole vision come to frui-tion and to see it all work out.”

Freshman accounting major Loreal Taylor attended to sup-port Empire Modelz, a group participating in the show.

“I wanted to see the show, and I heard it was going to be good,” Taylor said. “I thought it was pret-ty amazing, it was real epic to me. I liked the fact that they were re-ally universal. There’s millions of Michael Jackson songs out there that...nobody know[s] about, and I like how they showcased most of them.”

Artist “Matt Muse,” a ju-nior mar-k e t i n g m a j o r , was the

emcee for the concert.“It was great, actually,” Muse said. “I was

blown away by how the crowd participated. I was nervous at first, then I got comfortable be-cause they were doing so well vibing with me and everything.”

Muse is on the executive board of the group Expressions Inc. with Hopkins, who asked him to host the event.

The concert was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. but was delayed by about an hour and a half.

“I am beyond pleased,” Muse said. “I knew it was going to be good. There were some bumps in the road and they all got cleared out tonight.”

Jeannda Welton, senior special education ma-jor, was the head choreographer and put togeth-er most of the show’s finale, including an impro-vised roller skate flip. Although it took a lot of hard work and long hours, the crowd made it all worthwhile, Welton said.

“The crowd was great. They interacted with

us, they were singing the songs and dancing,” Welton said. “They seemed like they really ap-preciated the show, which is great because we worked so hard....”

Alumnus Louie Debulgado couldn’t pass on the opportunity to see a Jackson tribute con-cert and to support dance teams like the one he used to be a part of.

“I heard Michael Jackson, and you can’t turn that down,” Debulgado said. “It was a good mix of everything from dance to singing. It brought a really good variety out and a really good crowd out, too.”

James McCarter | Northern StarAbove: Animations dance group performs to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” on Tuesday at the Tribute to the king of pop in the O’Connell Theatre.Below: Students rehearse on Monday for “HIStory,” a Michael Jackson Tribute Concert. The show was held Tuesday night.

Ryan Ocasio | Northern Star

For a video of the concert, go to bit.ly/XbsYhW.For more photos from the concert, go to bit.ly/Yerm5K.

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