MICHAEL JACKSON - BREAKING NEWS

I believe many have heard that Michael Jackson's posthumous album will be out soon. December 14 to be exact. The first single 'Breaking News' from the album 'Michael' premiered today and I like it very much. It is definitely a 'Michael Jackson song' (no doubt about that) but the song itself is not without any speculations and doubts. There are many out there who think that the singer of the song is not actually Michael Jackson himself. Well, I don't know what to say. It could be Michael and it could be someone else imitating his voice. There are rumours circulating on the Net saying a singer named Jason Malachi is the one who actually sings the song. The passion, feeling and conviction usually associated with Michael's delivery are not truly evident in this song and this could be the cause of all the doubts and suspicions. Either way, his estate and Sony will definitely be making lots and lots of money from this. There are many factors that could have contributed to this. Michael's voice could have changed as he got older and if that is really him, I'm sure the vocal recording is not the final take. It could have been a recording taken during a song rehearsal. The recording company could only work with what was available to them and that is why the song lacks many of Michael's signature sounds. I'm sure the truth will be known sooner or later. We have enough sophisticated technology to identify a person's voice and it's not impossible somebody out there can prove whether it's Michael's voice or not. During the meantime, I'm simply going to enjoy the song regardless whether it's Michael Jackson or not. After all, it is indeed breaking news.

p/s Well, what do you think? Is it Michael?

RACE : OVERRATED?

Race. It's not really an issue but it is sad how we tend to make it into one and then blow it out of proportion. It's difficult to define someone by his or her ethnic background anymore and to do so is only going to invite endless debates and arguments. To me, there is only one race. The human race. There are no other races in this world unless you count the aliens who are yet to prove their existence (that's why we still produce human babies FYI). Still, there are many in our community who are still obsessed with skin colour and ethnic background. What we fail to see is that many of us are not only of one ethnic background anymore. The only thing that we have succeeded in doing is putting people in categories that we ourselves or someone else have chosen and set. That might have worked hundreds or thousands of years ago when racial superiority and racial discrimination were a common practice (for obvious reasons of course). At that time, interracial marriages were very few and far between (almost unheard of actually) but nowadays, marriages of that sort are no longer seen as strange. So how do we categorise the children of interracial marriages or do we even dare to categorise them? It's time we look beyond the physical attributes and ethnic background of a person and go deeper than that. A person should not be judged based on what he or she looks like. I, for instance, am quite dark in complexion while my younger brother is very fair. Most of us do not even look like our ancestors from hundreds of years ago. The issue of race in Malaysia might not have reached a truly complex level since children from interracial marriages are often brought up in the dominant culture of one of their parents but it can and will be when children do not want to or no longer can identify with only one culture or race due to the complex nature of their family background. There will be many who will refuse to be labelled as 'Malay', 'Chinese', 'Indian', or the discriminating 'others'. Even right now, there are many around us who are proud enough to embrace their various heritages and do not want to be of only one. This racial labelling is often social and political in nature and to continue putting labels on people will only heighten racism, prejudice and mistrust. It's still not uncommon to hear parents who are against interracial relationships and there are many who are totally against interracial marriages. Love is universal and it knows no boundary. Love is not just one shade but a rainbow of colours. Whatever thin, invisible line that we have created will one day break and we'd better pray that it will not break all of us too.

LET'S KARAOKE 8 : WHITNEY HOUSTON - WHATCHULOOKINAT

The single's cover

It's time for you to strike back
They're lookin' at you
Whitney Houston
Muhammad 2 G
They're watching your every move

Bobby

They're watching you

Why you lookin' at me
Don't get mad at me
'Cause I'm still gonna be me
(Tell me, tell me, tell me)
Whatchulookinat
(Tell me, tell me, tell me)
Whatchulookinat
I feel your eyes on me
You been telling lies on me
(Tell me, tell me, tell me)
Whatchulookinat
(Tell me, tell me, tell me)

See I don't understand
Why you keep peepin' me
When you don't even like me
You're after me and my man
Don't think you're stressing me
'Cause your lies don't excite me, no no

(Never thought)
Never thought, never thought
(Never knew)
Never knew that you would do this to me
Do this to me
(Try to ruin me) Ruin me
(Be my enemy) Be my enemy
(Never thought)
Never thought, never thought, never thought
(That you) That you
Would act as if you're cool with me
So why you lookin' at me

Why you lookin' at me
(Don't get mad at me)
Don't get mad
('Cause I'm still gonna be) Gonna be me
(Tell me, tell me, tell me)
(Whatchulookinat)
Me, me, me
(Tell me, tell me, tell me)
(Whatchulookinat)
Tell me whatchulookinat
(I feel your eyes on me)
Feel your eyes
(You been telling lies on me)
Telling lies
(Tell me, tell me, tell me)
Tell me
(Whatchulookinat)
(Tell me, tell me, tell me)
Whatchulookinat

Oh you know you're wrong
Don't wanna respect my song
But it's okay 'cause either way
My following is real strong
You try so hard to show the whole world what I do
Now I'm turning the cameras back on you
Same spotlight that once gave me fame
Trying to dirty up Whitney's name

(Never thought)
Never thought, never thought, never thought
(Never knew)
Never knew that you would do this to me
Do this to me
(Try to ruin me) Try to ruin me
(Be my enemy) Be my enemy
(Never thought)
Never thought, never thought, never thought
(That you) That you
Would act as if you're cool with me
Why you lookin' at me

Messing with my reputation
Ain't even got no education
Trying to mess with my concentration
Don't even have a clue of what I'm facing
All you know you need to stop it
Defaming my name for a profit
God is the reason my soul is free
And I don't need you looking at me

Lookatchaself

LET'S KARAOKE 7 : WHITNEY HOUSTON - I LEARNED FROM THE BEST

I finally did it! This is the karaoke for Whitney Houston's I Learned From The Best, one of my favourite Whitney songs of all time. I'm not sure if the instrumental is an original or not but I finally managed to find one that fits into the video. Now, let's sing!

The single's cover

Did you really think that
I would really take you back
Let you back in my heart
One more time
Oh, no no

Did you think I’d still care
That there’d be more feeling there
Did you think you could walk back
In my life
Oh

So you found you missed the love you threw away
Baby, but you found it out too late, too late

And so you know the way it feels to cry
The way that I cried when you broke my world in two
And baby, I learned the way to break a heart
I learned from the best
I learned from you
Oh baby, now, I learned from you

I remember cold nights
Tears I thought would never dry
How you shattered my world
With your goodbye, your goodbye

Would have sold my soul then
Just to have you back again
Now you are the last thing on my mind

Now you say you’re sorry and you’ve changed your ways
Sorry but you changed your ways too late

And so you know the way it feels to cry
The way that I cried when you broke my world in two
And baby, I learned the way to break a heart
I learned from the best
I learned from you
Oh baby, now, I learned from you

So when all you’ve got are sleepless night
When those tears are clouding up your eyes
Just remember it was you
Who said goodbye, who said goodbye

And so you know the way it feels to cry
The way that I cried when you broke my world in two
And baby, I learned the way to break a heart
I learned from the best
I learned from you
Oh baby, now, I learned from you

I learned from the best
I learned from you