Victory Party in Las Vegas (MJJ Birthday)
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party time!
Topic: Main News
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Monday, August 29, 2005
Copyright ? Las Vegas Review-Journal
Surprise guest gives thrill to Jackson fans
LV celebration marks King of Pop's acquittal
By BRIAN HAYNES
REVIEW-JOURNAL
More than 150 fans from around the world gathered Saturday night in Las Vegas to celebrate Michael Jackson's recent acquittal on child molestation charges, and when the surprise guest of the evening arrived, the fans could hardly contain themselves.
The flashbulbs popped and the video cameras whirred as the guest entered.
An emcee urged the pressing crowd to give him space. Cheers and applause filled the room at the Front Door Bar & Grill on Paradise Road near Tropicana Avenue.
"It's amazing," local fan Farah Pajuheshfar said. "It's Michael's dad, you know."
For Pajuheshfar and other fans at the MJJ Forum Victory Vindication 2005, being in the presence of the King of Pop's pop, Joseph Jackson, was the next best thing to seeing Michael Jackson himself.
Joseph Jackson waded through the crowd to his reserved table, then fans lined up for a chance to sit next to him and get their pictures taken.
When Pajuheshfar, who heads the MJ Soldiers of Love fan club in Las Vegas, got her chance, she smiled for snapshots and pointed out her self-made collection of Michael Jackson artwork pinned to the walls.
She came away from the meeting breathless.
"It's like I get closer and closer" to the Jackson family, she said.
Meanwhile, at least four Michael Jackson impersonators took turns kicking, spinning and gyrating on the dance floor. Someone hocked Jackson T-shirts at a table, and fans, many wearing glittery tops and tilted fedoras, celebrated their idol's acquittal.
"The legal system was shamed," said Kimberly Wright, a casino buffet hostess from the Detroit suburb of Highland Park, Mich.
She complained about "all the real rapists and child molesters that were probably in the city of Santa Maria who got off the hook because they were trying to crucify this man.
"It was disgusting."
The 28-year-old wore a custom-designed basketball jersey adorned with a picture of a gloved hand flashing a peace sign.
She also wore a button with Jackson's photo, circa late 1970s, when he still had an Afro and his original nose.
On the patio, Tony Redburn took a break from dancing and explained his fascination with Jackson.
The 20-year-old from Thousand Oaks, Calif., said he was born prematurely and required physical therapy to get his arms and legs working properly.
His mother played a variety of music during the therapy sessions, but when Jackson came on, "I would just come alive," Redburn said.
Now he pays homage to his idol by painting his face a ghostly white, donning a wig and black hat and doing his best impersonation.
He said he hopes to someday work in a show on the Strip.
While Redburn discussed his story, a young woman pulled her reluctant friend in Redburn's direction. "She wants to dance with you," the first woman said.
As that exchange ended, a young woman in a halter top looked Redburn up and down.
"You look extremely sexy," she said.
"It's nice to make people's day," Redburn said, the face paint hiding any sign of a blush.
Raquel Choyce, a Las Vegas resident and president of the Michael Jackson United Nation International Fan Club, organized the three-day event, which included a karaoke contest and a picnic.
Her mother, Carol Mainor, said Choyce went to her first Jackson concert at age 2.
"Right from that point she was standing in her seat, and she's been a fan ever since," Mainor said of her now 35-year-old daughter.
Besides heading a Jackson fan club, Choyce moonlights as a Janet Jackson impersonator. But her Jackson mania doesn't stop there.
"Strangely enough," her mother said, "she married a Michael impersonator."
Source:MJNO