Michael Jackson’s international fans mourn idol alongside Los Angeles memorial

Jackson’s world fans mourn idol alongside memorial

TOKYO — Japanese fans paid tribute to Michael Jackson on Tuesday, watching videos and listening to the pop legend’s songs as devotees around Asia vowed to stay up late into the night to watch the official memorial in Los Angeles.

From Tokyo to Melbourne, Jackson’s followers said they would mourn and celebrate with the thousands attending the U.S. event, where entertainers like Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher and Lionel Richie were due to pay tribute to Jackson, who died June 25.

In Australia, the memorial will be broadcast live on a giant screen in the southern city of Melbourne at 3 a.m. local time. Several Australian TV stations will also carry the event live.

In Hong Kong, a suburban mall will tune its TV screens to the event at 1 a.m. as part of a celebration featuring performances of Jackson’s signature “moonwalk” and a nonstop broadcast of his videos. At another Hong Kong mall, Taiwanese newcomer Judy Chou was to perform Jackson classics as fans lay flowers at a wax statue of the singer on loan from the local Madame Tussauds museum.

Among those staying up will be Hong Kong singer Aaron Kwok, considered Chinese pop’s most accomplished dancer.

“Michael is my only idol,” Kwok said Tuesday. “MJ inspired me so much from the time I first joined the entertainment industry to when I first performed on stage.”

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 34-year-old actor and magician Henzi Andalas said he wants to watch the memorial as closure. “It gives a sense of OK, now he’s no longer here,” he said. “He’s one of my biggest influences in becoming an artist.”

In Japan, home to some of Jackson’s most passionate fans in Asia, about 100 people gathered at a Tower Records store in downtown Tokyo to watch his videos on a big screen hours before the Los Angeles memorial. The store, which Jackson visited twice, displayed his hand print in a cement block and large posters celebrating his performances. Several shelves dedicated to the pop star were stacked with his CDs and DVDs.

“I love him,” said Namiko Hayakawa, a 31-year-old housewife, one of the first to grab a seat. “He is one of the greatest and most original solo performers. He also has a message about peace. He is such a big star, but he has a message for every little person.”

The crowd, sitting on folding chairs, clapped and tapped their feet to the music.

“His death is too much for me. I don’t know how to handle it,” another fan, Rieko Kitano, said.

The 29-year-old travel agency owner said she watched a Jackson concert in Tokyo at age 12 in what she described as her first exposure to Western culture.

“His dancing is fantastic. His live performances are fantastic. And he had a beautiful heart. For me, he was the world,” Kitano said.

Jackson’s “King of Pop — Japan Edition,” a new compilation of his hits picked by a vote of Japanese fans, became a hot seller after his death. It was the fourth most popular album in the country last week, with 40,000 copies sold, according to entertainment company Oricon Co.

In the Philippines, the country’s longest running noontime television variety show, “Eat Bulaga,” will hold a Michael Jackson dance contest Wednesday in honor of the pop icon after the Los Angeles memorial, organizers said.

Even in reclusive, military-controlled Myanmar, a dance group held a memorial service for Jackson and nearly 200 fans staged a candlelight vigil in a Yangon park last week, the local Weekly Eleven News journal reported.

“Michael Jackson is my teacher. I learned dancing by watching Michael Jackson’s movements. I am profoundly saddened by his death,” said dancer Min Min Htun, who arranged the service during his regular show at the Happy World Entertainment park.

Associated Press writers Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Oliver Teves in Manila and Julia Zappei in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. Lee reported from Hong Kong.