by Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAY
Michael Jackson’s Love Never Felt So Good got two mixes. Now it has two videos.
A video for the song featuring Justin Timberlake has more than 25 million views on YouTube. A new version, using footage of dancers from the same shoot, accompanies the Jackson-only mix and premieres at USA TODAY.
“There was so much magic we had from the original shoot, it was undeniable to create another video for the solo version of Love Never Felt So Good,” says one of the video’s choreographers, Tone Talauega. Tone and his brother, Rich, worked as dancers and choreographers for Jackson from 1995 on.
The video incorporates footage from such Jackson videos as Smooth Criminal and Remember the Time, as well as his 1995 MTV Video Music Awards performance of Dangerous, with dancers from a broad range of demographics dancing on sets designed to look like the originals.
“They’re the youth of the day, who probably were just born around the time Michael was in his prime,” says Rich. At the same time, the brothers wanted to create a diversity that fit what they knew of Jackson’s personal creative vision. “We put together dancers from the technical world, the street world, boys and girls, to create a nice little gumbo of old and new, to create the hybrid that you saw on the video.”
For their choreography, the Talauega brothers say they took inspiration from the work of Jackson’s previous choreographers, such Vincent Paterson, Michael Peters, Jeffrey Daniel, Bruno “Pop N Taco” Falcon, LaVelle Smith Jr. and Travis Payne.
“The nucleus of everything is inspired by Michael’s vocabulary of dance moves,” Tone says. “We weren’t trying anything new, we were just trying to capture that iconic spirit he created.”
Source: USA Today / Brian Mansfield / MJ-Upbeat.com
Wow, totally Love it!!!!!
MJ is definitely the king. Every time i listen his records i feel like he is still alive. For sure one of the best pop music celebrities ever!