June 30th Blog

The “piece” I have chosen to talk about was a performance I first saw while online yesterday. The BET awards were hosted on June 27^th, and as part of those awards Chris Brown did a tribute performance to Michael Jackson. One of the last songs Christ Brown sang was “Man in the Mirror.” The song is all about how making a change in the world starts with making a change in yourself. Not even 10 seconds into the song he broke down, fell to his knees and cried, and couldn’t even finish singing. A lot of news outlets speculated that it could have been the anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death that got to him, or it could have been things he had been struggling with in his own life, as I’m sure a lot of people know about him being convicted of abusing is former girlfriend, and a lot of people are saying this contributed to his “breakdown.” Either way, after hearing about it on the news I went to You Tube to find it. While watching his very emotional performance, it actually really touched me. Listening to the lyrics of the song I could see why he may have been having some sort of revelation at that moment, maybe he was realizing how precious life really is. To see a public figure so emotional and exposed like that on national TV really gave me the chills and I really felt for him. I think this video can relate to a lot of things we have talked about it class because I think it really showcases how vulnerable men can be, even though we are so use to the narrative of women being the emotional ones. I think Michael Jackson’s song, “Man in the Mirror,” calls for people to look at their own life and to change the things they don’t like, all big changes start with a tiny change, and I think this performance might have been just that for Chris Brown. I have attached the link so whoever wants to view his performance can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIul8GdXdNA

His performance of “Man in the Mirror” doesn’t start until about 4 minutes in.