As close as you can get to Michael Jackson

MANILA, Philippines - He struts like Michael Jackson, sings like Michael Jackson, looks like Michael Jackson. Except that he’s not Michael Jackson.

He is top tribute artist Kenny Wizz, who has been impersonating the King of Pop — from his sequined white gloves to that trademark moonwalk for fans all over the world. this past 24 years.

Wizz says, “I can never give the audience as much as Michael Jackson does. But I’m gonna put everything out there for the fans. I want them to enjoy the show.”

The Las Vegas-based performer is in Manila for the second time to give the audience The Michael Jackson Experience at the Main Ballroom of Hyatt Hotel & Casino tonight; Pagcor Tagaytay tomorrow; at the Ynares Sports Complex in Antipolo, April 25; Cebu, April 30; Dumaguete, May 1; General Santos City, May 2; Davao, May 7; and Bacolod, May 8.

He promises more production numbers, more videos and audience interaction in-between a repertoire of MJ favorites like Jam, Scream, Smooth Criminal, Billy Jean, Beat It, Thriller and Heal the World.

The adrenaline surge Wizz gets each time he mounts the stage is as addictive as it is energizing. Other performers get their kick out of hearing the audience scream and shout for more. Wizz gets it from something more personal: His sheer love of dancing — freestyle dancing as he calls it.

“When you’re on stage, it’s unexplainable,” he says. “ It’s something that makes you feel like exploding. Whatever music I listen to, that calculates the movement of my body.”

Seeing Wizz rehearse for a show is a spectacle unto itself.

“I throw myself up and down, catch myself and keep myself from getting off-balance. And I’m still in time with the music.”

Music has been a defining part of Wizz’s life ever since he can remember. R &B, soul and pop were his constant companions while he was growing up in Los Angeles. Streetdancing beckoned when Wizz was in his teens, just when Michael Jackson went solo from Jackson 5.

As a neophyte performer back then, doing a Michael Jackson act never occurred to Wizz. Mimicking Prince, his idol back in the `80s and `90s, when the star was at the peak of his career, was more like it for Wizz. But there was one problem: Prince is shorter than Wizz. And dancing and turning around and around in heels is not just dizzying. It’s sheer torture. Wizz scrapped his plan.

Fate stepped in in the person of a Los Angeles co-worker curiously named Madonna (the Material Girl was had yet to enter the scene at that time).

“Madonna’s friend worked in a dance studio and they were putting together a Michael Jackson show with some of the kids in the dance floor,” recalls Wizz. “They had a six-year-old Michael Jackson, his teen version and the one we know of today.”

Thriller was then making young people all over the world get up on their feet and dance as if there’s no tomorrow. Madonna took one good look at Wizz’s short, curly hair, his King of Pop mien and his streetdancing skills. She recommended Wizz to her friend. One show led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

After the Philippine leg of his tour, Wizz will take his show to Hawaii and Russia. Then he’ll return to his native Vegas for his usual gigs.

Wizz is giving himself four more years of playing Michael Jackson before he hangs that white sequined glove for good.

“Sometimes, it’s difficult for someone to portray a character for as long as I’ve done and still be creative. I want to get back into acting and back in Hollywood where I started as Kenny Wizz,” he says.

Meanwhile, let’s moonwalk one more time with the man who may not be the real thing, but who is as close as you can get to the King of Pop – black leather jacket, tight-fitting jeans and all.