Smoke and mirrors

Almost five years after his death, the King of Pop is back. A hologram of Michael Jackson made its debut at this year’s Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, performing Slave to the Rhythm — from his posthumous “Xscape” album — and moonwalking across the stage amid a host of backing dancers both real and ethereal. It may have been all smoke and mirrors, but the late icon’s specter, developed by a consortium of visual effects companies, stole the show.

The late singer joins a growing roster of musicians — both alive and long deceased — who have had their likenesses projected during a “live” performance or broadcast. Madonna and holographic members of the cartoon band Gorillaz opened the Grammys in 2006, while Janelle Monáe and M.I.A were able to duet last month despite being miles apart from each other.

Meanwhile, on the eve of Barack Obama’s election victory in 2008, CNN decided to conduct an interview with a technically rendered apparition of Will.I.Am, and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Eazy-E returned in 2013 as virtual hip-hop legends. Elvis Presley hasn’t been spared the digital Lazarus treatment either and Marilyn Monroe is said to be next to receive the hologram tribute.

Repercussions

But it was the resurrection of rapper Tupac — killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996 — at the Coachella festival in 2012 that seems to have popularized the practice and raised questions about its ethics. Whether you find it amazing, tacky or macabre, you have to wonder about the repercussions on what is supposed to be live music.

Tupac Shakur’s surprise three-dimensional appearance has been widely described as a cutting-edge stunt. The lifelike Shakur, a brainchild of rapper and record producer Dr. Dre, was created by Digital Domain, the Oscar-winning effects house that made computer-generated images of Kevin Bacon in X-Men: First Class and Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, however, “it had nothing to do with holograms.” Everything was made possible by a magician’s trick known as Pepper’s Ghost, a technique that dates back to Victorian Britain.

Mechanics of mourning

That the headline-grabbing feat involving Michael Jackson’s 3D self was no less revered for not being real is perhaps a testament to the modern-day audience’s love for and faith in technology. As Forbes notes, “More than 80,000 mentions on Twitter following the performance is a jump of more than 700%. All of this attention is pushing massive sales numbers.” “Xscape” is poised to reign on this week’s Billboard 200 album charts.

More than that, it could very well be a demonstration of the mechanics of mourning in the social media age. With holograms, it has become even easier for fallen superstars to conquer mortality and make gravestones of previous milestones. With a potentially lucrative new revenue stream in the offing, Jackson won’t be the last to pull off such a spectacle, portending rights battles and ethics debates to come.

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