When people the world over gathered to bid their final farewell to the “greatest entertainer that ever lived” on Wednesday, the Mark Benschop Foundation chose to honour Michael Jackson by hosting a look-alike contest at City Hall the very day.
And the winner of the contest, 25-year-old St Paul Rodney believes that he is “a true fan of Michael Jackson.”
St Paul and yes that is his name, which he said was given to him because he had an “angelic look as a baby”, became a fan of the King of Pop at the tender age of six. Captivated by the star’s moves St Paul has every album and video that Michael Jackson has made and he even makes clothes that matches that of the pop star. He is that serious a fan.
St Paul believes that the contest was the best way to honour the one who influenced his dancing since, “Dancing like him I had a little of his personality in me and I think that he would have wanted people singing and dancing instead of crying.”
However this fan does not believe that Michael is actually dead. Rather, he believes that Michael has cleverly duped all in a desperate bid to “get away from the public” so that he could live peacefully with his family. St Paul pointed out that Michael Jackson is an intelligent man who had conquered the world but had debts and in his opinion, Jackson sold the concert tickets then faked his death so that he would not have to pay off his debts. Instead, St Paul continued, Michael would have the money which would allow him to step out of the limelight and the public which destroyed him. St Paul bases his theory on the fact the there was no open casket viewing at the memorial service for the pop star.
This guitarist/vocalist/entertainer of 20 Princes and Hardina streets admits that he dances for the love of performing. He spends the majority of his time working on his dance moves and his vocals for his music which he says is a “roots-reggae-rock-pop” style that allows him to dance to his music. “I can’t just stand up and sing I got to dance.” St Paul explained that his music style was developed from his reggae influence from Peter Tosh, rock influence from Elvis Presley and dancing from Michael Jackson. He believes that when his style of music is finally released he would have helped to create a “new generation of vocalists” and he would have also “let people know that great music comes from Guyana.”
As for when he will release his work, St Paul said, “You don’t plan music. Music is a spontaneous thing you just don’t know when it will happen.”
Aside from music, the interesting character that is St Paul Rodney enjoys watching Yu-gi-oh cartoons and “a lot of documentaries on ancient Egypt” because “our ancestors are from Egypt it is where our past is and all our knowledge.
“If we look into ourselves more and study Egyptian knowledge then we would gain peace and we would regain all the knowledge lost over the years and would end up learning to speak the lost language,” he said.
St Paul pointed out that he has found himself but others, especially “black people”, need to find themselves. And the best way to do that, according to him, would be to study the Egyptian past since, “It would bring black people more peaceful with each other. They have lost their history. They need a history that bonds us as well as a same language.” (Tiffny Rhodius)
