King of Pop Quiz

I was asked to speak at a screening of This Is It at the Toronto Spokeclub on Saturday night. We had such fun doing this quiz that I thought I’d post it for you all to enjoy. Scroll down for the answer sheet. Cheers!

King of Pop Quiz

By Lorette C. Luzajic

 

 

 

1. Multiple choice:

How many Grammy nominations did Thriller get?

6

3

119

12

 

2. Question:

How many of those nominations won the award? _____

 

3. Multiple choice:

Michael named both of his sons Prince Michael  because:

-He was a megalomaniac and King of Pop wasn’t enough.

-Because he had a sly sense of humour and a brilliant sense of the absurd.

-Because angels whispered the names to him.

-Because Michael was Prince Michael to his tribe in Africa.

 

4. Question:

Which of the following are Michael Jackson songs?

 

We Are Here to Change the World

Whatzupwitu

Cry Out of Joy

Better on the Other Side

Morphine

Human Nature

Stranger in Moscow

Come Together

Billie Jean

We Are the World

Sex Machine

 

5. True or False: Princess Diana was offended by Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana at a London show.

 

6. True or false:

Michael’s work was inspired by sacred vedic hindu mythology.

7. Multiple choice:

What was Michael Jackson’s favourite album?

Love Child by the Supremes

Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky

Prisoner of Love by James Brown

Rhythm Nation by Janet Jackson

8. Multiple choice:

What was Michael’s favourite song?

 

Smile by Charlie Chaplin

Claire de Lune  Debussy

Yesterday by the Beatles

Amazing Grace, popular hymn

 

9. Which of these authors  or books did Michael NOT read?

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ernest Hemingway

J.A. Barrie

The Holy Bible

Other sacred texts from world religions

 

9. Multiple Choice:

Which of these were influences in Michael’s video and performance work? Check all that apply.

 

P.T. Barnum and the circus

Film noir

Fred Astaire

West Side Story and classics of Broadway theatre

Science fiction fantasy

Global traditional or tribal drumming and dance

American Werewolf in London

Funk and r and b performance traditions

Classic horror cinema and b-movies

Shakespeare

Classical music

Shapeshifting and shamanism in mythology

Children’s stories

Urban/street performers

 

10. Who said it?

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been that intoxicated by anything.”

11. Who said it?

“I still have all his stuff on my iPod.”

12. Who said it?

Michael was “the best father you could ever imagine.”

13. Multiple Choice:

How many records total has Michael Jackson sold?

-15 million

-750 million

-88 million

-2 billion

 

14. Multiple choice:

Who said Michael Jackson was a genius?

-Motown mogul Berry Gordy

-troubled songstress Amy Winehouse

-Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony

-pop idol Justin Timberlake

-Donald Trump

 

15. Question:

a) in the 45- minute three song music video, Ghosts, did Michael play the eccentric composer or the white, middle class, hostile mayor?

b) with whom did Michael co-write  this film?

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King of Pop Quiz

By Lorette C. Luzajic

 

 

1. Multiple choice:

How many Grammy nominations did Thriller get?

6

3

119

12

 

Answer:

Twelve.

 

2. Question:

How many of those nominations won the award? _____

 

Answer: Eight. The sweep set a new record, of course. It was never topped, but it was later tied by Santana.

 

 

 

 

3. Multiple choice:

Michael named both of his sons Prince Michael  because:

-He was a megalomaniac and King of Pop wasn’t enough.

-Because he had a sly sense of humour and a brilliant sense of the absurd.

-Because angels whispered the names to him.

-Because Michael was Prince Michael to his tribe in Africa.

 

None of the above. He named them both Prince after his grandfather. However, the original Prince Michael was indeed Michael himself. He was a prince to people in Krindjabo, Ivory Coast. The Sanwi people appointed him their prince. When Michael died, the people had a ritual funeral, with days of dancing and drumming, and over 2000 mourners.

 

 

 

4. Question:

Which of the following are Michael Jackson songs?

 

We Are Here to Change the World

Whatzupwitu

Cry Out of Joy

Better on the Other Side

Morphine

Human Nature

Stranger in Moscow

Come Together

Billie Jean

We Are the World

Sex Machine

 

Answer: Cry out of Joy is by Akon about Michael, Better on the Other Side is a tribute by rapper The Game. Come Together is a Beatles song covered by Michael Jackson. Sex Machine is by MJ’s idol, James Brown. Whatzupwitu is an MJ song with Eddie Murphy.

 

 

 

5. True or False: Princess Diana was offended by Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana at a London show.

 

False: She asked Michael ahead of time if he was planning to play Dirty Diana. He told her that he had taken it out of the set for that event, wanting to be respectful of her feelings. She told him she loved the song.

 

 

 

6. True or false:

Michael’s work was inspired by sacred vedic hindu mythology.

True. In his poetry collection, Dancing the Dream, he wrote, “you and I were never separate- it’s just an illusion.” He also wrote about returning to bliss, where he came from. At a blog, a student of Vedic philosophy shares stories of Krishna, noting Michael’s source of inspiration. “From bliss I came, In bliss I am sustained, To bliss I return” is from the Taittiriya Upanishad 3.6.1,” observes the blogger. “The above, Unbounded Consciousness, Truth, Existence, and Bliss, is a basic concept and description of God in the vedic teachings.” Explaining the concept Michael references about separateness and illusion, he writes, “It is taught that we are never separate from God but due to illusion or maya we fail to see our connection. The goal of the vedic path (yoga=union) is to free ourselves from the maya or illusion of seeing ourselves as separate from God and to come to the realization that we are part of and always with God.” The themes are woven throughout Michael’s body of work, for example, the song Another Part of Me. Michael was an incredibly spiritual person, and teachings from many faiths have inspired his work.

 

 

 

7. Multiple choice:

What was Michael Jackson’s favourite album?

Love Child by the Supremes

Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky

Prisoner of Love by James Brown

Rhythm Nation by Janet Jackson

Answer: Tchaikovsky.

“Ever since I was a little boy, I would study composition. And it was Tchaikovsky that influenced me the most. If you take an album like Nutcracker Suite, every song is a killer, every one.”

 

8. Multiple choice:

What was Michael’s favourite song?

 

Smile by Charlie Chaplin

Claire de Lune  Debussy

Yesterday by the Beatles

Amazing Grace, popular hymn

 

Answer: Smile. His brother Jermaine sang it at his public memorial.

 

9. Which of these authors  or books did Michael NOT read?

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ernest Hemingway

J.A. Barrie

The Holy Bible

Other sacred texts from world religions

 

Answer: Michael read all of the above, and more. He had a library of over 10 thousand books and they were not just for decoration. LA bookstores have reported that Michael “was a sort of Johnny Appleseed of reading.” Clerks would open the store after hours and Michael would come in with vanloads of kids and security…the kids could pick whatever they wanted to take home.

 

 

9. Multiple Choice:

Which of these were influences in Michael’s video and performance work? Check all that apply.

 

P.T. Barnum and the circus

Film noir

Fred Astaire

West Side Story and classics of Broadway theatre

Science fiction fantasy

Global traditional or tribal drumming and dance

American Werewolf in London

Funk and r and b performance traditions

Classic horror cinema and b-movies

Shakespeare

Classical music

Shapeshifting and shamanism in mythology

Children’s stories

Urban/street performers

 

Answer: all of the above. Careful observation and analysis of Michael’s work unearths endless layers of homage and influence, revealing him to be a voracious student of diverse entertainment, literary, and music traditions. Michael’s philosophy was “The best lesson to the world is to observe the masters at work.”

 

 

 

10. Who said it?

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been that intoxicated by anything.”

 

Answer: Lisa Marie Presley, his ex-wife, on Oprah.

 

11. Who said it?

“I still have all his stuff on my iPod.”

 

Answer: President Obama.

 

12. Who said it?

Michael was “the best father you could ever imagine.”

 

Answer: Paris Jackson.

 

13. Multiple Choice:

How many records total has Michael Jackson sold?

-15 million

-750 million

-88 million

-2 billion

 

Answer: Latest figures come in around 750 million, and still selling every day.

 

14. Multiple choice:

Who said Michael Jackson was a genius?

-Motown mogul Berry Gordy

-troubled songstress Amy Winehouse

-Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony

-pop idol Justin Timberlake

-Donald Trump

 

Answer: all of the above.

 

15. Question:

a) in the 45- minute three song music video, Ghosts, did Michael play the eccentric composer or the white, middle class, hostile mayor?

b) with whom did Michael co-write  this film?

 

Answer:

Michael played both characters, though you wouldn’t believe it possible to see it. The film was co-written with Stephen King.

 

 

Please visit Lorette at ideafountain.ca.