Remember the popular YouTube video from 2007 of the Filipino prison inmates dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller"? Well, the inmates performed their dance again to pay tribute to Jackson on Saturday at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center . The inmates are huge fans of Michael Jackson and after hearing of his death they began practicing their dance in the exercise yard for nine hours straight, taking breaks only to eat or when it rained."I felt sad because we lost our idol," said inmate Wenjiel Resane.
A crowd of 700 came to watch the inmates perform. The show started off with a prayer for the Jackson family. Aside from "Thriller," they also performed "Ben," "I'll Be There" and "We Are the World." After they finished dancing they held up a 5-by-10 foot tarpaulin showing Michael Jackson holding a sword with his name written below it.
The "Thriller" YouTube video has had 24.3 million hits since it was first posted and nearly one million of them took place in the 24 since news of Jackson's death was made known. The inmates "consider Michael Jackson as a god here," Byron Garcia, the Cebu provincial security consultant said. "If not for Michael Jackson, they would not have this international recognition."
