Finally, the young lady under the dryer next to mine calmly turned to me and asked how I could admire a husband-stealing “floozy” like Keys. Before I could process that question, the woman on the other side chimed in by adding that Keys had one less fan now that she’d broken up someone else’s home.

To say I was floored by the callous reactions of these seemingly sensible women would be an understatement. Yes, I’d read all the blog accounts of how Keys allegedly began an affair with her then-married record producer, Beatz, while recording her most recent album. I’d even read interviews in which Beatz’s “jilted’’ wife claimed Keys became pregnant months before she and her husband had officially divorced. (Keys has not commented publicly on any of this.) I skimmed most of the stories about Keys but only partially retained the scandalous and racy tidbits because, frankly, I just don’t care much about the intimate details of Alicia Keys’s life. I just really love her music.

When I explained my point of view to the women around me, they were clearly appalled at my lack of outrage. They pointed out the contradiction of Keys’s private life and her pro-female lyrics and classy onstage persona. As they listed the many ways in which Keys had disappointed them, they spoke as if they personally knew her—as if she were a friend they had drinks with every Friday night after work.

And therein lies the looming problem we as fans now face. Because of the mass influx of social-media networks, celebrity blogs, and endless celebrity-based reality shows, Americans have been lulled into a dangerously false sense of intimacy with the people meant only to entertain us. It’s allowed us to have detailed opinions on the actions and lives of people who used to be just fleeting and mysterious images on a video or in a film. Having “inside” knowledge about stars, their comings and goings, dating habits, and even shopping choices has somehow made us feel we share similarities with the faces that flawlessly grace magazine covers, light up the big screen, and sell millions of albums.

Accordingly, that so-called knowledge also appears to have given us the right to judge celebs as harshly as we would our actual friends without ever considering the fact that blogs, magazines, and even the celebs themselves rarely tell anyone the full story. Just take the sad predicament of Fantasia Barrino, the former American Idol winner who recently attempted suicide after the details of her alleged relationship with a married man were revealed in a lawsuit. Barrino was reportedly so distraught by the news—and the vicious and mean comments posted by fans on celebrity blogs—that she took a mix of sleeping pills and aspirin to shut it all out. That’s an interesting and sad turn for a celebrity who was created by a television show that allowed viewers to call in and vote on her success—now they’re apparently voting on her morality as well.

But where does that leaves us as fans when we decide we won’t support the career of some imperfect person whose talent or intellect has profoundly affected us? Is anyone out there really able to live up to society’s standard of being a “good person” and the perfect role model? Is there even such a thing? Thinking about all this led me to reflect on the lives of my all-time favorite singers, Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke—men whose music I simply couldn’t fathom being without. Both were involved in a number of scandalous affairs while still married, and both died violent deaths. Cooke was shot and killed by a hotel manager under mysterious circumstances, while Gaye was gunned down by his own father during an argument—not exactly the peaceful lives one would expect from men who wrote such iconic and thought-provoking songs as “A Change Is Gonna Come’’ and “What’s Going On.’’ During their lifetimes in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, only bits and pieces of their personal stories surfaced for public consumption. While fans of that generation surely heard the rumors, they never seemed to allow them to affect their love for the true genius of the artist in question. They simply separated the man or woman from their music. Maybe it’s time we do the same.

Being one of the few artists that was introduced twice in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Michael Jackson also entered Guiness Book as the most successful showman of all times, won 13 Grammy prizes, had 13 singles at the top of all charts and sales of more than 750 million albums in the whole world.

Michael Jackson’s life was intensely covered by the media, dubled by a successful career, representing a significant part of the pop culture for almost four decades.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on 29th August 19158 in Gary, Indiana, being the 7th out of 9 children. The five Jackson boys – Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael sustained their first concert as The jackson Five, when Michael had only 11 years.

The band was promoted by the popular Motown disc records and acknowledged world-wide success. After this moment, Michael launched his solo career.

He made his debut in 1972, and 10 years later he launched the album “Thriller”, which became a super hit. The album sold in 21 million copies just in US and 27 million copies worldwide.

At the beginning of the 80s, Jackson became a dominant figure for pop music, being the first afro-american showman intensely promoted by MTV.

On the stage and on his videoclips, Jackson made some inovations with his dance moves, such as the famous “moonwalk”.

The album “Bad” launched in 1987 sold almost as good the previous. Every new album signed by Michael, every appearance was a major event. People were copying his haircut, as well as his extravagant outfits.

Showbiz veterans such as Fred Astaire were praising him while Michael was making pictures with Ronald and Nancy Reagan at the White House.

Paul McCartney made duets with him, such as “The Girl Is Mine” and “Say Say Say”.

Next launch from Michael, “Dangerous” (1991), entered first place in all the charts.

After this album, the artist’s private life put his career in the shadow. A double “greatest hits” album launched in 1995, “History”, had weak sales in comparison with his last performances – only 7 million copies.

A new album launched in 2001, “Invincible”, got even more disappointing sales.

Other aspects of his private life, such as his face in a permanent change, his excentric appearances and his weird behaviour, started to make the public sick. Also, numerous controverses affected his image in the last two decades.

In 1993 he was acused of molesting a kid, but police investigation were closed because of lack of evidence. Also, in 2005, Michael was again investigated for pedophilia, but was eventually cleared of all charges.

The artist had also a series of financial problems, even being on the point of selling his famous farm Neverland, in May 2008. Few months later, in november, he gave the property title of Neverland to a company started by himself and the company that owned a mortgage of 24 million dollars over the residence.

Michael Jackson was wedded twice, first with Elvis’ daughter, Lisa Marie Prestley.

Even if public interest decreased over the years, Michael never lost his fans.

Proof is in the 50 good-bye concerts he had scheduled at O2 Arena from London, starting with 13th July. 75 thousand tickets were sold in just a few hours.

He died less than a month before making his comeback on the stage, leaving behind three children: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II.

The occasion is a live concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., honoring family patriarch Ellis Marsalis for receiving the Lifetime Achievement award from the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. The family made a similar album in 2003, also a live concert recording honoring Ellis, but this one is better.

The surprise star of the record is Jason Marsalis, who demonstrates how much his total concept has matured with an outstanding performance on vibraphones, drums and, of all things, whistling. His breathtaking doubling with Wynton’s trumpet on Charlie Parker’s delightfully tricky “Donna Lee” is so well articulated that I thought I was hearing a flute on first listen. The band plays together beautifully on a familiar tune, James Black’s lilting “Monkey Puzzle,” which is illuminated by Jason’s vibe solo. Ellis follows with a thoughtful solo piano construction, “After,” then another of his compositions, “Syndrome,” built around a stately theme. Wynton’s trumpet solo opens the song’s exposition with a   jaunty fair as the rhythm section goads him, and Ellis dances across the keyboard in response.

Harry Connick, Jr. joins in for a broad, two-piano reading of “Sweet Georgia Brown,” then offers a lengthy spoken tribute to Ellis which is the album’s only blemish. On an otherwise flawless technical recording, Connick’s speech is recorded at an appreciably lower level than the rest of the record, making it an irritating distraction in the flow of the program.

The band proceeds with a perfectly crafted interpretation of Thelonious Monk’s difficult piece “Teo,” featuring excellent solos from Branford, Delfeayo and Wynton, who rallies through an extra chorus, playing off his own lines. Ellis Marsalis III’s spoken word tribute to Ellis follows much more successfully than Harry’s as he ruminates on aspects of his dad’s personality from “ass whipping” to “beacon.”

Jason’s expansive “At the House, In Da Pocket” pulls the performance to a climax as the individual band members trade fours in an entertaining exchange that builds to single note exhortations and then breaks into exciting collective improvisation and riffing, a glorious interlace of ideas that reach back to the earliest traditions of jazz while sounding wholly contemporary. The encore is pure party time. Wynton’s trumpet provides the piercing clarion call for “The 2nd Line,” and the palpable crowd noise suggests that an audience that may well be dancing in the aisles. Definitely worth the price of admission, especially because all proceeds go to funding community programming at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, soon to open at the Musicians’ Village.

The other day I found myself watching Beat It, one of the many old Michael Jackson video clips we were treated to as the anniversary of the singer’s death rolled by. I recalled that Beat It was probably the first music video I’d ever seen. I’d have been about three years old and watched it in the flat in Noble Park where we were living after recently migrating from Sri Lanka.

I still remember being drawn to the video by the bright blue of Michael’s t-shirt and the bright red of his jacket. But there was more to it, something that I would become more conscious of only a few years later. Michael Jackson looked like someone we could know, he looked like one of us. Even as a child, I was very conscious that we were different from ‘suddho’, the Sinhala word for white people.

From ages 5 to 8, Michael Jackson would develop into my hero. After being a fan of He-man and Knightrider, MJ was my first real-life idol. He presented a different image of what to look up to, not like my other muscle bound hyper masculine heroes. Michael defined my earliest sense of ‘cool’. It was an alternate kind of hero, possessing both masculine and feminine traits, suave, sophisticated and glamorous, forceful yet sensitive. The epitome of style.

Michael Jackson was essentially a product of African American culture. As Jamie Foxx said when hosting the Black Entertainment Television (BET) awards after Michael’s death, “he belongs to us, and we shared him with everybody else”. Michael Jackson was a combination of various aspects of black America. Some had the indisputable black culture stamp, like his incredible sense of rhythm. Others were less well known, like the sensitivity to visual aesthetics. He presented something new to the white mainstream, quite different from what they had known, but still attractive.

It was this difference though, that led to both his rise and his downfall. Middle class America let him in because he was a palatable black man, soft and sweet, remembered for his days in the Jackson 5 -Far from the militant angry black man image of the 1970s and the New York mugger stereotype of the 1980s. Jackson was the first black artist to get air time on MTV. Once on the inside, it was his own creative genius that allowed him to reach heights unheard of by both black and white artists.

He took the soul and uber-creativity of the black ghetto, added his own flavour to it and presented it to white America. Creatively, and in terms of popularity, he reached the zenith of this career in the mid 1980s. It was soon after this that he began to mistakenly think that his popularity and wealth had allowed him to break free of the rules dictated by middle class America. He started to challenge the dominant dichotomies of American society – black and white, male and female, adult and child.

Jackson changed his skin tone. Why, we don’t know, possibly in response to his vitiligo. But whatever the reason, the effect was the same, he became whiter. Some African Americans saw this as a betrayal, while others maintained that he had had no choice due to his condition. He had plastic surgery on his face, perhaps due to the negative self image he had developed as a child.

Jackson’s transformation from black to something else struck at one of the deepest divisions in American society. He blurred the lines of race.

Jackson also challenged a division that would grow in prominence with the rise of the Religious Right in America in the late 80s and 90s – the division between man and woman. He defied American society’s rules of what it is to be male and female, what constitutes masculinity and femininity. It was a time when relatively new stereotypes were becoming imbibed with notions of timelessness and ‘god given-ness’. There was one way a man should be and this is the way it always was and always should be. Jackson smashed these stereotypes out of the ballpark. He embodied more flexible and nuanced notions of the masculine and the feminine, those that had been around in subtler forms in black American society for some time, but had not been exposed to the white mainstream in such a way.

His defiance of gender stereotypes touched a nerve as this was also a time when the Right was waging a culture-war over the issue of homosexuality. Now there are many celebrities who have identified themselves as gay without anyone deeming it newsworthy. But it was the very fact that Jackson’s sexuality was ambiguous that was especially enraging to the Right’s moral watchdogs. See, they couldn’t categorise him. They couldn’t slot him into their custom made pigeonholes of ‘normal straight man’ or ‘heathen bound-for-hell homosexual’. Jackson set an example that you did not have to be one way or another, you could just be. And be he did, with style.

The final boundary Jackson dared to cross was that of age. This was a boundary so entrenched that most people were barely conscious of it. Jackson wanted to be a child. He was into childlike things. He turned his ranch into an amusement park and had Peter Pan statues throughout his mansion. He hung out with a chimp. But of course it was his hanging out with children that concerned most people.

While we will never know whether the accusations of molestation against him were true, it is clear that there was an aspect of Jackson’s persona that resulted in him being judged guilty by Middle America before being proven innocent.

Child molestation was a charge so completely despicable that it could be used to taint all other unrelated aspects of his persona, particularly his ambiguous sexuality. Coverage of Jackson took on dark undertones. He was portrayed as a freak, a strange, warped man who used his wealth to prey on innocent children. When hard evidence of molestation was not forthcoming, Jackson’s antagonists would fall back to their standard line of reasoning ‘no normal adult would befriend children like this, so he must have had sinister intentions’.

It was outside people’s imaginations that Jackson could have actually liked hanging out with kids simply because he had innocent fun with them; that he was searching for the childhood he never had; or that he simply appreciated the joys of childhood. No, to assume this, you had to be off with the fairies. It was largely ignored that Jackson had consistently given to charities, those focused on children and other causes, and was ranked as one of the most generous celebrities.

And so over time, Jackson’s star was brought crashing down like so many black celebrities of the era. The masses were shown that you couldn’t get away with being beyond race, beyond gender and beyond age. You would be brought down. And of course you wouldn’t want to be like that anyway because those people were bad, morally bad, sinister even.

The tragedy of Michael Jackson’s tale is that it is not an uncommon one for African Americans. A childhood sacrificed for a family to escape poverty. He used entertainment, one of the few avenues available to his people at the time. He sang and danced himself to stardom, to incredible wealth. But he could not escape the reins of the dominant society in which he found himself. Towards the end of his life, we saw Jackson becoming close to some prominent black political figures. He was seeking comfort in his family and his community. His black American community, which had always maintained a soft spot him.

It was also striking how much love for him there was in Sri Lanka, and with the Sri Lankan community here. Michael Jackson was standard-issue for kids in Sri Lankan-Australian households. You had to have liked MJ as a kid, no matter whether you preferred Tupac or Nirvana as a teenager. Around the globe his fans stayed true, they stayed loyal. It was their immense love for him that allowed these alternative viewpoints to be told, if only after his death.

The African American community may rightly feel that it has been wronged. Its beloved son, whom it shared with the big, wide, white world, was one far too fragile. Like so many others before him, he was taken in by Middle America and celebrated for his uniqueness. But like so many more, it was only to be chewed up and spat out when his flavour soured. In his death, we could see not only black America’s warm embrace for a prodigal son returned, but perhaps tears of regret for sharing him with a world that did not understand.

Finally, the young lady under the dryer next to mine calmly turned to me and asked how I could admire a husband-stealing “floozy” like Keys. Before I could process that question, the woman on the other side chimed in by adding that Keys had one less fan now that she’d broken up someone else’s home.

To say I was floored by the callous reactions of these seemingly sensible women would be an understatement. Yes, I’d read all the blog accounts of how Keys allegedly began an affair with her then-married record producer, Beatz, while recording her most recent album. I’d even read interviews in which Beatz’s “jilted’’ wife claimed Keys became pregnant months before she and her husband had officially divorced. (Keys has not commented publicly on any of this.) I skimmed most of the stories about Keys but only partially retained the scandalous and racy tidbits because, frankly, I just don’t care much about the intimate details of Alicia Keys’s life. I just really love her music.

When I explained my point of view to the women around me, they were clearly appalled at my lack of outrage. They pointed out the contradiction of Keys’s private life and her pro-female lyrics and classy onstage persona. As they listed the many ways in which Keys had disappointed them, they spoke as if they personally knew her—as if she were a friend they had drinks with every Friday night after work.

And therein lies the looming problem we as fans now face. Because of the mass influx of social-media networks, celebrity blogs, and endless celebrity-based reality shows, Americans have been lulled into a dangerously false sense of intimacy with the people meant only to entertain us. It’s allowed us to have detailed opinions on the actions and lives of people who used to be just fleeting and mysterious images on a video or in a film. Having “inside” knowledge about stars, their comings and goings, dating habits, and even shopping choices has somehow made us feel we share similarities with the faces that flawlessly grace magazine covers, light up the big screen, and sell millions of albums.

Accordingly, that so-called knowledge also appears to have given us the right to judge celebs as harshly as we would our actual friends without ever considering the fact that blogs, magazines, and even the celebs themselves rarely tell anyone the full story. Just take the sad predicament of Fantasia Barrino, the former American Idol winner who recently attempted suicide after the details of her alleged relationship with a married man were revealed in a lawsuit. Barrino was reportedly so distraught by the news—and the vicious and mean comments posted by fans on celebrity blogs—that she took a mix of sleeping pills and aspirin to shut it all out. That’s an interesting and sad turn for a celebrity who was created by a television show that allowed viewers to call in and vote on her success—now they’re apparently voting on her morality as well.

But where does that leaves us as fans when we decide we won’t support the career of some imperfect person whose talent or intellect has profoundly affected us? Is anyone out there really able to live up to society’s standard of being a “good person” and the perfect role model? Is there even such a thing? Thinking about all this led me to reflect on the lives of my all-time favorite singers, Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke—men whose music I simply couldn’t fathom being without. Both were involved in a number of scandalous affairs while still married, and both died violent deaths. Cooke was shot and killed by a hotel manager under mysterious circumstances, while Gaye was gunned down by his own father during an argument—not exactly the peaceful lives one would expect from men who wrote such iconic and thought-provoking songs as “A Change Is Gonna Come’’ and “What’s Going On.’’ During their lifetimes in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, only bits and pieces of their personal stories surfaced for public consumption. While fans of that generation surely heard the rumors, they never seemed to allow them to affect their love for the true genius of the artist in question. They simply separated the man or woman from their music. Maybe it’s time we do the same.

Listed below are the events that will take place during the two-day celebration.

Friday, August 20:

Pirates Community Champion Awards Presentation – The Pirates will recognize six “Community Champions” during a special pregame ceremony. Jim Bendel from Adelphoi Village, Bridge N. Driver from FedEx Ground, Baron B.B. Flenory from Pressley Ridge, Tony Joseph from Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater, Joseph Lagana from Homeless Children’s Education Fund and Chuck Sanders from Urban Lending Solutions were all nominated by their fellow citizens for having positively contributed to the betterment of the diverse community in our region.

2010 Pirates Poster Giveaway – Every fan in attendance at the game on Friday will receive a 2010 Pirates Poster compliments of Knepper Press. The game begins at 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, August 21:

African American Heritage Festival – The annual festival will take place on Federal Street from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Twenty organizations will be on hand to provide information on different community initiatives and resources available throughout the Pittsburgh region. In addition, the Afro-American Music Institute will perform live on Federal Street, and carnival-style food will be available for purchase.

Larry Doby “Legacy” Rookie of the Year Award – Andrew McCutchen will be presented with the Larry Doby “Legacy” 2009 Rookie of the Year Award in a pregame ceremony. The Legacy Awards are presented by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum annually to recognize the outstanding achievements of Major League Baseball players and officials with awards named for the great players of the Negro Leagues. Larry Doby helped to integrate Major League Baseball when he joined the Cleveland Indians in 1947.

Throwback Uniforms – The Pirates and Mets will honor the Negro Leagues by wearing Pittsburgh Crawfords and New York Cubans uniforms for the game on Saturday.

Pittsburgh Crawfords Cap Giveaway – All fans will receive a Pittsburgh Crawfords Cap courtesy of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. The game begins at 7:05 p.m.

Fans attending Heritage Weekend games are also encouraged to stop by Highmark Legacy Square, a permanent interactive exhibit to honor and preserve the history of the Negro Leagues and the great players from the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords. The interactive exhibit, located inside the Left Field Gate Entrance at PNC Park, shares the inspiring story of these remarkable athletes that helped revolutionize the sports and business world in their own way and is open throughout the entire baseball season.

The Washington, D.C. rumor mill is running wild with reports that Lady Gaga will back Eman for his 3-song set at a gig after her Monster Ball Tour concert and fundraiser for Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) on Tuesday, Sept. 7, at 8 p.m. at Verizon Center. Lautenberg has a private suite with patrons contributing $2,500 a person for PACs and $2,400 for individuals.

The rumored gig with Eman and Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (Lady Gaga) would feature Eman’s repetoire of “Susie Sensitive,” “You Were Always On My Mind (Mother Nature),” and “Global Warming/Climate Change.” Will the venue be in a private suite, or will it be at an as yet undisclosed location? Only the rumor mill knows for sure. But the rumor mill speculates that it could be announced at the Lautenberg fundraiser.

Generally, if a luxury suite is available, it can be rented for somewhere between $4,000 and $8,000. There are a range of seats available in each suite, but if the suite has 20 seats, plus two for the candidate and spouse. The suite lessor pays for the food and booze. So figure $100 per for that. Brings you to around $10,000 or so. You charge $2,500 a head for a high rollers. So that’s $50,000. The suite lessor nets $40,000, minus some expenses. Hmmmm. And deduct $5,000 more for Eman’s fee. (Wash Post, 8/13/2010)

Vanessa Bell Calloway is back on TV and giving Jada Pinkett Smith’s character, on the TNT drama series ‘HawthoRNe,’ a run for her money.

While she’s done numerous film and TV roles, many fans will remember the Cleveland native from her roles in films such as ‘Coming to America’ as Eddie Murphy’s bride-to-be, ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’ with Angela Bassett, and ‘Biker Boyz’ with Laurence Fishburne.

Daytime soap fans also recall Calloway as Yvonne Caldwell when she was on ‘All My Children’ opposite iconic character Jesse and Angie Hubbard.

Black Voices caught up to the much-missed actress (who popped up on episodes of BET’s reality show ‘Baldwin Hills’ a few years ago).

The platinum-selling music superstar is lending her name and using her influence for something other than promoting a product. The ‘Pon De Replay’ singer is urging her fans to help save the life of Shannon Tavarez, an 11-year-old star of Broadway’s hit musical ‘The Lion King’ who was recently diagnosed with acute leukemia.

“Being a performer myself I know what it’s like to be given the opportunity of a lifetime at a young age, and I would have been destroyed if that was taken away from me,” the Def Jam Records chart topper and CoverGirl spokeswoman said. “Shannon deserves to live and share her beautiful voice with the world.”

Rihanna, who Tavarez considers her idol, got wind of her plight and felt she had to do something to help – urging her fans to register with DKMS atWWW.GETSWABBED.ORG to save Shannon’s life and the lives of other leukemia patient’s life.

Tavarez, who performed four shows a week as young Nala in ‘Lion King,’ needs a bone marrow transplant. Her mother is African American, and her father is Dominican. According to a spokesperson, only 8 percent of the 7 million registered donors are African American, which means that only 17 percent of African Americans in need of a transplant will receive one.

“When I found out, it hit me really hard, like someone was throwing a ball at me,” said the talented tween, who currently lives at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Long Island, where she receives daily chemotherapy treatments. “It was shocking and I thought, why me?”

Fonzworth Bentley had no shame putting a ring on it.

The MTV ‘From G’s to Gents’ reality star quietly got engaged to actress Faune Chambers at the top of the year and is finally sharing the good news with the world.

“I tricked her! She thought it would happen on Christmas, but I did it right before New Year’s,” Bentley, 36, told Us Magazine.

“She said yes, and I was so excited.”

The ‘Advance Your Swagger’ author, who is best known for being Diddy’s assistant and umbrella holder, proposed with a 3-carat asscher-cut diamond. Waiting to meet the newly engaged couple were their parents.

Bentley, whose real name is Derrick Watkins, proposed to his fiancé near their hometown of Atlanta.

Chambers, who co-starred in the Oscar-nominated film ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ has also made appearances on ‘The Game’ and ‘All of Us.’