THE year was 1996 when king of pop, Michael Jackson, came to Manila and staged a well-attended outdoor concert. That was the only time Michael got to visit Manila, though and that was well-remembered by Brazilian Michael Jackson impersonator Rodrigo Teaser.

“That concert became very popular,” said Rodrigo, a first-time Manila visitor. “Even in Brazil, we got news about that show. For me, it’s an honor to be here now.”

The guy was only 16 when Michael Jackson’s Manila concert happened. “One thing that made that concert very famous among Michael’s fans, he was very happy performing then. The whole concert, Michael was smiling and screaming, ‘I love you, Manila!’ Fans loved it.”

Unfortunately, that tour never went to Brazil, although Michael was there in 1993 and Rodrigo, who is from San Paulo, got to watch that tour.

Back when he was merely nine, Rodrigo started aping the king of pop. That was merely “playing” for him. Professionally, he did it only 12 years ago.

When Michael passed on in 2009, Rodrigo and his actress-wife of 14 years, Priscilla, decided to do a big tribute in Brazil with a live band. “We never thought our show would be so big and take us all over the world including the US and the Philippines,” Rodrigo said. “That is something amazing.”

“When our tribute show became more popular, Michael’s choreographer, LaVelle Smith, for almost 20 years, saw it and he started to work with us. Once we got that, he introduced us to a lot of people who worked with Michael.

Even Rodrigo’s band has the supervision of Kevin Dorsey, Michael’s vocal director who worked with the king of pop for 25 years.

Sadly, Rodrigo never got to meet Michael Jackson up close and personal. “No matter how far I’ll go, I always said that will be the only thing that is missing,” he said. “Ever since that I can remember when I exist, I’ve always been a Michael Jackson fan.

“My mom could not even remember how I became a Michael fan. I think, it was because there was a time when every single radio station in Brazil played Michael Jackson songs. For some reason, I heard it.

“I remember clearly ‘Thriller’ was the first Michael Jackson song that I heard and I loved the song. My favorite, though, was ‘Man in the Mirror.’ I think that song is so powerful.”

Rodrigo is aware that he cannot perform all the songs that Michael has in his set list. “All the songs that Michael performed in his tours, I did a search about Michael’s hits in the Philippines. We’ll pick some of those songs for the two-hour show.”

His search led him to such songs as “You Are Not Alone,” that is very popular here, as well as “Smooth Criminal,” “Black or White,” “Billy Jean,” “Thriller.”

“Those were some of the songs that popularly came out,” Rodrigo said.

Interestingly, he did his own choreography for most of Michael Jackson’s songs. “I started to work on it and once I felt that I was good enough to learn with professionals,” Rodrigo said.

“When Michael’s choreographer came to help us, that took the show to another level because once you learn by watching and you work with a professional like LaVelle, you learn a lot of secrets and other information like how Michael wanted the body to move.”

Rodrigo learned all those moves. “Michael is the highest level for me as a singer and as a dancer,” Rodrigo maintained. “The way that he executes the dance and sings, that’s very, very hard for anyone. For me, that’s the hardest thing. I always study everything.”

He also takes care of his own look to project a Michael Jackson image, complete with his make-up and even the hair. He does not deny that he even did a nose job to make his nose more prominent, like Michael’s.

“If you push the look too much, that will look weird,” Rodrigo said. “I don’t want to disrespect Michael in that way. You don’t have to push too much.”

When he is not performing onstage, Rodrigo does away with his Michael Jackson impersonation and comes out as his natural self.

“When we do promotions for a TV special, we realize how much Michael is loved everywhere we go. People of all ages and status, something that brings them good memory of Michael, they always want to take a picture with me because of Michael and they want to talk about him. That’s very special to me. I saw how Michael is loved.”

“I always said that my mom gave me the chance to be alive, but Michael gave me the road because of his heart, his life and his music, I found a way into this world to enter.

“I know that I’m just a small part in Michael’s legacy because he is so big. I’m just a small part, but that small part is something very big for me.”

It is Rodrigo’s first time to perform in the Philippines, but he has taken the Michael Jackson act to other parts of Asia like Malaysia, Singapore, China (Guangzhou and Chengdu), with a plan to bring it to Beijing this year.

He performed in the US (New York, Orlando, Los Angeles, Atlantic City, Pennsylvania), Mexico, Portugal.

The two-hour concert-tribute, “Michael Lives Forever,” on March 14 and 15 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Newport World Resorts, boasts a live band and dancers who will perform with Rodrigo. Concert producer is Jessie Cambosa of DMC Philippines.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Leah C. Salterio