Notes From Late Night TV

No less than sixteen primetime Indian news channels telecast the Michael Jackson memorial service at the Staples Center a couple of nights ago. Sixteen is an enormous number and it is only upon flipping through every one of the sixteen channels that I realised how deep an image Michael Jackson had cast on the global retina.

I know everyone loves a good story and that there's a good chance that five or six of these news channels show the same thing at any given point on any given day. But that is precisely why I said sixteen. To me, that crosses the line between opportunistic scoop and oh-I've-got-to-see-this.

The memorial service was also everything that a memorial service should have been. I know a lot of the performances were incredibly average, but I think this was a case of not singing the right songs but one of what singing those songs meant. In a musical performance, you'd usually attempt to hear the person singing. On MJ memorial night, I looked only at the singers' eyes.

On a side note, I really, really like the new The Tonight Show advertisement - the one with Conan O'Brien running up a beach in slow motion. Unfortunately, the show itself sucks and even some usually 'safe' guests have just not turned out to be fun.

Oh yes, with this post, I also celebrate the return of the italic function on this blog. Until I get back to law school and my trusty old laptop, that is. Then again, maybe I'll make a trip to an internet place just to use the italic function.

In case that doesn't happen, <italic>. For good measure.