Michael Receives the Save the World Award
On Friday, one month after Michael’s death, at the Save the World Awards ceremony in Vienna, Austria, the award was presented to the King of Pop.
Jermaine Jackson attended the event, which was held despite heavy rain, and received the 2009 Save the World Award that had been awarded to his brother Michael for his efforts to help disadvantaged people and to give a voice to vulnerable groups. The ceremony was dedicated to the memory of Michael Jackson. After receiving the award, Jermaine Jackson said:
“I’m honored that Michael enriched the lives of so many people—not only through his music, but also through his extraordinary kindness and boundless generosity. Michael’s message was always ‘Healing the world.’ But he could never reach that goal alone. So it is up to each and every one of us to ensure that we will heal the world.”
Jermaine, with his two sons standing behind him on stage, performed his brother’s song “Smile” and left the stage with a “I love you, Michael.”
Besides Michael, two other people were also honored for their humanitarian activities. Carl Lewis, the two-time sprint champion, for his support of disadvantaged children, and Thomas Henningsen, who works with the organization Greenpeace.
When Lewis received his award, he said:
“Michael Jackson affected all of us with his music and his messages of peace, and inspired us. And that will last for years and years. We all know what wonderful things he did for so many people around the world, and it’s great that we can prioritize and respect his work.”
At the ceremony, several Michael songs—such as Man in the Mirror and Heal the World—were performed by other singers. The event ended with an emotional performance of We Are The World.
In a press conference on Friday before the ceremony began, Jermaine had described his brother Michael as an “incredible humanitarian” who cared about helping other people. Jermaine said that Michael’s entire being was about finding the good qualities inside people. He called Michael’s death on June 25 at age 50 an “unbearably sad loss.”
“My brother was an incredible human being and an incredible humanitarian, just as much as he achieved success in music. My brother was brilliant and skilled at understanding what matters most—and that most important thing is generosity… turning the world into a better place.”
Jermaine said his brother Michael had donated a great deal of money from his concert tours to charitable organizations. He added that writing examples of Michael’s humanitarian activities would require many, many, many pages.
Before the ceremony, Carl Lewis also said that Michael: “Did many things for children and will be remembered forever.”
The host of the ceremony, Andy McDowell, also said: “I’ve been a die-hard fan of Michael Jackson since I was a kid, and I had posters of all the Jacksons on the walls of my room. It’s a source of pride for me to participate in this ceremony and offer my service.”
This year’s Save the World Awards were being held for the first time. The goal of these awards is to honor people who work to protect the world and the Earth.
Source: eMJey / AP