Watch Michael Jackson’s Holographic Billboard Music Awards Stage Show Here [Video]

The King of Pop has returned, if only in holographic form. Michael Jackson’s holograph danced, sang, slid across the stage, dipped, and otherwise dominated the stage last night on the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.

Perhaps one of the most anticipated performances of the night left the crowd roaring and fans all over the world cheering. It seems that the King of Pop is still very much alive and well in the minds and hearts of fans, and of course, through the clever use of a holographic image. Although this is not the first time a holograph has been used to bring back a fallen industry legend, it was certainly historic, nonetheless.

It seems that the estate of Michael Jackson has been hard at work as of late, to promote the release of the second posthumous album under MJ’s name. The album, Xscape, was released less than a week before the legendary holographic performance.

During the awards ceremony, Michael Jackson performed a recently released single, “Slave to the Rhythm,” a song that Jackson penned in the early ’90s but never released. With the help of some recording studio magic, L.A. Reid and Timbaland had a hand in creating this single and the new album of songs, which is already receiving rave reviews from critics and fans alike. Time magazine had the following praise to offer the first few tracks on the album:

…it helps that Xscape comes frontloaded with the safest (and earliest-recorded) track, now assisted by Justin Timberlake: “Love Never Felt So Good” is an opulent, warm disco-soul floorfiller in composition and, judging by a couple couples, in practice. It evokes Off the Wall as much as dead-on 2014, because these days disco is so trendy it practically comes pre-contemporized. “Loving You” is even more earnest, and if anything, its lonely-August nostalgia is only enhanced by its extramusical conditions.

And Billboard magazine simply said:

To answer your first question: Yes, it is any good. And about your second: Better than you think.

Previously, a holographic image was used to bring rap legend Tupac Shakur to life during a Coachella set, and it is likely that this is not the last time that a holograph will be used to bring a music legend to life. For fans of Michael Jackson, this representation definitely seemed surreal, if not a bit nostalgic. One fan on the Michael Jackson VEVO YouTube page commented the following about the holographic performance:

I loved this. Sure you could tell it was a hologram at times, but at other times it really looked like MJ was there front and center!

What do you think about this holographic performance? Do you like the new Michael Jackson album Xscape?