School talent shows can often be a chore to get through (until your own kid hits the stage, at least). But when Jonny Cruz took the spotlight in his school’s auditorium, he dazzled the entire crowd with his Michael Jackson dance routine, while amassing more than 3.5 million YouTube views in the process.
Music Man readers can check out Jonny’s spot-on performance in the viral video below…
An atmospheric and suspense-riddled intro kicks off this performance before Jonny emerges as a silhouette, backlit by a blinding white screen, striking a pose that could have almost any viewer convinced that it was Michael Jackson himself!
MJ lookalikes and dance recreations are almost always packed with cringe-worthy elements, but this spot-on show switches things up for the better, as Jonny completely embodies the late star. From his suit to his dance style, Jonny instantly wows the crowd with his uncanny silhouette and razor-sharp moves, as he dares to recreate the “Smooth Criminal” dance, as featured on Jackson’s Dangerous Tour.
And he absolutely pulls it off, snapping his body to the beat whilst serving supreme levels of confidence most teens would envy. Before the vocals have even kicked in, Jonny has already pulled off a moonwalk and a selection of iconic MJ poses with unworldly precision.
The audience claps to the hit’s legendary beat, egging Jonny on as he glides across the stage, spins, kicks, nods, and laces his hat into the complex choreography. It’s about as close to the original as a dancer can get, but the best is yet to come…
Soon, the stage blackens for a moment, the spotlight redirected to a fellow student on the far left of the stage, who cleverly distracts the audience with a hilariously funky dance of his own.
But, as the limelight pans back to Jonny, he absolutely steals the show as he pulls off Michael Jackson’s iconic ‘antigravity tilt’ – the 45° forward lean that seems absolutely inhuman to master.
This is where Jonny’s love for MJ truly shines – the student recreating the impossible move by wearing the same, stage-locked boots as Michael to make the illusion complete.
Fans of this viral clip were quick to pick up on this rare element, with one viewer explaining the trick in the YouTube comments: “Fun fact: Michael Jackson actually had special shoes in order to do the lean. It used pegs in the floor and holes in the shoes to lock him into place. If you watch on the stage you can see he used the same idea because there’s 2 pegs on stage. That shows me he did his homework on that lean.”
Jonny’s even been stalking the comments section himself, favoriting the wholesome praise of a viewer who wrote, “I’m 63, African American. I used to dance three hours a day. Seen Michael live. Watched him thousands of times just to see him move. I can dance. I said all that to say this: Excellent. Smooth. Rhythmic. Polished. Sublime. Bravo! You have talent. You made my day.”