Akira Jackson is a Japanese Michael Jackson impersonator with over 7 million views on YouTube – an audience he’s built up over a decade on the platform.
He even performed an ENTIRE 2-hour Michael Jackson concert with choreography and back-up singers, which is some serious dedication!
Smooth Criminal
While most of his videos have a couple of thousand (or even 10k) views, you can always count on one song to really reel people in. And Akira’s most popular performances by far are those where he takes on the challenge of “Smooth Criminal.”
And it’s an iconic piece of choreography, especially for an impersonator because it involves one of the more recognizable – and among the most difficult – dance moves he ever came up with: the lean.
Akira’s got it down.
If you’re under the age of 40, you probably remember the video – the nightclub, the white suit, and the iconic white hat. And whatever else Michael Jackson might have been, he was one of the most glorious dancers of all time.
He’s a hard act to emulate, but Akira goes for it.
And one of our favorite fun facts – that we made up ourselves, mind you – is that it’s basically the only song to repeatedly use the phrase “dag gone it” and still be cool. Go ahead, prove us wrong. We’ll wait.
Believe it or not, while “Smooth Criminal” might seem like early Michael Jackson, it was from his 7th studio album, Bad. (Remember when “bad” used to mean “good” or “cool”? Those were the days!)
Another fun fact, the song was partly inspired by a rescue dummy. Seriously.
He got the idea for “Annie are you ok?” from Resusci Anne, the CPR dummy. At least according to E! Online, “that part of CPR involves asking the person in respiratory distress, “Are you okay?”
Talent show theatrics
Akira doesn’t give us much information to go by when it comes to the circumstances surrounding the video other than this particular performance was filmed at a School Festival.
The video, which now has over 1.1 million views.
As the lights come up on Akira, the audience cheers, and the illumination of the costume alone brings us some sense of anticipation.
While it takes a minute for things to get going (high school talent shows aren’t always the most structured), once Akira starts dancing, he’s got the whole crowd impressed.
He’s amazing!
The small, fast movements, the sideways glide, the hat flicks – it’s all there!
Of course, the loudest cheering comes with the lean, which appears to be aided by something we can’t see under his shoes, though we’re not sure.
Akira earns a big round of applause.
Akira, continued
Luckily, Akira is still performing, at least before the pandemic hit.
His video of “Another Part of Me” was uploaded about 6 months ago after he performed live from Matsayuma SalonKitty in Japan.
Check out his incredible dancing skills below!
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