Body language analysis of O2 press conference.
EyeHeartMJ
Posts: 77
I viewed this particular video of the press conference: <!-- m -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c00CwFA5JNE<!-- m -->
I'm no expert, but I've read a lot of body language books, I'm really into psychology (hoping to study it soon.) I found new, interesting things from the video as I went along, that I'd never noticed until now. Here's my take it on it, and I hope it makes sense:
When Michael starts to say "These will be..." he uses what experts call a "politician's point" which, as the name suggests it's the gesture a lot of politicians use. It means they are trying to get a clear point across. The gesture is when he presses his index finger and thumb together.
Michael then shows the palm of his hand for quite a long time. Any time we see the palm, we can assume the person is honest. Perhaps Michael knows this and kept it up for a long time, purposely to gain the audience's trust; as if to prove he is being honest. After this he goes back to the politician's point.
He then starts to say "This will be it, and when I say this is it, it really means this is it..." and right as he says "it really means this is it" he closes his fingers over his palm (not so honest?)
He starts giggling which could be from all the attention and he feels embarrassed (he's done that plenty of times) and he leans over the podium, as if he doesn't want to look at the audience (again may just be embarrassment.) The hand over the chest implies again, honesty, sincerity. But he puts his left hand first and then right, so both hands are on his chest. Defensiveness, insecurity maybe?
Then he smiles and touches his bottom lip: "I'll be performing the songs my fans wanna hear." When he says the word "fans" his shoulders go up, that suggests tension, nervousness. Touching the lip/laughing could mean lying but any time anything goes up to the mouth, it means the person is seeking reassurance. So insecurity is there.
Then he starts saying again "This is it, I mean this is really it..." Notice the palm is back, just like the first time he tried to make it clear "This is it."
Something else I just picked up on (I'm watching it bit-by-bit as I type this to be sure I don't miss something lol.) he then says "I'll see you in July." Do you notice when he pronounces the word "July" it makes the whole statement sound more like a question. More like "I'll see you in July?" This means he is unsure of himself because if he was sure of himself it would come out like a definite statement. Maybe he was unsure if he could go through with the concerts, or maybe he knew there wouldn't be any concerts.
Omg another thing I only just noticed. Look at 4:45 in the clip. After he says "I'll see you in July" (sounding like a question) he says "And..." He is smiling and he suddenly closes his mouth. Watch his throat! He swallows! He could be lying, or feeling nervous. Why, I wonder? He then tilts his head to the audience, did he just see someone who made him nervous?
THEN he puts his hand up, giggles and says "I love you. I really do..." Now, go back to my last paragraph. What did he mean when he said "And..." AND WHAT Michael? It looked like he wanted to add something, then stopped himself and felt nervous, thus closing his mouth to swallow. Then, to distract the audience from what he almost said after the "And..." he puts his hand up (another palm), giggles and tells them he loves them a few times. "You have to know that" he says. Why do we *have* to know it? All his fans know he loves them back. I don't think I've ever heard him tell an audience he loves them the way he did. I know it was meant to be his final shows, but if he said it in such a final way because of that, surely he would make more of a speech, thanking people throughout his career, his family, fans? He would be clearer and say thanks for all the decades of loyal fans, and thanks to all the people he worked with. The whole speech just sounded so disjointed.
He definitely looked nervous about something, I can tell you that much. Either he was nervous of his fans' reactions to him implying he was retiring, or he was nervous because he was hiding something. He couldn't possibly be that nervous out of shyness and the embarrassment of all his fans cheering for him; he has done plenty of other speeches (recent ones) where fans were cheering him on, yet he did not act that way.
HOLY cow I just picked up something else. At 3:31 he says "These will be my final show performances...in London." WATCH the way he emphasises the word London. After he says "performances" he moves his head quickly to ADD the word "London." He also raises his eyebrows when he adds "London." So does that mean it's his last shows in London, but not elsewhere? It looks as if he adds "in London" to clarify he only means London and not elsewhere. Can you see what I mean? Watch closely.
I'm no expert, but I've read a lot of body language books, I'm really into psychology (hoping to study it soon.) I found new, interesting things from the video as I went along, that I'd never noticed until now. Here's my take it on it, and I hope it makes sense:
When Michael starts to say "These will be..." he uses what experts call a "politician's point" which, as the name suggests it's the gesture a lot of politicians use. It means they are trying to get a clear point across. The gesture is when he presses his index finger and thumb together.
Michael then shows the palm of his hand for quite a long time. Any time we see the palm, we can assume the person is honest. Perhaps Michael knows this and kept it up for a long time, purposely to gain the audience's trust; as if to prove he is being honest. After this he goes back to the politician's point.
He then starts to say "This will be it, and when I say this is it, it really means this is it..." and right as he says "it really means this is it" he closes his fingers over his palm (not so honest?)
He starts giggling which could be from all the attention and he feels embarrassed (he's done that plenty of times) and he leans over the podium, as if he doesn't want to look at the audience (again may just be embarrassment.) The hand over the chest implies again, honesty, sincerity. But he puts his left hand first and then right, so both hands are on his chest. Defensiveness, insecurity maybe?
Then he smiles and touches his bottom lip: "I'll be performing the songs my fans wanna hear." When he says the word "fans" his shoulders go up, that suggests tension, nervousness. Touching the lip/laughing could mean lying but any time anything goes up to the mouth, it means the person is seeking reassurance. So insecurity is there.
Then he starts saying again "This is it, I mean this is really it..." Notice the palm is back, just like the first time he tried to make it clear "This is it."
Something else I just picked up on (I'm watching it bit-by-bit as I type this to be sure I don't miss something lol.) he then says "I'll see you in July." Do you notice when he pronounces the word "July" it makes the whole statement sound more like a question. More like "I'll see you in July?" This means he is unsure of himself because if he was sure of himself it would come out like a definite statement. Maybe he was unsure if he could go through with the concerts, or maybe he knew there wouldn't be any concerts.
Omg another thing I only just noticed. Look at 4:45 in the clip. After he says "I'll see you in July" (sounding like a question) he says "And..." He is smiling and he suddenly closes his mouth. Watch his throat! He swallows! He could be lying, or feeling nervous. Why, I wonder? He then tilts his head to the audience, did he just see someone who made him nervous?
THEN he puts his hand up, giggles and says "I love you. I really do..." Now, go back to my last paragraph. What did he mean when he said "And..." AND WHAT Michael? It looked like he wanted to add something, then stopped himself and felt nervous, thus closing his mouth to swallow. Then, to distract the audience from what he almost said after the "And..." he puts his hand up (another palm), giggles and tells them he loves them a few times. "You have to know that" he says. Why do we *have* to know it? All his fans know he loves them back. I don't think I've ever heard him tell an audience he loves them the way he did. I know it was meant to be his final shows, but if he said it in such a final way because of that, surely he would make more of a speech, thanking people throughout his career, his family, fans? He would be clearer and say thanks for all the decades of loyal fans, and thanks to all the people he worked with. The whole speech just sounded so disjointed.
He definitely looked nervous about something, I can tell you that much. Either he was nervous of his fans' reactions to him implying he was retiring, or he was nervous because he was hiding something. He couldn't possibly be that nervous out of shyness and the embarrassment of all his fans cheering for him; he has done plenty of other speeches (recent ones) where fans were cheering him on, yet he did not act that way.
HOLY cow I just picked up something else. At 3:31 he says "These will be my final show performances...in London." WATCH the way he emphasises the word London. After he says "performances" he moves his head quickly to ADD the word "London." He also raises his eyebrows when he adds "London." So does that mean it's his last shows in London, but not elsewhere? It looks as if he adds "in London" to clarify he only means London and not elsewhere. Can you see what I mean? Watch closely.
Comments
Neverending circles
Hugs and Love
Some believe that the person is not MJ, but an impersonator. I wonder if the nervousness, the needing reassurance, etc., is stemming from the person (if it's not MJ) being concerned that MJ fans will see that he's a fake.
Some have said that they think the 02 announcement was also staged (fake). If that is true then perhaps he was acting that way on purpose in order to give the impression that he was nervous about his upcoming concert.
I, too, found the announcement disjointed. Even in Michael's youngest years he was able to give a smooth and well thought out speech. This speech looks like:
A) he didn't plan for what he was going to say or
C) he scrapped what he was going to say.
None of these are Michael qualities. I don't believe either that it's because he was out of the limelight for so long. He really wasn't out of the limelight - he's been doing photo shoots, collecting awards, doing speeches, etc. Even when he was nervous he would giggle but he'd still pull it together. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on this.
Blessings on your day.
Do you know what finally convinced me that O2 guy indeed was Michael? It`s the way he raises his brows ... very much the same as he did in his infamous "Sony sucks ad Mottola is devilish"-speech at the campaign led by Rev. Al Sharpton. Just compare yourself.
Yes, it was Michael anouncing the concerts. And his final ones in London (means: not elsewhere ... since a following world tour was planned already).
Insecurity, yes, I see that too. Very much over-compensated (does one say so?) and therefore clear to me. Artificial confidence, built up and accompanied by some powerful moves (the little "yeah"-rocking-fist-dance -- is there actually a word for that?).
That´s more like a "thinking" touch.
Body language analysis isnt absolute. Its all up for interpretation. x
"These will be my final shows in London" - this SPEECH is indeed his FINAL SHOW! because he's gonna die shortly afterwards.
But "I'll see you in July" - which means "I'll resurrect"
"I love you all" - this is everything what is in-between, together with all the songs his fans wanted to hear - the old ones and the new ones which we have an opportunity to listen to again...
The greatest comeback in history....
@EyeHeartMJ
@Aintnosunshine About Michael's raised eyebrows expression - please see the following video at 0.56 secs - I think it is very similar to the raised eyebrows expression in the O2 video at 3.39 - see below for comparison
<!-- m -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0qfBB0Rnjg<!-- m -->
[youtube:vdn4wyof]
<!-- m -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c00CwFA5JNE<!-- m -->
[youtube:vdn4wyof]
Then again Joe supposedly said there were doubles in TII. If there were then I think MJ would have made sure they were quite thin so when his "death" happened it wouldn't come as much of a surprise, had he have been a healthy weight. First time I saw the movie previews I was struck slightly at how different he looked, but I don't know which parts of TII were him, and which were doubles. Or if his death really happened, and Kenny etc made the whole thing with doubles, I'd think that'd be illegal and obviously his family would be speaking out straight away, suing them or whatever.
I think when you see the start of the clip when he's walking into the arena, you can tell it is him because he has a distinct walk. He has a really sexy walk <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) --> like with his shoulders, can't explain it...
I've said in another post about my mum who is usually right when she has a gut feeling. We were watching the conference on DVD right after I joined this site, and she said every time she sees the crowd cheering, something doesn't sit right with her. Later when I tried telling her it could be a hoax, and there's good evidence, she basically didn't want to hear any of it, saying it's BS because of all the documents proving it, and that'd it be illegal, and "try telling that to his mother" who she just saw on Oprah. I burn MJ/J5 stuff off youtube to burn so we have new stuff to watch sometimes, and I'm thinking I should burn more stuff and throw in Dave Dave and just go along with what it's supposed to be (Michael's friend) and see if she notices anything. <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) --> She's really observant so it'd be interesting, she's never seen the LKL clip before.
Even in TII at the start when the dancer says he's been looking for something...and "this is it" I knew it was set up and even my mum said the same.
Sorry for the tangent <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D --> there's just too much to think about...yeah watching the O2 crowd it does definitely look set up...the more I see that crowd it becomes obvious they're acting. We need someone who was actually there to say "yeah this was a real crowd" coz in a book I've seen a photo of the crowd and it's massive, it stretches right out the back, so I just don't know.
Also the English guy at the end, it seemed inappropriate and very rude he would say "was that weird for you too?" Actually it just occurred to me right now; MJ hated the English tabloids. Do you think there's a connection between that and why this would be held in London?
EyeHeartMJ, some members here have posted that they were there, or had friends who went, so it was definitely a proper event, but that wouldn't stop the majority of the crowd, like the ones at the front who we see most of, being 'fake'. They look to me like they are acting way over the top, even for an MJ crowd! There's one guy in particular that always makes me laugh!
I don't think Dermot was being rude and inappropriate - if you listen to what he said after, I think he was just commenting on how strange it had been having MJ so close.
As for him being MJ but on drugs and therefore acting differently - well, I don't think he needs drugs to make him act differently, he can do that very well all on his own, in total control!
I've been on the fence about if it was a double or the real deal at this announcement, because he doesn't look 100% like I think MJ looks, but after discovering all these mannerisms we've been discussing, I'm pretty sure it's him, albeit 'disguised', to mess with us. Perhaps he found it easier to 'lie' , or consider himself 'acting', when he wasn't looking totally himself.
The words combined with the body language is very interesting - it's just like he's telling us: this is it, this is the big one he's been promising for years and he's nervously excited about it, but we need to remember he loves us because he's about to give us a huge shock, then he'll see us in July. (Although I'm not getting my hopes up about that bit! Still think that may have been referring to him 'seeing' us at his memorial, as he didn't say 'you'll see me in July', he said 'I'll see you in July').
Loving this thread, by the way! It's good to go back over stuff from the early days and find they look very different now!
I am the one who wrote the "Speech in a whole new light" and was pleased to see that
you followed up with a new thread and some great body language explanations!!!!
Great analysis!! I really believe that Michael said a mouthful without really saying much. I also
believe that the hoax started on that day... The day of the 02 conference!
Maybe our threads could be combined?? That would be cool!
Oh it's cool that we have a psychologist on the site <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) --> and yeah I don't know what to make of it now, haven't really considered it being an impersonator but if it is then it must be a damn good take-off...perhaps the real Michael taught him exactly how to act...but how could you explain the voice he had? Only when he said "Thank you all" his voice went deeper than normal. But otherwise it was MJ's voice? I mean, he couldn't have mimed it that well could he? <!-- s:? -->:?<!-- s:? -->
Yeah that would be awesome! Yeah I was thinking the timing of the conference was just too close to his "death" and I think others have said he did it that way so it would not be a shock to anyone, as in, it's more convincing as people would think "oh, it's all the pressure and physical activity that caused his cardiac arrest, no wonder..." and if there were doubles in TII it also adds up. Instead of just out of the blue he has a cardiac arrest. Because also if it was out of the blue, people would be suspicious as to why Conrad Murray just happened to be with him. Whereas it's more believable if he's got upcoming "concerts", of course he'd want a doctor with him to keep him healthy etc.
@ curls Ok good to know the event was genuine. Maybe it was the front people who were actors, I do still think they seemed a bit fake.
Also I just meant the tone of the English guy's voice sounded like he was dissing him, I know he meant that he was so close, but just his voice sounded really mean. Maybe I took it the wrong way <!-- s
He hosts X Factor in the UK and he always sounds like this!!
And maybe Michael wasn`t quite "alone" at the O2 stage, but it was him,for sure.
All I`ll say: The eyebrow-effect...!
Did she how he looked different? Does she feel it was mJ or not MJ? It would be interesting to find out what someone who was there thought.
Hugs and Love
Not at the begining. If you close your eyes, and listen to him starting his speech that is not michael's voice. totally different. Than his voice started to be like Michael's than it went deeper. This man is not Michael. Just try it dear, and let me know.