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"In the Closet" Music Video / Short Film
Date of “My Dinner with Michael" contest confirmed in Adrian Grant’s “Visual Documentary”; “In the Closet” shoot occurred on the same day.
Herb Ritts, director, Rolling Stone (June 24, 2014)
"It's not about outrageous sets and 50 dancers this time," said director Herb Ritts. "It's really about bringing Michael's energy out in a new way." With Jackson's curls confined to a tight ponytail and his wardrobe little more than an undershirt and jeans, this is the most sexually charged performance of his career. Ritts, who died in 2002, was an acclaimed fashion photographer who had shot everyone from supermodels to world leaders – including Jackson for a 1992 Rolling Stone cover. Here, he got pop's most kinetic body to cavort in the dusty desert with a young Naomi Campbell.
Sharon Oreck, producer, Video Slut book
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22sharon+oreck%22+book+mobi&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
Excerpt
“Sharon…” Naomi drawls in her broad British accent. “I’m just not getting it together with Michael, and I don’t know what's going wrong. Herb said you could tell me what to do.”
“Naomi, if in the end you can’t count on Michael to come to you, maybe you should just think about going to him.”
All of a sudden Naomi’s face lights up, as if she has just heard the solution to The Da Vinci Code. Then we see Naomi pull Michael over for a confidential tete-a-tete, after which Michael literally leaps away from her and disappears into his trailer. Herb is summoned to the trailer and emerges to ask me, “What exactly did you tell Naomi to do earlier?”
“Nothing really, I just told her to dance closer to him. Why?”
“Michael said that Naomi asked him if she could, uh, uh, suck his cock!”
After the video shoot MTV hosts an event called MY DINNER WITH MICHAEL.
Sharon Oreck said, “I saw Herb making his entrance past the paparazzi with Naomi, who appeared to be ten sheets to the wind at least forty paces before she even got to the bar.
“Naomi! Herb!” the photographers shoutas Herb attempted to steer Naomi down the red carpet. How’s the video?”
“I want to suck Michael Jackson’s cock!”
Naomi dutifully tried to inform the free press as Herb shoved her in the door while attempting to gag her with his spare hand.
Naomi Campbell, "Sway in the Morning" (Sway Calloway) interview
Sway Calloway: What do you recollect about just going through the process of that shoot?
Naomi Campbell: Oh, so much fun! I mean, we must have bought like 150 spray cans of whipped cream, and we camouflaged ourselves and we just went on the attack with the whipped cream everywhere, to anybody. And water guns. So child's playground, so much fun... [but] very professional.
Calloway: Very professional?
Campbell: Very professional... he's a perfectionist. Every beat, every move to every beat and the song. I mean, he knew what he wanted, and but then also just this most amazing man-child at the same time.
Calloway: You held your own, like you were really—before Miley was twerking, you were killing that in that video too.
Campbell: I was so nervous.
Calloway: But you were shaking your hips in the way that we—most models don't look like they could shake their hips... Was that the first time y'all met on that set?
Campbell: It was the first time, yeah. I thought it was a joke when I got the phone call. I was like, "Yeah, I don't believe this". I was like, "Actually, I can't, because I'm going to Paris, I've got to do 3 weeks of shows. You'll have to pay me not to go to my shows and I need to go to my shows." And then, "That's ok". Everyone's like, "Ok". I was like, "Alright then, so you want me to come to L.A.?". They're like, "Yeah". And I just couldn't believe it. Everything I [unintelligible] not happen. And I get there, and it was just so much fun...
Calloway: Wow, you're so humble. All these stories I've heard, I don't see that in you.
Campbell: Oh, you should've seen—when we were doing the video of Michael, we had this MTV "My [Dinner With Michael Jackson]", 100 people won a dinner with Michael Jackson. So they've got this big tent in the middle of the desert, 'cause we were in the desert in Palm Springs, and it was like, we arrived on an elephant. It was so good. We were like, "How are we going to arrive? Let's go on the elephant. It was so much fun.
Model Naomi Campbell is featured in the video with Jackson, and she told “A Current Affair” that he is “sweet and shy and sensitive” and “seems to be a very caring, soulful person.”
On the last day of shooting Michael Jackson’s “In the Closet” music video, Naomi Campbell and the singer had a whipped cream fight.
KNBC Entertainment Tonight, 20th April 1992
Naomi says she loved acting the part of this woman who’s after Michael Jackson.
“You see this man and he drives up and you want him and you’re just gonna get him. And you want him and you want him and you’re gonna do whatever you can to drive this man crazy. It’s about being sensual and like hungry and doing it.”
Michael was co-director of this video along with fashion photographer Herb Ritts.
(Herb yelling at Naomi, “Go on Naomi, touch him! Touch him!”)
Directing Naomi to be sexy was not a problem.
“I like to touch people all the time. I mean, I had to push a little bit further but I like to be that way.”
Naomi says she’d never met Michael before going on location in the California desert, but she’d heard what to watch out for with him and she beat him to the punch.
“I heard Michael was a prankster so before he played a joke on me I wanted to get him. So one day we finished shooting and I pulled out a water pistol (laughs) and laid it on him. Actually, it was tough hiding it up my skirt, because I’m not sure if you’ve seen it but my skirt is very short, so… but I got him. I hid it well.”
Naomi is now one of the world’s most sought after models but before that she was like millions of women, a Michael Jackson fan, and she says that working with him did not change that.
“To me he is a wonderful person, inside and out. He was everything I thought he would be, or even more.”
The video is a Campbell coup, but there are sacrifices. “It’s almost impossible to have a personal life,” says Campbell. “I mean I travel constantly. Back and forth to Europe, sometimes three times in a week.”
Paula Yates: What’s it like working with Michael Jackson? Tell us about Michael!
Naomi: I think the biggest tip I got was that he’s very professional and you know I watched him in concerts here and watched him in concerts there.
Paula: You winked at him. He claimed! He claimed!
Naomi: (laughs) I did not! He’s like, from the old school. And he’s like live-
Paula: Was he scared of you? Because in the video you have to-
Naomi: I keep hearing that he’s frightened of me. (laugh) But I think it’s because the directors would tell me, Herb would say you have to touch him everywhere, and I’d say, but he doesn’t want me to touch him–
Paula: It’s unimaginable, it’s like touching the Pope!
Naomi: You can’t touch me there and Herb would say, “You have to do it!”
Paula: Did he get upset?
Naomi: No, he just said I was crazy. He was frightened of me because I’m a nymphomaniac.
Michael is very involved and on top of everything he puts his name on. He’s shy and sweet, considering all he’s accomplished, but he’s a prankster. When I was doing the video, we had water pistol fights. He’s a perfectionist.
Top Models: The Legend interview
He called up and asked if I’d do his video with Herb Ritts and I said yes, I’d love to. I didn’t believe it at first and then… we had a lot of fun. We were like two children. We had water fights and (giggles) cream can fights, whipped cream can fights. He was great to work with. Michael Jackson is a true, is very professional, he’s a perfectionist. He knows everything. He’s very smart. He knows where every single thing is he’s doing, he’s got it under control, he knows everything. People probably wonder how, he has so much going on, but he manages to do it. People like Michael Jackson, Madonna I admire and respect and have much admiration for.
The video is smoldering in its simplicity, and is devoid of the special effects and super-embellished wardrobe that had become his trademark, showcasing a new confidence in Michael, his hair pulled off his face in a simple straight ponytail.
"This confidence to be able to simplify and step away from what people expected from him struck a particular chord with me, at the time a young woman growing up in London, and it is something I hold true to to this day. Thank you, Michael.
“Vibe” magazine (June/July 1995)
Michael is very involved and on top of everything he puts his name on. He’s shy and sweet, considering all he’s accomplished, but he’s a prankster. When I was doing the video, we had water pistol fights. He’s a perfectionist.
Cindy Crawford, MTV News report
Cindy: Hi I’m Cindy Crawford. I’m standing in the desert somewhere outside of Los Angeles. We’re on location with Michael Jackson and Herb Ritts to shoot the video for In The Closet, the next release from Michael’s Dangerous album. Let’s see what happens when these two talents come together.
Herb: It was the song that really said to me, keep it simple, make it just about the dance. It’s a courtship dance between a guy and a girl.
Cindy: What’s your part in this video?
Naomi: It’s about a girl who wants to get uh, out of the closet and be loved outside in the open and be free with her love and having him be physical and loving with her, but he’d like to keep her in the closet.
Cindy: Video shoots like this don’t happen every day. This is a major production. I got one of those rare chances to talk to Michael Jackson and he told me that while he’s always involved with all his projects this is the first time he’s shared a director’s credit.
Cindy: Are you kissing Michael in this video?
Naomi: No, but I wanna kiss him. (giggles) I may kiss him but I mean if I kiss him it won’t be for the screen.
Cindy: Michael Jackson and Herb Ritts, quite an intriguing combination. The hot desert, a hot girl and hot dancing, who knows what to expect? But you can bet it’ll be something else.
Ritts, who also directed Janet Jackson’s “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” video, describes Jackson’s third video from his latest release “Dangerous” as “a courtship dance… where something unexpected happens.” Naomi describes it as a story about a girl who wants to get out of the closet and be free with her love for her man, but he wants to keep her “in the closet.” The video was co-directed by Jackson and marks his directorial debut.
VH1 Report
NARRATOR: And while Naomi was a star in her own right, she couldn’t believe which megastar wanted her in his next video.
(footage of “In the Closet” shown)
NAOMI: When Herb Ritts (the director of “In the Closet”) called me, I said, “Yeah, right! Michael Jackson really asked ME.”
NARRATOR: The video would be Jackson’s “In the Closet.”
HERB RITTS: And we looked at lots of dancers. And you know, we know Naomi really well and work with her all the time. I remembered she’s a great dancer, she has incredible presence. I wanted kind of a Spanish, exotic kind of a woman and Naomi has an incredible rhythm for this. I mean, and she’s trained as a dancer.
NAOMI: When Herb works, it’s always with such enthusiasm. He loves everything he does, that you just say, “Okay okay, I’m going to do it, count on me, okay.”
NARRATOR: Naomi braved the scorching California desert to meet Michael Jackson.
NAOMI: He was very sweet, he’s very shy. I mean, I would say like, “bloody hell” and he’d say, “Don’t swear, Naomi! Stop cursing!” I’d be like, “Sorry!” (laughs)
NAOMI (commenting on the video): Well, I’m supposed to be flirting…
(woman in the background): You grabbed his @$$.
NAOMI: Did I? I don’t think so.
(footage is shown of Naomi and Michael)
NAOMI: Herb… pushed me to do it. It’s all Herb’s fault, Herb’s the director, I have to do what I’m told. I was being obedient.
NARRATOR: Although she appeared nearly naked in photographs and on the runway, this solo erotic dance brought back the shy little girl in the supermodel.
NAOMI: Well, we had black curtains and everything. They could see it on the monitor, but they were not in front of our faces, ’cause I would never be able to do THAT.
NARRATOR: What Naomi WAS able to do was stay in step with the man who perfected the moonwalk. No easy task…
HERB RITTS: Naomi just has this natural ability to work with him, and it’s very difficult. If he’s being spontaneous, to have somebody who doesn’t dance every day find those moves and work AND have a presence and be flirty AND, um, have that chemistry and that connection.
NAOMI: And I kept up with him. That was what I was there to do.
(footage of Michael pretending to strangle Naomi during an erotic scene)
NAOMI: It was fun. We were joking ALL the time. It was like, jokemaster. It was constantly jokes, jokes, jokes. It was fun.
NAOMI: He had a discipline probably of what it was like to do film, because it’s doing the same thing over and over again, picking up,picking up, in the heat, and the continuity of how your hair has to be, how your makeup has to be, like you wanted to change something on the second day, you can’t. That’s the way you started off, that’s the way you have to keep going.
NARRATOR: And what did the King of Pop compare the Queen of the Fashion Kingdom to?
NAOMI: The sweetest thing Michael said to me was, um, that I reminded him of a fawn, which is like a baby deer. He said that is what he thought I looked like. I thought that like a “Bambi,” and I thought that was very sweet.
NAOMI (during the end of the show, when she was commenting on everybody):
He is a brilliant artist. He is a legend, and always will be.
Michael on location in the hot and dusty southern California desert looking a bit thin and vulnerable under the merciless sun. Then the strains of “In the Closet” from his album “Dangerous” drifted across the set and he was rolling on the ground with Naomi Campbell in a sensual embrace that was wild enough to have the crew applauding when the director yelled, “Cut.” His energy was amazing.
Article on “My Dinner With Michael Jackson” (Mirror)
The tour was to be the biggest in pop history; from start to finish it would last eighteen months. During that time, and in the run-up to the launch, I got to see a lot of Michael Jackson. Our first meeting took place in the middle of the Californian desert: Jackson was throwing a huge dinner party just yards away from where he had been shooting his in the Closet video with the beautiful British model, Naomi Campbell; and fifty miles outside the fashionable Californian holiday resort of Palm Springs. The party was staged in conjunction with top pop TV station, MTV. MTV had run a competition offering dinner with Michael Jackson as the prize, and they had received a staggering 4.1 million entries from all over the world. Thirty lucky winners realized the dream of a lifetime: they were Michael's and MTV's special guests that night at the party, which was attended by a hundred privileged guests. Demi Woo from Taiwan told me: 'I still can't believe it's true. I can't believe I've met Michael. He's my absolute hero.
The E150,000 bash was one of the most spectacular parties the pop world had ever seen: it featured leopards, panthers, elephants, camels, near-naked girl samba dancers, magicians and fire-eaters. Michael, decked out in a black shirt with red epaulettes and black satin trousers, arrived at the party at 7 o'clock, just an hour after breaking off from his video-shooting. The normally reclusive pop star revealed a side of his personality that he had kept under wraps for years - that of a fun-loving extrovert. We saw once again what Jackson was like when he really let his hair down. At one point he even led a conga line up and down the length of the makeshift tent where the party was held. As the evening went on, his smile got larger and larger. At one point he even gave us a private preview of his dancing skills: he got up on the dance floor and showed why he is such a disco thriller. He boogied with guests, including some of the skimpily clad Brazilian dancers dressed in yellow bras and G-strings who had earlier entertained him. I danced alongside him but found it hard to keep up with his frantic steps. The singer, then thirty-three years old, was having such fun that he spent a whole two hours at the party, even posing for group pictures with the winners. For much of the time he chatted, laughed and joked with Naomi Campbell, who sat by his side. He seemed more relaxed and at ease than he had for a long time. Also sitting at the table with Jackson was his video director, top fashion photographer Herb Ritts. The video, in which Jackson is featured with Naomi Campbell and four flamenco dancers, was shot in black and white and Ritts was thrilled with it. He told me: 'Michael was a dream to work with. He is very receptive of new ideas. We should have finished already but we've had some bad weather.
But the bash nearly started off on a nasty note. As he arrived, the animal-loving Michael went to stroke a baby leopard which snapped at him viciously. However, the singer refused to be daunted: he joked with the animal's trainer, gathered up a couple of the children who were waiting outside to meet him, and made his way into the party, where he was greeted with screams and shrieks from the waiting guests. He was escorted to the top table, where he sat down to sign autographs and talk to awestruck fans.
He himself was awestruck as he watched the fire-eaters, the acrobats and the dancers who had been summoned to perform for the king of all performers. He was astounded when one of the troupe lay on a four-foot bed of nails while a pretty girl walked all over his back. At this point, Jackson sat a little three-year-old girl on his knee so she could get a better view of some of the show. He was just as impressed with the magician, who came to his table and performed a variety of dazzling card tricks. 'I'd like to do some of those,' he told him.
During the party Jackson confessed: 'I'm having a wonderful time. Some of these acts are amazing. It's a real fun atmosphere.' When his minders and aides tried to get him to go, Jackson wouldn't budge. He told them: 'I want to see the next act, it's a guy who walks on broken glass and eats it.' The star sat rooted in his chair for the next fifteen minutes as he marvelled at the daredevil performance.
The food was every bit as good as the entertainment. It had been prepared by Jackson's special Sikh chef, who runs a catering company called Ashaka and cooks all Jackson's meals for him.
The singer admitted he was thrilled about touring again for the first time in four years: 'I'm really looking forward to performing again. I love being on stage. I can't wait to come to Britain. ! had a great time when I was in London recently.
Despite his enjoyment, the party left Jackson whacked. When one of the MTV winners, Margarietta Carreras from New Jersey, asked him to dance the smiling star told her: 'I'd love to, but please excuse me this time, I feel a little tired.' Then the singer told MTV bosses, 'Thanks for everything, it's been a thriller of an evening,' and disappeared into the desert night.
The usually shy superstar danced in a conga line and dined on vegetarian fare with model Naomi Campbell and photographer Herb Ritts. “He was having a good time,” says contest winner Donna Frieden, who shook Jackson’s ungloved hand. “He was reserved and soft-spoken, but very warm. He was smiling a lot. I jumped right next to him in the conga line.” Jackson, who wrapped his In the Closet video earlier on a nearby set, visited with the lynx, panther and other exotic creatures before joining the festivities. “He was laughing and chatting it up with everyone,” says MTV’s Kathy Flynn, who arranged for the party’s carnival games, stilt walkers, magician, palm reader, Brazilian dancers and Caribbean band. A camel, an elephant, a black panther and a spider monkey that drank virgin daiquiris were among those at MTV’s lavish tented bash Sunday outside Palm Springs, Calif.
Fan who attended, “It's All About L.O.V.E.” book
The cameras flashed; cameramen were filming like crazy, and out of the blue came Naomi Campbell to join us. She is so tall that she had to wear flats, but is so beautiful, not to mention sexy. All of us laughed and danced and had such good time. Michael was giggling and turning the wrong way, we did too, and then he giggled again. The music changed and he and Naomi danced together. I noticed, too, she would constantly be bending her head next to Michael’s ear and Michael seemed very annoyed with her that after a while he left her and danced with the kids.
Michael Jackson, Glenda Tapes
M: You like living “In the Closet” best (laughing)
G: Yeh..Which one do you like?
M: I like Remember the Time. I like Jam..It was real fun doing it with Michael..I liked Remember the Time.. but I had the most fun doing Jam out of all of them.
G: You looked like you were having fun.
M: Yeh, I had fun with Naomi, but, I (whisper) hate doing that. (Laughing)
G: What?
M: She’s a sweetheart. She’s a champ. But, I had the most fun when we were in Chicago doing Jam. I had FUN with Jam.
G: Yeh, it looked like you were having fun.
Brad Sundberg, studio engineer, Facebook Post (April 11, 2017)
I was scrolling through my FB timeline this morning and someone posted the behind the scenes footage of the "In The Closet" Herb Ritts short film with Naomi and Michael. Like many of those projects I was there for much of it, but behind the scenes.
By the time the Dangerous project was winding down I was juggling a lot of things. We had projects rolling full speed at Neverland (I seem to remember the Sea Dragon and Zipper were installed around that time), plus I was working with Bruce, Bill and Teddy in the studio wrapping up the album. That of course meant short films and tour prep were either beginning or just around the corner.
Michael loved a large, portable music playback system I built for him to use on the short films (I have written about it before), but essentially it was an estimated 20,000 watt monster that would and could "hurt you" if you weren't careful. Michael wasn't careful. At all.
Hurt me!! Hurt me!!" he would yell as we set the system up for shooting "Ghosts", "2Bad", "Closet", etc. The volume this thing produced could send even the most jaded, know-it-all production person into the craft services ("Crafty") snack tent to roll up some napkins and stuff them in their ears. I loved it.
I didn't spend a lot of time on the "Closet" shoot for two reasons.
First, I wasn't in the union, so I couldn't actually operate my own system - it had to be handled by a union guy. I just set it up, tuned it, made sure Michael was happy and handed over the keys to the union guy.
Second, and you might find this odd, but Michael had put my family and I up in a really nice resort in Palm Springs, and we loved the idea of a few days of down-time, so I spent much of that time poolside, knowing that I might have to drive to the set if my system needed attention. It didn't, so I relaxed much of the time.
Production shoots were always much more intense than working on the albums. There were people everywhere, with lots of radios and clipboards (this was before iPads) and laminates and stopwatches. Security guys guard every entrance with their official windbreakers and Security baseball caps.
Rows production trailers, dressing rooms, star trailers, honeywagons (bonus points if you know what they are), generators, catering trucks, lighting trucks, lighting guys, sound guys, set guys, safety people, production assistants (PA's), craft services, etc. Shooting a Michael Jackson film in Southern California is like moving, organizing and paying for an army - and they can do almost anything once they are assembled.
So again, it was interesting, but the layers and hierarchy of people and who could stand where and when and why and made my pool and a bottle of Corona really inviting on most days.
Top model Naomi Campbell, who was photographed naked with Madonna, has been turning on her sensual charms for pop superstar Michael Jackson.
Naomi, a former girlfriend of disgraced boxer Mike Tyson and actor Robert de Niro, teamed up with Jackson for his raunchy new video.
...A worker on the film set revealed: "Most people tend to keep a slight distance from Michael, but not Naomi.
Sensuous
"She was asked to give a sensuous performance and she certainly did—she really went for it.
"Michael was somewhat taken aback, but I think he appreciated someone who was natural with him."
Jackson... sent a private jet to fly her straight to Los Angeles from a modeling shoot in London.
Naomi, who was born in Streatham, South London, said: "It was a fantastic experience."
The star invited leopards, panthers, elephants, camels, a bunch of Brazilian [dancers], and some friends... including me.
And Jackson was so busy making a beast of himself, he barely noticed those saucy samba dancers flashing their South American smiles behind him.
Michael sat at a table beside top British model Naomi Campbell while the buxom beauties swayed in rhythm. But he later sprang to his feet and boogied with them.
I danced next to him and could hardly keep up with his frantic steps.
It was easier, though, to follow the 33-year-old singer in a conga line that he led up and down the tent in which the party was held.
The usually reclusive idol gave us a rare glimpse of the fun-loving side of his personality at the £150,000 bash 50 miles from the Californian resort of Palm Springs.
Wonderful
The spree was staged with pop television station MTV, who had 4.1 million entries from all over the world in a competition offering dinner with Jackson as the prize.
Thirty winners joined their hero—and the rest of us—for hours of enjoyment.
Michael, in black shirt with red epaulets, had been working nearby with Naomi on the video for his next single "In the Closet".
When he arrived, he stroked a baby leopard, which promptly snapped at him.
But Jackson, unflustered, settled down to watch a show featuring magicians, acrobats and fire-eaters who had been summoned to perform for pop's richest performer.
During the entertainment, he said: "I'm having a wonderful time. Some of these acts are amazing. It's a real fun atmosphere."
Jackson is also getting set for his own shows—on a world tour starting in Britain in June in aid of a children's charity.
He said: "Getting money for the charity is really the main reason I'm going on the road.
"Still, I'm really looking forward to performing again. I love being on stage.
"I can't wait to come to Britain. I had a great time when I was in London recently."
But after this crazy extravaganza, even a Jackson stage thriller could seem tame.
We are to meet the megastar Michael Jackson at a party held on the set on his video for "In the Closet". We're driven to Palm Springs on the border of the Palm Desert in Southern California. Only the driver knows where we're going. As our bus trundles through the desert, it begins to tip down with rain and thunder rumbles in the sky. The bus is nearly drowned to a halt. Thankfully, after a few minutes, the sky clears, and a double rainbow appears—we're on our way again!
An hour later, we see a huge tent ahead of us. The other people on the bus—35 winners of an MTV competition to meet Michael—cheer. As we get nearer, we see a midget dressed as America's Uncle Sam on stilts, a magician wearing a gold lamé cape and turban, a juggler, and a clown, as well as an elephant, camel, black panther, and kangaroo.
Just by the tent is the set for Michael's video. It's like a spooky, deserted town in a western, with a Mexican ranch and a few dead trees thrown in for good measure. In the tent, a huge party has been arranged for us. There's exotic food, and [cookies] iced "My Dinner With Michael" to nibble on. Michael, we're told, was involved in all the preparations for the party—he had the animals flown in and the food that we are about to eat has been prepared by his private chef!
Suddenly, there is a small riot at the tent entrance—Michael is here! Except it's not him, but a double, Darrick Morgan, who signs a few autographs! He appears in the "Remember the Time" video as the dark stranger in the black robe who throws sand on the floor in front of pharaoh Eddie Murphy. He sometimes helps Michael make a quick getaway: Darrick drives off in a massive limo, while Michael runs out the side door! Michael will arrive at any time now. Knees knocking in anticipation, we stand and wait.
A long black limousine steps in front of us. The king of pop steps out. He is immaculately dressed in black satin, with a red armband and shiny black patent pumps. He goes up to the camel and strokes it. Then he turns and faces us. It's hard to know if he's looking in our direction because he's wearing very dark sunglasses. His assistant introduces us. Michael shakes hands, The king has arrived—let the party begin!
Michael is determined to have a good time. Sitting with his friends, Madonna's favorite photographer Herb Ritts and supermodel Naomi Campbell, who appeared in the video with him, he pours wine (but drinks only water) and jokes. It seems he's just one of the lads when the cameras aren't around.
One by one, the fans come to the table, with small presents (an Australian girl has brought a huge koala) or just a smile. They are greeted by Michael, who shakes hands with the boys and plays with the girls' hair while whispering in their ear. Needless to say, they come away from the [illegible] swooning! Everbody is made to feel at home. What did he whisper? No one remembers. It's as if you went into a trance at the [sight] of him being just a regular guy.
The orchestra in the tent starts to play a conga and the singer in the band asks everybody to join in. Suddenly, Michael jumps up and joins everybody in a tango! The world's greatest star is dancing with a dozen guests around the tables! The whole troupe gather on eht tiny dancefloor at one end of the tent and join Michael in some lambada steps and hand-clapping.
He then goes back to his table and munches on a plate of macrobiotic tortillas.
Then it's "BIG"'s turn to meet Michael and it takes some courage to go up to the table and speak. We thank him for the unforgettable evening. He smiles and thanks us back! Then he goes to ask us some questions! "Are you having a good time? Where do you come from? Did you come to California especially for the evening?"
...We ask him why he chose the desert setting for the video. He answers in his high, but soft-toned voice: "The light here is incomparable. There is nothing like it. It's the most beautiful light on earth. We start shooting very early in the morning and stop as soon as the sun goes down."
A magician arrives and sits at Michael's table, holding a pack of cards. "Pick a card and write your name on it", he tells the star. Michael is slightly startled. He picks a three of clubs and marks it with a black cross. The magician shuffles the pack of cards and pulls the right one out. "Is this your card?", he asks. "That's wonderful!", laughs Michael.
Then it's souvenir snap time for the lucky winners, and they gather round the star while the photographer shoots. Michael smiles, nods a lot, and shakes hands once more. And suddenly, he is led away from us by one of the bodyguards. Almost reluctantly, he follows him to his car. But before we have time to realize what's happening, the black limousine has vanished into the dark. The party's over and as the DJ plays Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World", there is a lot of sobbing and eyes are filled with tears. Michael has gone!
