cebu: Philippine convicts who became famous for dancing to Michael Jackson tunes gave a tribute performance on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the death of the "King of Pop".
About 500 foreign tourists and local dignitaries watched as more than 900 prisoners in the high-security jail in the central island of Cebu performed dances to some of Jackson's biggest hits, prison officials said.
"It was a wonderful presentation. I was very impressed. Their concentration was really there and they were really serious about their dance," said Mils Bonnen, 58, a teacher from Denmark.
"This will set an example to other rehabilitation centres in the country. It will also give people a different view of the inmates," said judge Geraldine Faith Econg who led a delegation of judges to the event.
Dressed in tangerine jumpsuits, the some 1,500 convicted murderers, rapists, and drug dealers at the prison became an internet phenomenon as they performed the zombie dance from Jackson's Thriller music video.
The performance, posted on the video-sharing website YouTube by the jail authorities in July 2007, quickly became one of the most watched clips on the internet and has so far registered more than 42 million hits.
The prisoners, led by a dancer dressed like Jackson, performed a variety of the star's hits including Thriller, Ben and They Don't Really Care About Us.
The dancers, wearing black T-shirts with the title "This Is It" - a reference to the tribute movie to Jackson, topped their performance off with Billie Jean, another of the singer's biggest hits.
The provincial government which first organised the mass dances provided free transport and access to the prison for foreign and local guests to see the two-hour event.
Saturday's show was staged in homage to Jackson, who died at the age of 50 from a drug overdose at a rented Los Angeles mansion on June 25 last year, and video footage of the performance is expected to be posted online next week.
