Kenny Wizz is a soft-spoken guy in person but when he gets up onstage, he assumes another persona: that of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
His voice fills up the Bayview room of Hyatt Hotel in Pedro Gil, Manila as he sings the MJ classic "Black and White." As the tribute artist twirls and performs the moonwalk, his years of mimicking the dance moves of his idol becomes very evident.
(CLICK HERE to view Kenny Wizz performing "Black and White".)
When the California-born performer met with select members of the Philippine press yesterday, April 21, he revealed that he has actually been impersonating MJ for the past 25 years.
"I've been doing this since 1984. I did a Las Vegas show for 11 years, it was six nights a week, two shows a night, which is hard but you still learn a lot."
His act was part of the show Splash, which was staged at the Riviera Hotel and Casino.
Did he ever undergo surgery so he could look like MJ? "No, I never had anything done. I couldn't," he says simply.
Not even his nose? "No. It's all makeup and paste and tape and glue. It's a lot but it takes me a while to even wear makeup. That's part of my act."
PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) asked Kenny how long it takes him to put on his makeup.
"Before, it took me about 45 minutes, but now I'm trying to be more detailed because now it's a different look that I have to do or like to do. It's more detailed and I'm still experimenting with makeup. Right now, I start maybe an hour and a half before the actual show. The fastest I've done it is in 15 minutes.
He quips, "You have to see me when I'm not in my makeup! When I'm out of makeup, you'd never know who I am and that's the way I like it coz I don't need the attention outside."
Kenny then revealed that he is very hands-on with this job. In fact, he does his own makeup as well as the wigs and costumes that he wears onstage.
"I'm pretty much into everything that I do production-wise...I'm involved 100 percent in everything—from my music to choreography to mixing the music to video work, everything."
Has the King of Pop actually watched his show?
"I've always said that if he ever saw my shows then I wouldn't want to know if he's out there. For something like that, that would probably be too nerve-wrecking for me and I would probably be afraid."
He recalls, "He's probably seen me but I probably would never have known it. He's come to my show before. I know he's been at the hotel before. He's seen the show but I don't think I was in it at that time. His mother has come to my show, Jermaine [Michael's older brother] has come to my show. I've met Janet Jackson before."
ON MICHAEL'S PASSING AWAY. Kenny admitted that he had a hard time dealing with the death of Michael in June 2009.
"When it happened, I actually went on vacation for two weeks. I shut off all my phones and I had emails, text messages from other countries and I didn't want to deal with it at that time. People wanted me to get back onstage but at that point, I had retired my act. I had to think for a long time if I wanted to go back onstage.
"My decision [to return onstage] was more about giving back to fans as opposed to making money."
He believes that the death of the King of Pop has made his viewers more critical of his performances.
"Now, it's more difficult for me because my act is looked through a microscope now because he's gone. People want the closest thing possible when they see the performance."
If Kenny had the chance to ask Michael one question, he would ask: "I would like to know how he was able to stay creative despite being locked away from the real world. Not being able to go to a grocery store or a movie theater...he stayed away from all of that but he stayed creative. How was he able to do that?"
INSPIRED BY "MADONNA." When asked to describe how he came up with the idea of impersonating the iconic singer, Kenny narrated, "One of my co-workers in Los Angeles suggested that I do it. Her name, I kid you not, was Madonna. I'm not joking! This happened before the real Madonna was coming out, like '83.
"She had a friend who worked in a dance studio and they were putting together a show and they were doing a young Michael, like six years old, and a teenage Michael and a Michael of today, which at the time was during the days of Thriller."
It just so happened that Kenny used to wear his hair short and curly like Michael, paving the way for him to land the role and, eventually, it became a career for him.
FUTURE PLANS. Since he has been impersonating MJ for 25 years already, Kenny says that he would finally be retiring his act four years from now.
What does he plan to do after he gives up the fedora and the white gloves?
"Hopefully, I could get into acting and get back to Hollywood where I started. I want to go back where I started, as Kenny Wizz."
In 2009, Kenny visited the country for a four-night Philippine tour dubbed The Amazing Kenny Wizz: The Michael Jackson Experience. This time, Steve O'Neal Productions will bring the MJ look-alike to more destinations around the country.
Watch Kenny Wizz in The Michael Jackson Experience, which will kick off this Friday, April 23, at the Main Ballroom of Hyatt Hotel & Casino. The other concert schedules are as follows: April 24 at Pagcor, Tagaytay; April 25 at Ynares Sports Complex in Antipolo; April 30 at in Cebu; May 1 in Dumaguete; May 2 in General Santos City; May 7 in Davao; and May 8 in Bacolod.