[Harry!]

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ne...-14366128.html

The Northern Ireland Big Brother star who flew to the US to support Michael Jackson during his trial has spone of his grief.


Seany O’Kane (26), who revealed he is to become a father in two weeks, helped organise a candle-lit vigil and mass moonwalk in London last night.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph from London, Seany said he was devastated at the sudden death of his idol.

“It is so tragic” he said. “I haven’t slept, I was watching the news and I spent that much time talking to people in Australia, America, Canada, all over the world who have become life-long friends through being fans.

“Michael has the most loyal fans, no other artist has fans like this. I didn’t know him but I understood him, his artistry, the music he made.

“He was the closest thing to a real-life superhero. He was so complex, so mysterious, so untouchable. People were in many ways spellbound by him. He was like a tormented angel.”

Seany said he first became a fan of Michael Jackson after his mother bought him a copy of the album History several years ago.

“I was just taken aback by the lyrics - it was the first time I had ever heard an artist sing a song like that. He was so political and I heard anger in his voice. This was just after the allegations in ‘93.

“I was fascinated someone had turned the situation into such beautiful, powerful music.

“I broke down into tears today while the song Music And Me was playing. It just describes everything.”

Seany, a race relations worker who became a household name after appearing in Channel Four’s Big Brother Series 8 two years ago, had previously flown to America to help support Michael Jackson during his trial on child abuse allegations in 2005.

Seany appeared on numerous TV stations across the globe as he celebrated Jackson’s acquittal outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California.

He said: “I was at the trial to the very end. I wasn’t blinded or blinkered to Michael Jackson as a man - I was very critical of him as well. I didn’t let my fandom get in the way of thinking logically and I was very glad at the end.

“I kept my solidarity until the end and proved the people who doubted him, and me as well, wrong.”

Seany added that he felt Michael Jackson was not only a musical giant but a man who had changed the history of race relations in America and elsewhere for ever.

“He was the first black artist to be played on MTV. He was a black guy who came out with a rock video and he brought black music to white, mainstream America. He ruled the 80’s” Seany said, adding:

“The Justin Timberlakes, the Neos, the Ushers, they are all products of what he had done before.”

Seany said he may not make it to America as he is to become a father to a baby boy within weeks.

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