Philippine inmates pay tribute to pop king Michael Jackson

The famous Cebu dancing inmates who were inspired by the late pop star Michael Jackson gave tribute performance for their idol inside their prison ground in Cebu City, Philippines.

Close to a thousand inmates in the high-security jail in the central island of Cebu performed dances to some of Jackson's biggest hits, prison officials said. The inmates spawned a worldwide Internet hit two years ago with their morning exercise routine using synchronized movements based on the groundbreaking 1982 "Thriller" video. The prisoners' dance found its way onto the popular Internet video-sharing site You Tube, where it developed a huge fan base. The footage on the video-sharing website YouTube has become one of the most watched clips on the Internet, registering 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. "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. Michael Jackson has visited the Philippines a few years back to do a concert in Manila. His last visit made him even more popular among music-loving Filipinos.