Michael Jackson (in hologram form) performed at the Billboard Music Awards

(Image credit: YouTube/PromoPremiersUK)

last updated 8 January 2015

Through the wonders of technology, Michael Jackson performed "Slave to the Rhythm" during the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday.

Well, it was actually a hologram version of Jackson, performing a previously unreleased track that made it to his new album, XSCAPE. Billboard says that it took close to six months to plan, choreograph, and film the performance. The hologram was accompanied by 16 live dancers and a five-piece band.

"Slave to the Rhythm" was recorded in 1991 with L.A. Reid and Babyface during sessions for Dangerous, which is why the show's producers decided to have the hologram appear on a set based on that album's artwork. "We've been talking about it for the last five months and while we were talking about it they were still inventing the process," says Larry Klein, Billboard Music Awards director and producer. "It was really strange talking about something that did not exist." Watch the performance below. --Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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