Janet Jackson To Dance For Michael At The Video Music Awards

Janet Jackson is apparently working up a tribute to her brother Michael for this Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards, something that could seriously go either way. The VMAs, after all, are not really known for their subtlety—shoot, the last big memorial tribute I can recall occurring on the broadcast was when Missy Elliott dedicated her performance of “One Minute Man” to the recently departed Aaliyah in 2001. Here’s hoping the performance, which will apparently be a huge medley involving some 20 backup dancers who have been enduring 16-hour rehearsals in the week leading up to the broadcast, will be good, though; it’s not too much of a stretch to assume that it’ll include “Scream,” which MTV loves to trot out during its Most Expensive Video retrospectives. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would love to see Janet bounce back from the last five years of post-Super Bowl-disrobing hell—the lousy albums, the aborted concert tours—and hey, she’s dropped Jermaine Dupri, who was something of a bad-luck charm for her career when all was said and done, right? Movieline’s suggestion that she do some sort of medley of her own “Black Cat” and Michael’s “Dirty Diana” seems a bit inappropriately self-promotional for a tribute, but man would that be an amazing thing to see someday. Janet Jackson Suits Up For MJ VMA Tribute [TMZ via Movieline]