第26届MTV音乐录影带大奖(VMA)的开场永远是最值得人回味的时刻，而邀请VMA的老手麦当娜为开场致辞绝对不会令观众失望。麦当娜以一身黑色拉链夹克搭配黑色裙子的装扮走上没有灯光的舞台，做出了感人肺腑的发言--向已故流行之王迈克尔·杰克逊致敬。以下是她的致辞：

　　Michael Jackson was born in August 1958. So was I. MichaelJackson grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest. So did I. MichaelJackson had eight brothers and sisters. So do I. When Michael Jacksonwas six, he became a superstar, and was perhaps the world's mostbeloved child. When I was six, my mother died. I think he got theshorter end of the stick. I never had a mother, but he never had achildhood. And when you never get to have something, you becomeobsessed by it.  

　　迈克尔·杰克逊出生于1958年8月。我也是。迈克尔·杰克逊是在美国中西部的郊区长大的，而我也是。迈克尔·杰克逊有八个兄弟姐妹，我也有。在迈克尔·杰克逊年仅6岁的时候，他便成为了一个超级巨星，或许更是世界上最多人钟爱的小孩。而我6岁的时候，母亲永远离开了我。我从没有拥有过母爱，而他却从来没有享受过童年。当一个人意识到永远得不到某种东西时，他就会对此念念不忘。我耗尽了童年寻找母亲的形象，有时我做到了。但当你的一生都被安置在放大镜下被人关注时，试问你又如何重新找回你的童年？

　　There is no question that Michael Jackson is one of the greatesttalents the world has ever known. That when he sang a song at the ripeold age of eight he could make you feel like an experienced adult wassqueezing your heart with his words. That when he moved he had theelegance of Fred Astaire and packed the punch of Muhammad Ali. That hismusic had an extra layer of inexplicable magic that didn’t just makeyou want to dance but actually made you believe you could fly, dare todream, be anything that you wanted to be. Because that is what heroesdo and Michael Jackson was a hero.  

　　毫无疑问MJ是世界上最伟大的天才之一。当他还是个8岁的小孩时，他的歌声已经让人感觉像个饱经沧桑的成人在述说他的故事，也因此扣人心弦....。。他的舞台魅力，有着歌舞之王弗雷德·阿斯泰尔(FredAstaire)的优雅又有着拳王阿里的震撼力。这使得他的音乐有一种难以言喻的魔力，让你不仅仅想随之而舞，更让你相信你可以飞翔，勇于面对自己的梦想，成为任何你想成为的人。因为这就是英雄的影响力！而迈克尔·杰克逊就是个英雄！

　　He performed in soccer stadiums around the world, and soldhundreds of millions of records and dined with prime ministers andpresidents. Girls fell in love with him, boys fell in love with him,everyone wanted to dance like him. He seemed otherworldly — but he wasa human being。

　　他在世界各地的足球场做过演出，他有着数亿张的全球专辑销量，他接受过许多国家首相和总统的宴请。女孩儿们迷上了他，男孩儿爱上了他，每个人都想和他一样跳舞，他是那么得超凡脱俗，但却同时是个凡人。