According to the Washington Post, Janet Jackson was in Washington yesterday to do . . . something. Exactly what is unclear.
The event, such as it was, was billed as "The D.C. Press Junket for the International Icon," and throughout the exercise in celebrity-journalism torture, said international icon -- multiplatinum recording star, sister of Michael, flasher of nipple -- offered very little beyond a look at her newly trim bod. Jackson, 40, generously shared that much of herself with the cameras, courtesy of a midriff-baring cropped vest that was held together, at the bosom, by a single button that was holding on for dear life.
Otherwise, Jackson threw very few bones to the hungry journalists and instead served a big, steaming bowl of nothing. (Not that you go to a Janet Jackson news conference expecting to hear a soliloquy on the stem-cell debate or anything. But still.)
Jackson has more or less been in hiding since her infamous Super Bowl halftime show in 2004, and it was roughly 45 minutes past the appointed hour when she finally emerged in the Mandarin Oriental hotel's Grand Ballroom.
Before her arrival, Jackson sent an advance team out. It was led by her beau, the superproducer Jermaine Dupri, who was dripping in jewelry, a Louis Vuitton BlackBerry holster hanging from his hip.
"Sorry we're late," he said. "Dealing with traffic and other things in D.C." (Never mind that hotel employees said Dupri, Jackson, et al. had arrived at the hotel plenty early.)
After Dupri's introduction, Jackson came onto the stage, appearing shy and demure, wardrobe notwithstanding. She smiled uneasily for the cameras. "Everyone's so quiet," she said. Nobody responded. "I wasn't raised in a quiet home."
In a mousy voice that kept fading out on the PA, Jackson said something about sometimes writing about gay topics, even though she didn't have to, and mumble mumble mumble.
There were other questions, some more inane than others. Somebody wondered, via notecard, why Jackson had come to Washington. "It's an important city like L.A., New York. It's a big city." Oh, the elucidation!
Any embarrassing party stories lately, Janet? (She hoped not.)
You gonna have kids? (Mebbe.)
What's it like working with your boyfriend? (Great.)
Anything to prove? (Nope.) The moderator asked our most pressing question, as we wondered why Jackson was doing this. Press junkets are an atypical way for a recording artist to promote a new project. Discuss, please. I think it's nice to come up with something that's a little unique, to try to switch it up," Jackson said. "And it makes it more fun for me, too."
Later, she contradicted herself, when the moderator asked, on somebody else's behalf, what's good and bad about being Janet Jackson.
Good: Sharing your life with Jermaine Dupri! (Dupri dutifully nodded from the back of the room, where he was observing the proceedings from behind a pair of designer aviator glasses.)
Bad: Press conferences. (We dutifully nodded from the middle of the room.)
Note: This was the second of five news conferences Jackson's camp has scheduled, with others to come in Chicago, Atlanta and New York. For the final question, the moderator read something passed along by a Voice of America listener in Iraq. How do you want to be remembered? Jackson seemed to want to get this one right. She squinted. She sighed. She leaned forward. She said: "I want to be remembered for making people smile."
Nobody in the room smiled. And then, it was over
|
