Wacko Jacko 'normal' - mag

After years of silence, rumour and a sordid trial, Michael Jackson has given his first major interview in a decade – and has been pronounced "normal".

Jackson, 49, appears on the front cover of the African-American magazine Ebony to mark the 25th anniversary of Thriller – the world's best-selling studio album that also made him a superstar.

But the self-styled "King of Pop," who has largely shunned publicity since his 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges, gave little glimpse of what the future holds despite hints in recent years that a comeback is in the works.

The cover photo of the magazine, whose December edition hits newsstands on November 12, is causing almost as much of a stir as the interview, which barely addresses the fallout of the trial.

Jackson is pictured dressed all in white, with a glowing peaches-and-cream skin. One post on the pop culture blogspotter.com commented; "Michael Jackson has to be the whitest person to ever be on the cover of Ebony magazine."

Jackson has in the past attributed his gradual skin whitening to a disease called vitiligo.

Harriette Cole, creative director of Ebony, spent a day and a half with Jackson during the photo shoot and interview and said, "he came across really as kind of normal".

"He's 49. He's a grown-up. If you learn from your challenges, then you become stronger. He certainly seemed like that," Cole told NBC's Today show this week. "Honestly ... he was normal."

contd: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4267431a1860.html