Interview: Welcome to Planet Janet

[Reyna ♔]

JANET Jackson will get intimate with her Australian fans in a coming theatre tour. We got up close and personal at her London show.

wenty-five years have passed since Janet Jackson first asserted she was in command.

"It's all about control,'' she said on her breakthrough album, Control. "And I've got lots of it.''

It certainly seemed that way. By then, Jackson had eloped with, married and split from singer James De Barge. She had also severed management ties with her father, Joseph.

But Control, with hits including Nasty, What Have You Done For Me Lately, The Pleasure Principle and When I Think Of You, confirmed Jackson, the youngest child in the famous musical family, had taken charge.

Jackson, now 45 and a superstar for four decades, reflects on those times.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. "I was a young adult coming into my own and wanted to carve my own niche in the world,'' she says.

"I wanted to be in control of my life, my loves, my song, my dance.

"But I have so much that I still want to accomplish.

"I am continuing to evolve.''

We are at London's Royal Albert Hall, where Jackson's latest tour, Number Ones: Up Close And Personal, perfectly showcases her superstar evolution.

The show is exactly what it says - a greatest-hits set at close range, in intimate venues Jackson has never played before.

"It's been so much fun to perform for the fans in this way. I can see everyone's faces during the show and I get so much energy from them,'' she says.

Number Ones: Up Close And Personal is a success story told in song. Video montages from Jackson's acting and singing careers are a cute and often startling reminder of just how far she has come.

For instance, her film and television showreel switches from fear (Good Times) to innocence (Diff'rent Strokes) to unrecognisable full-blown rage (Why Did I Get Married Too?).

Jackson's music mixtape traverses attitude and shoulder pads (Control), social awareness (Rhythm Nation 1814), sexuality (Janet and The Velvet Rope) and empowerment (All For You).

In fact, the strength she mustered for the latter album was first evident in her 1986 hits Nasty and What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Jackson reveals she wrote the songs in response to random thugs hassling her during recording sessions for Control.

They are also about former loves, though it is unclear whether this includes De Barge.

"(The songs are about) growing up, being in young relationships, and being hit on by strangers on the street,'' Jackson says.

"At the time, the effect was annoying, bothersome and sometimes even painful.

"It left a strong enough impression on me to want to turn them into songs, which were incredibly successful for me. So something very positive came out of a negative experience.''

The video recaps and songs also tell the obvious that Jackson has been famous her whole life.

"I have grown up in the public eye so it's all I've really known,'' she says. "My parents made sure we stayed as grounded as we possibly could. That was very important.

"But I never really got advice about dealing with fame. I remember something Elizabeth Taylor said when asked a similar question. She said, 'Home is a very nice place to be'.''

Yet her sister, La Toya, once told a story of how Janet cannot be tamed. Their mother, Katherine, insisted Janet get etiquette lessons at charm school. But when they got to class, Janet locked herself in the car, and her mother outside the vehicle.

"It's true,'' Jackson nods. "I have always been a tomboy. I never really liked to wear dresses and only recently started to appreciate wearing them.

"If you look back on my clothing choices, I was always in pants and a jacket. Today I still prefer a pair of Levi jeans.''

However, don't get it twisted Jackson still knows how to do sexy.

"Sexuality isn't a bad thing,'' she says. "It shouldn't be the only thing you show to the world, but nobody should be ashamed of his or her sexuality. I have that side to me so I explore it through my music.''

Jackson's set list runs the full gamut of No.1 hits, including Miss You Much, Alright, That's The Way Love Goes, Rhythm Nation and All For You.

Jackson, a troupe of nimble young dancers and unrelenting visuals keep the show cranking at full pace.

Indeed, at times, Jackson's new show is so inclusive, and the stage ramps dip so low, the crowd almost becomes part of the act.

Jackson has always confided in her audience, and this is no different.

Her albums, particularly after The Velvet Rope, have often addressed Jackson's issues with low self-esteem.

She has also written a self-help book, True You: A Journey To Finding And Loving Yourself.

"There are a few issues I thought I grew past, but when writing the book I learnt that there was still some work that I needed to do,'' she says.

"Most of us struggle with something. The most important thing is to recognise when I'm dealing with it so I can accept where I am and move on.''

Jackson says her esteem and body issues date back to the popular sitcom Good Times, which ran from 1974-1979.

Producers asked child actor Jackson to lose weight for her role on the show. She was 10 years old.

"On my first day of work, I went to wardrobe and they bound my chest,'' she says.

"I was developing early and all I remember is that I was not acceptable the way I was.''

She is troubled by the lengths some Hollywood stars will go to in order to stay thin, including eating paper tissues.

"I know of people who do this,'' she says.

"It's very disturbing and sad that society puts unrealistic demands on how we should look.

"It has taken me a good while, but I am happy with who I am now.''

Jackson is also comfortable to be single.

She was married to De Barge and later Rene Elizondo, and dated Jermaine Dupri for seven years.

"The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach,'' Jackson says, laughing.

"No, really, I've learnt that I love to be in a relationship, but I have to be happy with myself.''

Jackson is now reportedly in a love match with Qatari billionaire Wissim Al Mana.

She does not discount having children in the future.

"I'm very romantic,'' Jackson says. "As far as being a mum, if it is in God's plan, I would love to be a mum one day.''

There is another message of destiny in Jackson's show, too that one day she will be reunited with her late brother Michael, who died two years ago.

It comes in an uplifting yet emotional version of Together Again.

"What I'd give just to hold you close, as on Earth, in heaven we'll be together,'' she sings as family photographs of Michael and Janet shine above her.

"Everywhere I go, every smile I see, I know you are there, smiling back at me.''

Jackson politely deflects detailed questions about Michael in this interview, but explains why a virtual duet with her brother, of their hit Scream, is in the show.

"I wanted to give something to the fans who, like our family, are grieving,'' she says.

"Performing with Mike is therapeutic and makes me smile inside. The energy is fierce, but it makes me smile when I hear him.''

Backstage, in the cold labyrinth of the Royal Albert Hall, Jackson holds court with confidence and ease.

Is it still about control and lots of it?

"Now that I'm older, I've come to see that God is the one who is really in control of things,'' she says. "And that's fine by me.''

Janet Jackson performs at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, November 2. Tickets on sale from Ticketek from August 3. Ph: 132 849 .

Source: http://www.janetjackson.com/story/news/interview_welcome_to_planet_janet

[Reyna ♔]

The discoveries I found in this.

Anyway, I can't wait to see you this August, baby doll. I'll be close to you showing as much love as you can handle :wub: