Watch: Michael Jackson hologram steals the show at Billboard Awards

The king of pop is back on stage and performing, back up dancers and all. A 3D hologram of Michael Jackson was projected on stage, as part of the Billboard Music Awards which was held in Las Vegas on Monday. The hologram mirrored the late King of Pop’s signature slick dance moves as some members of the audience became emotional. Dressed in a gold-embossed jacket, white T-shirt, gold belt and red trousers the hologram performed “Slave to the Rhythm,” a song from Jackson’s new posthumous album “Xscape,” along with a plethora of background dancers, beaming lights and fire blasts. The song was recorded in 1991. A federal judge ruled Friday that the Billboard Music Awards can use a hologram of the deceased pop icon, rejecting efforts from tech companies seeking to block the digital performance. Judge Kent Dawson said there wasn’t enough evidence to show the planned 3-D image would violate patents held by Hologram USA Inc. and Musion Das Hologram Ltd. [caption id=“attachment_1533483” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Michael Jackson hologram[/caption] This effectively let the cat out of the bag, which meant that the performance itself was not a surprise. Up until then, it had been a tightly-held secret, which required a year of work from 104 artists and technicians, according to organizers. It was easily the biggest moment at the awards show in Las Vegas. Reactions were mixed. At the venue, there were a lot of reactions, while on social media some people felt that it disrespected Jackson’s memory. The Sydney Morning Herald said that the performance was ‘creepy’ though it did not elaborate why. Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez kicked off the awards show with a colorful performance of the World Cup anthem, “We Are One (Ole Ola),” where Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte joined in. Robin Thicke and John Legend, whose song “All of Me” is currently No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, also are performing. Agencies