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Michael Jackson hologram performs at Billboard awards

A hologram of late singer Michael Jackson performed to new track 'Slave to the Rhythm' at the Billboard Music Awards last night (18.05.14).

The image of the late singer - who died of acute Propofol intoxication in June 2009 - danced and moonwalked to new track 'Slave to the Rhythm' in a gold jacket, white T-shirt and red trousers alongside a group of dancers.

Show director and producer Larry Klein said: ''You were watching the magic of Michael Jackson just like you would have when he was performing.'' Michael's former choreographers the Talauega brothers were brought in to work on the project and wanted to give fans ''classic'' Michael.

Rich Talauega said: ''We knew we didn't need to go so far left field with his dance moves - we just kept it within his world. ''Its just the way you reconfigure his steps so it looks different. You're still speaking the same language, it's just a different dialect.'' Tone Talauega added: ''It was classic Michael, but we put our spice on it.''

Event producers Dick Clark Productions built a special stage at the rear of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for the performance, and dancers moved through aisles as Michael was seen rising from a throne and walking down steps before launching into his famous dance moves on a set modelled on the artwork from his 1991 album 'Dangerous'.

The performance took months of planning, choreography and filming and required developments in technology for it to be able to happen. Producer Larry said: ''We've been talking about it for the last five months and while we were talking about it they were still inventing the process. ''It was really strange talking about something that did not exist.''