Photo Credit: Shanel Royal/American River Current
During ARC’s Club Day, Sergey Lukovich performs the authentic crotch grab move made famous by Michael Jackson. Photo taken March 10, 2011

Bryce Fraser, Arcurrent
March 28, 2011

 Brycefraser180@gmail.com

The glove. The fedora. The crotch grabbing. Michael Jackson may have died in 2009, but his spirit lives on at American River College in student Sergey Lukovich.

At a recent ARC Club Day event, Lukovich took the stage and wowed the crowd; leaving many to wonder “Who is this guy?”

A self-taught dancer with no professional training, Lukovich shows his dedication to not just looking the part, but really becoming Jackson. He spends 45 minutes up to an hour getting into costume and preparing for his performances.

Having been a fan of Jackson since he was 7 years old, Lukovich’s favorite song by Jackson is “Give Into Me.” He favors the song because, “it appeals to any guy who has ever been dumped or cheated on by a girl.”

Not a one-genre type of person, Lukovich enjoys a wide variety of music from artists such as Lady Gaga and Bach. He is not a fan of bands such as “Slipknot” of which he says, “I have to understand the lyrics. I don’t understand a single thing they (Slipknot) are saying.” Then again, he never really “got into the Grunge scene,” he says.

Lukovich plans to be a constant on Club Day’s stage in the future. He has been performing his Jackson act since ARC’s Haunted Festival of 2010. His dedication forced him to rehearse for a year before then.

Lukovich has also taken his act off campus. He has performed at clubs, birthday parties, and the Radisson hotel, when it hosted Sac Anime in 2010. Lukovich even made some money from his appearances, but he says he knows he can’t make a living out of it. His biggest performance is at the upcoming event for “Girls’ Self-Esteem Program,” on July 9, which he is doing for charity.

When not tapping his toe to a Jackson beat, Lukovich attends ARC as a nursing major and he hopes he can be involved with physical therapy and rehabilitation in the future. Not one to stop at just accomplishing his some of his goals, Lukovich plans to become a surgical technician someday as well.

Ask him about where his inspiration comes from and he’ll say that, “there is nothing that comes closer to or even remotely similar to when people are actually cheering in approval for you, you are bringing a moment of happiness to whoever is watching.”