Michael Jackson

How do you create a music video for a song by an artist who’s dead? If said artist is Michael Jackson, there’s a wealth of footage to glean from so why is there so little footage of Jackson in the new video for the clip for “Hold My Hand,” his duet with Akon?

Instead, the director focused on children dancing, which is cute to be sure, as well as people in various stages of duress looking skyward and lots of shots of, you got it, hands...and, oddly enough, Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (watch until the end for a weird shot there). There are also babies and seemingly hundreds of MJ fans releasing balloons in his honor. Akon always gets his due, as he’s shown singing in front of a white screen.

In other words, it’s a montage of images, coming very quickly at you throughout the mid-tempo ballad.  The theme follows the lyrics: life is much better and easier if you have someone’s hand to hold. There’s no disputing that message and it’s nice that the director didn’t resort to cliches of only couples holding hands. We just wish they’d thrown in more Michael than the obligatory shots shown here.

Sadly, all the pretty images, nice photography and cute kids can’t save the song, which is like warmed-over Justin Bieber-meets-Hootie-and-the Blowfish.

“Hold My Hand” is featured on “Michael,” which comes out Tuesday.