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About 17,000 fans arrived to see the first of two Madonna stops at the London O2 as part of the singer’s Sticky & Sweet tour. 

Fashion designer Valentino was among the faces in the crowd when Madonna featured a tribute to the late pop icon Michael Jackson during the show on Saturday night.  The venue of course was the same in which Jackson was slated to make his comeback this month.

A picture of the artist as a young man appeared behind the stage as Madonna was performing her hit “Holiday,” and an impersonator took the stage decked out in Jackson’s famous “Billie Jean” getup – sequined glove and jacket, white t-shirt, and white socks.  Though the impersonator did not sing, he was familiar with Jackson’s trademark dance moves which he performed for the massive audience.
After the song, Madonna asked the crowd to “give it up for one of the greatest artists the world has ever known,” and the crowd responded appropriately.

During the performance’s last dance, Madonna and all the dancers wore their own white gloves each on their right hands in one last tribute, and a quote from Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” appeared behind them: “If you want to make the world a better place look inside yourself and make a change.”

Madonna recently told the Sun that she was “terribly sad” over Jackson’s death: “To be able to do what he did at such an early age was unearthly; everybody grew up in awe of him. To work with him and become friends, and hang out with him, was exciting for me. I used to love picking his brains about musical stuff.”