Russian Michael Jackson impersonator attempts suicide after idol’s death

After media reports that the king of pop, singer Michael Jackson, was dead, his Russian look-alike cut his wrists open, as he was “unable to handle the pain of the loss”.

It took Pavel Talalayev fifteen years to get closer to his ideal: he had several plastic surgeries, bought Jackson’s stage costumes, spent hours rehearsing the dances he copied from Jackson’s shows.

News agencies said the 50-year-old superstar died Thursday, just as he was preparing for a huge comeback. He died at UCLA Medical Center after having a heart attack at his rented home in Los Angeles. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him at his home for nearly three-quarters of an hour, then rushed him to hospital where doctors continued to work on him.

His most devoted Russian fan was surfing the Internet when news of Jackson’s death appeared online, Life.ru reports.

“I started receiving calls from other fans, I tried to calm them down… And then I let myself go,” said Talalayev, who was rescued by doctors, but was then hospitalized the next day with a heart attack.

Talalayev says he considered Michael Jackson, who he only once met in person, his second half.

“I don’t know why the doctors saved me. I want to be with Michael, and I will kill myself anyway,” he said.