Have you seen the recording of the live performance of You Are Not Alone by Michael Jackson during the HIStory Tour in Munich 1997? If you care for Michael Jackson you probably have. (Otherwise, you can find it on YouTube.) There is this girl with the Teddy bear who’s screaming her lungs out when the song starts. Suddenly, a man pulls her out of the crowd and they both run up to the stage. And there she literally jumps at Michael. She wraps her arms around him and hugs him close. She’s crying, screaming (we can’t hear her because it’s a playback). Then she falls to her knees and hugs his legs kissing him …

She is the most famous YANA girl ever - or at least she could be if she'd claim it.
The crazy fan, that’s what some people on the internet have called her. Other people doubt that she’s even a real fan but a paid actress. Some believe that she and Michael Jackson knew each other. And many ask: Who is she?


This is the interview for you all by:

Black & White Magazine
No. 23; 1998; pp. 18, 19
Captain Eo Production


At every HIStory Tour concert a girl was chosen to go up on stage to the King of Pop. Black & White has found the girl who danced with Michael to You Are Not Alone. She’s called Soléne, is 18 years old and is seen in the TV recording of the concert! It doesn’t only happen to the others, here’s the proof …


Since when are you a Michael-Fan?

Since September 16, 1992. That’s when I saw Michael in concert in Toulouse (France) for the first time. My parents took me to see the Dangerous Tour …


Did you have to wait until the HIStory Tour after that to see Michael again?

Yes, but I didn’t wait until he returned to France! In September 1996 I went to Saragossa, Spain, and after that I saw him in Paris (twice), in Munich (twice), in London (twice) and in Valladolid.


What kind of place did you have during the concerts?

In Saragossa I was among all the other fans, but from the second Paris concert on I paid attention to getting a place in the very front. I got up very early in the morning and queued all day long. As soon as the station gates would open I ran to the very front.


Tell me how it happened that you were chosen by Michael?

It all started on June 29, at Michael’s second concert in Paris. I stood left of the stage with my best friend (girl) and a good friend (guy) of mine. Shortly before the show began I stared to virtually besiege Michael’s security team so I could go on stage to Michael during You Are Not Alone. But I had the impression that they didn’t quite understand my request! Back then I didn’t known that it wasn’t their responsibility. Nontheless we kept screaming, were totally beside ourselves and infected with concer fever! Finally Michael’s cameraman became aware of us and stared to film us. I had heard that the girl, who had been chosen on June 27, had first been filmed by the cameraman and had later gone up on stage to Michael. Since it seemed to develop very similar for me I became more and more nervous. A few moments later You Are Not Alone started. The Cameraman came up to us and filmed us during the entire intro. Anthony, Michael’s assistant, came up the the cameraman and exchanged a few words with him. Then he suddenly walked up to us and fished Célia, my best friend, out of the crowd. She was the chosen one … It was just horrible! I totally fell apart and cried throughout the rest of the concert. Regularly the cameraman came back to me to film me. Finally he took my hand and told me that I should come to one of the coming concerts and that he would try to do something for me.


So you had no choice but to follow the tour everywhere it went?

I had planed that all along! That was the reason why I went to Munich. On the way I met fans who believed that the tow concerts in Munich would be filmed. At the first Munich concert my friends and I got up at 9 a.m. so we had a good place infront of the station gates and after a short sprint we managed to get a place at the left side of the stage. When Michael’s cameraman arrived he came over to us and greeted me. Later, when the concert stared, he repeatedly came up to me to film me. My friends kept encouraging me in the idea that I would be the chosen one this time. You Are Not Alone finally stared and I saw Anthony walk up to a girl standing only a few meters from me who then followed him to the stage … I was desperate. At the end of the song the cameraman came to me and said: “Don’t worry, you will go up on stage, too, and dance with Michael …”


The second concert in Munich took place two days later, on July 6 …

We arrived at the stadion at 10 a.m. The waiting was pretty annoying. I was more stressed than ever, because I wanted a place to the left in the very front at all costs … luckily I managed again. At the beginning of the concert I encountered the cameraman again. He walked up to me and filmed me. When You Are Not Alone set in I started to scream. The fans surrounding me probably thought that I had gone crazy because Michael wasn’t even on stage yet. Suddenly Anthony appeared and fished me out of the crowd …


How did you react at that moment?

I didn’t think anything! My legs were shaking and I ran. There was just one thought in my head: Taking Michael in my arms! I thought of nothing else anymore. I hurried to the stairs that up to the stage. I don’t remember any details. It was wonderful, I enjoyed the moment to the full ...


What did you think when he took you in his arms?

I was happy … I was shaking all over, I thought about that I was lying in his arms. Everything else was surreal. I tried to kiss him and told him in French that I love him. I don’t think he understood me! However, it was somewhat unbelievable to hear his voice so close to my ear …


And then?

We danced … I was very agitated. I didn’t want to release him, feel his body. I took his hand, kissed his cheek and looked into his eyes. When I was lying in his arms I told myself that I had to do something special. I knelt down before him. I didn’t think much about it!


You mean, you didn’t plan that before?

No, not at all! You can plan as much as you like, at such a moment you forget everything you you planned. So I knelt down before him and even clasped his legs! You see it in the video. Michael was apparently very surprised at that and almost fell! I didn’t notice that at all.


Who gave that Teddybear to you that you had in your hand and that can be seen in the video?

That’s a talisman. That time I took it to a concert for the first time. I had the Teddy with me, too, when I saw Michael for the first time in Disneyland. I had wanted to give it to Michael on stage, but I didn’t think about it anymore at that moment!


After that Wayne, Michael’s bodyguard, came …

I fought fiercely, totally unaware of what I was doing! Wayne even hurt me. Even days after the concert I had a huge bruise on my hip. Wayne took me into the wings and Anthony then escorted me off stage again. I was crying because I was very stressed. I couldn’t even walk anymore so I had to be carried. I wasn’t really there at all and Michaels cameramen filmed it all. After that I went back to my friends in the audience. At that moment I realized that Michael’s smell clung to my t-shirt and to the Teddy. The smell was so pleasant! All Fans hurried up to me and I was overjoyed …


Some months later the concert was shown on TV …

The concert first aired on German TV. A friend of mine watched the recording. Unfortunetly, I couldn’t go to her house that day but I asked her to call me. Because waiting for th call was unbearable I finally picked up the phone and called her. Her father answered the phone and told me that Julie was sitting infront of the TV, crying, because she’d seen me there with Michael. There I started crying, too. I hadn’t dared to imagine it and was so happy … A dream had come true.


What are you dreaming of now?

That moment with Michael was most wonderful moment in my life. But it’s still a dream of mine to meet Michael in private.
Finally I would like to say this: I was always one of those fans of Michael who wanted to meet Michael at all costs and that’s why I eagerly read “It Doesn’t Only Happen To The Others”. Today you can see me in this rubric! I’m convinced that with a bit of belief and goodwill you can make your dreams come true.



MY MESSAGE FOR MICHAEL (English original)
“Michael, when I was in your arms on July 6th 1997 in Munich, I had the most beautiful time of my life. Thank you for this magical dance. I love you with all my heart. You are not alone.”
Soléne Lory