Marlon Jackson
Photo: Harrison Funk/ WireImage

Marlon Jackson, brother of Michael Jackson, is weighing in on the controversial skit that aired on the Australian television show "Hey Hey It's Saturday," during which a group of singers dressed in blackface did a parody performance of the Jackson 5. Harry Connick Jr., who appeared on the program that night, has already spoken out against it.

"Wow, and you want a comment from us about that?" Marlon Jackson asked "Access Hollywood." "Man, if they turned up looking like that in the United States."

Jackson added that although it may not have been the most politically correct performance, he didn't think that the group behind it, the Jackson Jive, was out to hurt anyone's feelings. "They probably weren't trying to be offensive about it or anything of that nature with the family," he said. "We thank Harry for [speaking out], but we also understand that they weren't trying to be disrespectful for the family."

On Thursday, a spokesman for Channel 9, which carries the program, said in a brief statement, "It was never intended to offend and we regret any offense [the act] caused."

In an interview that aired on the Fairfax Radio Network in Australia after the incident, Connick said, "I had no idea I was going to be a part of it. I have absolutely no hard feelings and I'm not even upset, but I felt I had a responsibility to respond."

Anand Deva, a member of the Jackson Jive group, said the act was not intended to be offensive, though he said they would not have performed the segment in America. "Clearly, all of us want to apologize," Deva told Fairfax. "I mean, we have offended some people, no doubt, particularly Harry Connick Jr."

• Marlon Jackson
• Harry Connick Jr.
• Michael Jackson

Jackson 5 parody on Australian TV's "Hey Hey It's Saturday"
Photo: CBS

An Australian TV channel has apologized for airing a skit in which a group of singers dressed in blackface to parody the Jackson 5, according to The Australian newspaper.

Harry Connick Jr. was serving as a guest judge during Wednesday's airing of "Hey Hey It's Saturday" and reacted strongly to the act, which showcased four men in wigs and black face-paint singing and dancing alongside a Michael Jackson impersonator caked in white makeup. The group's name was the Jackson Jive.

A spokesman for Channel 9, which carries the program, said in a brief statement, "It was never intended to offend and we regret any offense [the act] caused."

According to The Associated Press, at the end of the show, host Daryl Somers apologized to Connick. "I know that to your countrymen, that's an insult to have a blackface routine like that on the show, so I do apologize to you," he said.

The American singer responded, "I just want to say, on behalf of my country, I know it was done humorously, but we've spent so much time trying to not make black people look like buffoons, that when we see something like that we take it really to heart."

"I had no idea I was going to be a part of it," Connick later told the Fairfax Radio Network, according to The Australian. "I have absolutely no hard feelings and I'm not even upset, but I felt I had a responsibility to respond."

Anand Deva, a member of the Jackson Jive group, said the act was not intended to be offensive, though he said they would not have performed the segment in America. "Clearly, all of us want to apologize," Deva told Fairfax. "I mean, we have offended some people, no doubt, particularly Harry Connick Jr."

This is not the first time the Jackson Jive have appeared on "Hey Hey It's Saturday." The group performed 20 years ago on the long-running show, which was canceled in 1999. The show on which Connick appeared was the second of two reunion shows.

• Harry Connick Jr.
• The Jackson 5

Incubus (file)
Photo: Rankin

With his seventh album, When the Sun Goes Down, country singer Kenny Chesney will mosey on toward the late-afternoon, orange-hued horizon with a #1 under his belt.

The LP sold more than 550,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan. The top-notch placement on the Billboard albums chart makes it two in a row for Chesney, whose last #1 album, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, a 3-million seller at #81 next week, counted more than 235,000 in first-week sales.

A Crow Left of the Murder, Incubus' fifth album, will take second place with more than 331,000 copies sold, the California quintet's best week ever. Propelled by the single "Megalomaniac" and its politically charged video, first-week sales of Incubus' follow-up to 2001's Morning View bested those of many recent rock records, including Limp Bizkit's Results May Vary (more than 325,000 in first-week sales), Nickelback's The Long Road (200,000), Puddle of Mudd's Life on Display (103,000), and eponymous LPs by Kid Rock (188,000) and Blink-182 (313,000).

Chesney's impressive numbers dethrone the previous holder of the year's biggest first week, Twista. His Kamikaze will slip down to #3, having sold more than 173,000 copies for a two-week total that falls about 14,000 copies shy of half a million.

Probably thanks to his Super Bowl pre-game performance of "You Raise Me Up" as an homage to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, scarf-savvy singer Josh Groban's Closer will jump up eight places to #4. Last week's sales of more than 172,000 copies more than doubled those of the previous week.

Followed by the chart debut of cocktail-hour crooner Harry Connick Jr.'s Only You at #5, Grammy winners Outkast and Evanescence felt about a 30 percent sales surge due to pre-show press. At #6, Outkast's Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below sold more than 111,000 copies, while Evanescence's Fallen immediately trails the Atlanta duo's double album by just 1,000 copies.

The pre-Grammy buzz also helped sales of Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love, at #23 with an 12,000-copy increase, and 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', up 11 spots with a 27 percent sales increase. Luther Vandross' Dance With My Father and Missy Elliott's This Is Not a Test!, at #61 and #62, both rose by about 20 spots and 39 percent in sales; and Justin Timberlake's Justified, after more than a year on the charts, will sit at #103 after a 37-spot bump thanks to a sales increase of more than 59 percent.

If history serves, albums by Outkast, Evanescence, Beyoncé and Timberlake will continue to rise next week, as the post-Grammy sales start rolling in (see "Beyonce Wins Most, Outkast Shine, 50 Cent Shut Out At Grammys").

The remainder of the top 10: The Very Best of Sheryl Crow, moving down five spots to #8 while selling 5,000 more copies than the previous week; Toby Keith's Shock'n Y'all, slipping two places to #9, with more than 80,000 copies sold; and Ruben Studdard's Soulful falling five spots to #10 (68,000).

Three newly released albums will crack next week's top 40. The soundtrack to the #1 movie "Barbershop 2" will place at #18; Five for Fighting's third album, Battle for Everything, lands at #20; and Lostprophets' "Last Train Home"-fueled Start Something bows in at #33.

• Incubus
• Kenny Chesney
• Twista
• Josh Groban
• Harry Connick Jr.