Amid all the fun during TODAY's Halloween celebration Thursday morning, there was one special moment that stood out from the rest.
It was the performance that led Al Roker to dub one person “the winner of Halloween.”
He was talking about our very own Sheinelle Jones, who channeled Janet Jackson from her 1989 music video for “Rhythm Nation.” Sheinelle’s moves were spot-on and they earned cheers from the crowd — and a special video from Jackson herself!
“Hey, Sheinelle,” the superstar said. “Thank you so much for thinking of me and ‘Rhythm Nation’ this year. Man, I cannot believe it’s been 30 years since that album was released, but I’m so glad you’re still enjoying it.”
That message made Halloween feel more like Christmas morning to the 3rd hour of TODAY co-host, who put her hand over her heart and started to cry.
“In my old basement, with the wood-paneled walls and green carpet, I had a tape recorder of that song, and I’d put a hat on and (dance),” Sheinelle explained of the emotional moment. “I was like 12 … this was bucket list, guys!”
Other than those dancing days as a tween, she didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for Thursday’s performance.
“We practiced with the dancers one time,” she said of the synchronized moves that would have made Jackson proud — and certainly made the rest of us proud.
Jackson later tweeted that she "loved" the tribute.
But Sheinelle wasn’t the only one to get a celebrity shout-out.
Savannah Guthrie, who delivered a fun take on Olivia Newton-John’s Sandy from “Grease,” got a greeting from the Aussie actress, who told her the secret to success was to “act saucy.”
Needless to say, Savannah nailed it.
And after Al Roker put on his best Carlton dance from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” star Alfonso Ribeiro told him that it was the “perfect idea for Halloween.”
We couldn’t agree more!
