Denver native Carlo Riley can alter his appearance to the point that when he looks in the mirror he sees Michael Jackson staring back.

Even the superstar singer himself nearly did a double take when Riley showed up for a photo op with Jackson recently in Tokyo.

"I tapped (Jackson) on the shoulder, and he looked at me and said, 'Oh wow, cool.' Then he gave the finger motion for me to turn around so he could see my outfit," Riley said. "He said it was nice to meet me and that I looked great."

That praise from the pop singer was music to Riley's ears. Riley, a 24-year- old sales rep for Association Voice, a software firm in Cherry Creek, can't remember a time in his life when he wasn't a Jackson fan.

"I had wallpaper posters in my house ever since I was a little kid," he said.

Two years ago, Riley took his admiration of Jackson further. He dressed up as the singer for Halloween and won $3,500 plus a trip to Mexico from all the nightclub costume competitions.

He parlayed the dough into a ticket to Tokyo for the chance for a meet and greet with his idol during a charity event. Riley not only impressed Jackson with his likeness, the Denver dude was mobbed by Japanese fans and the international media. His picture appears with Jackson in the current issue of Star magazine under the headline, "Twins."

"Everywhere I went out there, people kept following me and wanting a picture of me with them," Riley said about the Japanese. "I took literally thousands of pictures and a video of people crying even though they knew I wasn't him."

Riley says he hopes to make money on his ability to look like the legend. Ideally, he'd like to work for Jackson as a "double" who shows up places as a diversion from the real deal.

As to any mention of negative press and lawsuits that have plagued Jackson, Riley won't hear of it. "Michael's like a god everywhere else in the world but here," he says.

FUNNIEST MOM: Highlands Ranch resident Rubi Nicholas won the title last year; can Westminster's Stephanie McHugh snag the Funniest Mom in America crown for Colorado again?

Find out when domestic goddess Roseanne Barr hosts the third season of the Nick at Nite series starting April 10. The six-part series follows real-life moms competing for $50,000 and a shot at hosting a night of programming on Nick at Nite.

McHugh, a single mom, uses her recent divorce and her daughters as material for her act.

LOTSA LUCK: ABC is looking for the life of the party for its new "reality" series National Bingo Night. If you're ready to have a good time in front of America, show up at the open casting call from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at KMGH-TV, 123 Speer Blvd. Producers are looking for "enthusiastic people or colorful characters who are ready to win a lot of cash and prizes." More info: abc.go.com/site/casting.html.

EAVESDROPPING on a boy and his mom at Kohl's: "We learned all about St. Patrick's Day at school."

"Well, what did you learn?"

"That St. Patrick was a pirate, and he made Ireland safe for all pirates."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.