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Jackson's
public
memorial
strikes
a
spiritual
note
By JESSE
WASHINGTON
AP
National
Writer
Michael
Jackson
was
eulogized
in words
and song
Tuesday
by an
all-star
list of
musicians,
athletes
and
other
celebrities
during a
mournful
ceremony
in
downtown
Los
Angeles,
with the
most
poignant
moment
delivered
by his
sobbing
11-year-old
daughter.
"I just
want to
say ever
since I
was
born,
Daddy
has been
the best
father
you can
ever
imagine.
And I
just
wanted
to say I
love him
so
much,"
Paris-Michael
Jackson
said
before
almost
collapsing
in the
arms of
her aunt
Janet
Jackson.
Watched
by
millions
around
the
world,
the
memorial
struck a
tone
more
spiritual
than
spectacular
Tuesday,
opening
with a
church
choir
serenading
his
golden
casket
and
continuing
with
somber
speeches
and
gospel-infused
musical
performances.
The Rev.
Lucious
W. Smith
of the
Friendship
Baptist
Church
in
Pasadena
gave the
greeting
on the
same
stage
where
Jackson
had been
rehearsing
for a
concert
series
in the
days
before
his June
25 death
at age
50. Then
Mariah
Carey
sang the
opening
performance
with a
sweet
rendition
of the
Jackson
5 ballad
"I'll Be
There,"
a duet
with
Trey
Lorenz.
"We come
together
and we
remember
the
time,"
said
Smith,
riffing
on one
of
Jackson's
lyrics.
"As long
as we
remember
him, he
will
always
be there
to
comfort
us."
A
placard
and rose
are seen
following
a
commemorative
gathering
for late
U.S.
singer
Michael
Jackson,
in front
of a
church
in
Frankfurt,
central
Germany,
Tuesday,
July 7,
2009.
Michael
Jackson
fans
around
the
world
said
Tuesday
they
would
join in
mourning
the pop
legend
in
solidarity
with the
thousands
attending
the
official
memorial
in Los
Angeles.
From
Tokyo to
Melbourne,
fans
braced
for a
late
night to
watch
the
event,
where
entertainers
like
Stevie
Wonder,
Mariah
Carey,
Usher
and
Lionel
Richie
were due
to pay
tribute
to
Jackson,
who died
June 25.
(AP
Photo/Michael
Probst)
Millions
of fans
around
the
world
gathered
at odd
hours to
watch
the
ceremony,
which
was
broadcast
by the
major TV
networks
and
cable
channels
from
Tokyo to
Paris to
New York
and
streamed
everywhere
online
in one
of the
biggest
celebrity
send-offs
ever
seen.
Among
those
who
saluted
Jackson
were
Motown
music
mogul
Berry
Gordy
Jr.,
Brooke
Shields,
the Rev.
Al
Sharpton
and
basketball
greats
Magic
Johnson
and Kobe
Bryant.
Jennifer
Hudson
sang
Jackson's
hit
"Will
You Be
There"
and John
Mayer
played
guitar
on a
whisper-light
rendition
of
"Human
Nature."
"This is
a moment
that I
wished I
didn't
live to
see,"
Stevie
Wonder
said
before
his
performance.
Usher
broke
down in
tears
after
singing
"Gone
Too
Soon."
Although
the
event
was
billed
as a
celebration,
some
speakers
took the
occasion
to come
to the
defense
of
Jackson,
whose
life was
marked
as much
by
criticism
and
scorn as
scintillating
talent.
Gordy
said
that
despite
what he
called
"some
sad
times
and
maybe
some
questionable
decisions
on his
part,"
the
title
King of
Pop
wasn't
good
enough
for
Jackson.
"I think
he is
simply
the
greatest
entertainer
that
ever
lived,"
Gordy
said.
Emotions
rose
when
Sharpton
delivered
a fiery
eulogy
highlighting
all the
barriers
Jackson
broke
and the
troubles
he
faced.
"Every
time he
got
knocked
down, he
got back
up,"
Sharpton
said,
and the
applauding
crowd
jumped
to its
feet.
Sharpton
rode the
moment,
building
to a
crescendo.
"There
wasn't
nothing
strange
about
your
daddy,"
he said
later,
addressing
Jackson's
three
children
in the
front
row. "It
was
strange
what
your
daddy
had to
deal
with!"
After he
left the
stage,
chants
of "Mi-chael!
Mi-chael!"
filled
the
arena.
The
Jackson
family,
from
left,
Janet
Jackson,
Paris
Jackson,
LaToya
Jackson,
Jermaine
Jackson
and
Prince
Michael
are
shown on
stage at
the
memorial
service
for
music
legend
Michael
Jackson,
at the
Staples
Center
in Los
Angeles,
on
Tuesday,
July 7,
2009.
(AP
Photo/Gabriel
Bouys,
pool)
The
ceremony
wrapped
up with
group
performances
of "We
Are the
World"
and
"Heal
the
World"
sung by
Lionel
Richie,
Hudson
and
Jackson
family
members
—
including
his
children
— before
a
backdrop
of
symbols
of
religions
from
around
the
world.
They
were
joined
onstage
by
children
in white
and
several
other
people
who had
participated
in the
ceremony.
Then
members
of
Jackson's
family
took the
stage to
thank
the
crowd
and
share
their
own
thoughts,
barely
able to
hide
their
emotion
as they
hugged
in the
ceremony's
final
moments.
An
estimated
20,000
people
were in
the
Staples
Center
as
Jackson's
flower-draped
casket
was
brought
to the
venue in
a
motorcade
under
law
enforcement
escort.
Those
who
gathered
constituted
a visual
representation
of
Jackson's
life:
black,
white
and
everything
in
between,
wearing
fedoras
and
African
headdresses,
sequins
and
surgical
masks.
Fans
with a
ticket
wore
gold
wristbands
and
picked
up a
metallic
gold
program
guide on
their
way in.
Acting
as
pallbearers,
Jackson's
brothers
each
wore a
gold
necktie
and, in
a touch
borrowed
from
their
brother,
a single
spangly
white
glove
and
sunglasses.
Michael
Jackson's
casket
is
brought
out
during
the
Jackson
public
memorial
service
held at
Staples
Center
on
Thursday,
July 7,
2009 in
Los
Angeles.
(AP
Photo/Kevork
Djansezian,
pool)
Brother
Jermaine
Jackson
took the
stage
and sang
the
standard
"Smile"
as he
fought
back
tears.
Jackson's
hearse
had been
part of
a
motorcade
that
smoothly
whisked
his body
10 miles
across
closed
freeways
from a
private
service
at a
Hollywood
Hills
cemetery
to his
public
memorial
and
awaiting
fans.
The
traffic
snarls
and
logistical
nightmares
that had
been
feared
by
police
and city
officials
did not
materialize.
Traffic
was
actually
considered
by
police
to be
lighter
than
normal.
"I think
people
got the
message
to stay
home,"
said
California
Highway
Patrol
Officer
Miguel
Luevano.
Deputy
Police
Chief
Sergio
Diaz,
operations
chief
for the
event,
said
authorities
had
expected
a crowd
of
250,000.
Besides
reporters
and
those
with
tickets
to the
memorial
service,
the
crowd
around
the
Staples
Center
perimeter
numbered
only
about
1,000,
he said.
Basra
Arte,
from
Canada,
stands
outside
Staples
Center
before a
memorial
service
for
Michael
Jackson
Tuesday,
July 7,
2009, in
Los
Angeles.
(AP
Photo/Jae
C. Hong)
Outside
the
Staples
Center,
Claudia
Hernandez,
29, said
she
loved
Jackson's
music as
a girl
growing
up in
Mexico.
Now a
day-care
teaching
assistant
in Los
Angeles,
Hernandez
said she
cried
watching
TV
coverage
of his
death.
"I'm
trying
to hold
in my
emotions,"
said
Hernandez,
wearing
a
wristband
to allow
her
admittance
to the
service
and
holding
a framed
photograph
of
Jackson.
"I know
right
now he's
teaching
the
angels
to
dance."
More
than 1.6
million
people
registered
for the
lottery
for free
tickets
to
Jackson's
memorial.
A total
of 8,750
were
chosen
to
receive
two
tickets
each.
"There
are
certain
people
in our
popular
culture
that
just
capture
people's
imaginations.
And in
death,
they
become
even
larger,"
President
Barack
Obama
told CBS
while in
Moscow.
"Now, I
have to
admit
that
it's
also fed
by a
24/7
media
that is
insatiable."
The city
of Los
Angeles
set up a
Web site
Tuesday
to allow
fans to
contribute
money to
help the
city pay
for his
Staples
Center
memorial
service.
Mayoral
spokesman
Matt
Szabo
estimated
the
service
will
cost
$1.5
million
to $4
million.
It was
not
clear
what
will
happen
to
Jackson's
body.
The
Forest
Lawn
Memorial
Park
Hollywood
Hills
cemetery
is the
final
resting
place
for such
stars as
Bette
Davis,
Andy
Gibb,
Freddie
Prinze,
Liberace
and
recently
deceased
David
Carradine
and Ed
McMahon.
Jermaine
Jackson
has
expressed
a desire
to have
him
buried
someday
at
Neverland,
his
estate
in
Southern
California.
Midway
during
the
memorial
service,
police
Officer
April
Harding
told the
media
gathered
at the
gates of
Forest
Lawn to
disperse.
Asked if
Jackson's
body was
going to
be
returned
to the
cemetery
after
the
memorial,
she
replied:
"His
body is
not
going to
be
returned
here."
She did
not say
where it
would be
taken.
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