Michael Jackson's Memorial - Star-packed L.A. event at the Staples Center

Michael Jackson's casket is displayed at his public memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles July 7, 2009.

It would turn out to be nothing like we expected. It was dignified, and orderly. It was uplifting and respectful. It was sweet and defiant.

But mostly, despite millions of strangers watching the world over and thousands more in the Staples Center, the much-anticipated tribute to the late Michael Jackson, held Tuesday in Los Angeles, was an intimate affair.

It was filled with personal stories and spiritual messages, with tears and laughter, with all the emotion and dignity of what the many in the black community call a “home-going service.”

From the 8 a.m. private family gathering at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, to the funeral cavalcade carrying the pop star in his gold-plated, rose-covered coffin, to the two-hour star-studded arena memorial, Michael Jackson’s final farewell was a surprisingly sombre and celebratory send-off.

Forgotten, for a brief moment in time, was the frenzy that followed the 50-year-old pop superstar’s death on June 25, the fighting over the will and custody of his three children, the questions surrounding his fatal cardiac arrest, the 1.6 million people who scrambled in an online lottery for those 17,500 memorial tickets, and the interminable blogs, Tweets, Facebooking and relentless media coverage that have consumed the world these past 12 days.

It was a funeral filled both with tenderness and defiance, and not a little humour, including Magic Johnson’s recollection of sitting on the floor in Jackson’s kitchen and sharing a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Speaker after speaker, including Motown’s Berry Gordy, Queen Latifah and the children of Martin Luther King, lauded Jackson’s humanitarianism, his love of family, his contribution to black awareness, his shyness offstage and his confident brilliance on.

With a biographical video montage as backdrop, and before a mostly hushed but occasionally cheering crowd, came powerful performances: Jennifer Hudson’s Will You Be There, John Mayer’s acoustic Human Nature, Stevie Wonder’s shaky Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer and Jermaine Jackson’s tearful rendition of his brother’s favourite song, Smile.

Larry King, an invited guest who sat in the row right behind the Jackson family, said afterward that “it was the greatest thing ever,” and cited Rev. Al Sharpton’s speech as the standout.

Sharpton, in his usual bombastic fashion, made a couched reference to Jackson’s 2005 child molestation charges, and told Jackson’s three children, sitting in the front row: “Wasn’t nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with.”

Long-time friend Brooke Shields provided a lighter touch, talking about how mischievous Jackson was, how he tried in vain to teach her the moonwalk, and the day he showed up wearing that now famous glitter glove.

“I was like, what’s up with the glove,” said Shields. “We never recorded a video, or a song, but what we did do was laugh.”

One can debate for days over how we can live in a time when an entertainer, a impossibly talented yet eternally troubled man, could possibly warrant what amounted to a state funeral, the kind of send-off usually reserved for dignitaries, world leaders and royalty.

The truth is, for many around the world, Michael Jackson was royalty.

In the end, two hours after the tribute began, Michael Jackson’s family took the stage, the men dressed smartly in suits with red roses in their lapels, the women in stylish black dresses.

And then came the most memorable moment of the day, unscripted.

Jackson’s daughter, 11-year-old Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, aided by her Aunt Janet, took the microphone and, her face crumpled in tears, said:

“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.”

A poignant reminder, perhaps, that the man in the mirror was more than just a brilliant, reclusive and controversial pop star.

He was a brother, a son, an uncle and a father.

Michael Jackson's children, Paris and Prince, during the memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles July 7, 2009.

Family members of Michael Jackson attend his public memorial service held at Staples Center in Los Angeles July 7, 2009.
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