Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder and Usher sang emotional farewells Tuesday to Michael Jackson, who was hailed as "the greatest entertainer that ever lived" and described by his tearful 11-year-old daughter Paris as "the best father you could ever imagine."

Some 18,000 fans, family members and friends took part in a public memorial for Jackson in the Los Angeles sports arena where the singer had rehearsed the day before his death for a highly anticipated series of comeback concerts.

Jackson's brothers, each wearing a single sequined glove in homage to his signature look, carried the singer's golden casket into the downtown Staples Center.

Carey performed Jackson's 1970 ballad "I'll Be There," Usher's voice cracked as he sang "Gone Too Soon" and the King of Pop's three children made a rare public appearance without veils used for years by Jackson to shield them from the media.

But it was Jackson himself who loomed larger than life, shown in old concert footage, music videos and news clips, singing, dancing his moonwalk and surrounded by adoring crowds.

"The more I think about Michael, and talk about Michael, the more I think that 'King of Pop' is not good enough," said Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, who signed The Jackson 5 to a recording contract in 1968. "I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived."

The two-hour memorial focused on Jackson's musical achievements, overshadowed in the last 10 years by the darker side of the singer's life, including his humiliating 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of child sex abuse.

Jackson's sudden death from cardiac arrest in Los Angeles on June 25 at the age of 50 stunned fans across the world and sent sales of his biggest hits from albums such as "Thriller" and "Off the Wall" back to the top of music charts.

President Barack Obama, on a visit to Russia, said he was "one of the greatest entertainers of our generation, perhaps any generation," and added: "I think like Elvis, like Sinatra, like The Beatles, he became a core part of our culture.

The memorial focused on Jackson's 45-year musical career in which he was awarded 13 Grammys, his charity work for childrens' groups and his role in opening the mainstream pop and celebrity world to African-Americans.

It was broadcast live on U.S. national TV networks and Internet company Akamai, which handles 20 percent of the world's Web traffic, said it was the most widely viewed event on the Web since the inauguration of Obama in January.

Gordy was among the few who referred obliquely to Jackson's recent troubles. "Sure there was some sad times and maybe some questionable decisions on his part, but Michael Jackson accomplished everything he dreamed of," said Gordy.

"NOTHING STRANGE" ABOUT DADDY

Jackson was on the eve of a comeback after his career collapsed in the 1990s. The exact cause of his death is still awaiting toxicology results amid reports of abuse of prescription drugs, including the powerful narcotic Diprivan.

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who has lashed out at media coverage of the bizarre aspects of Jackson's life, had a message for the singer's three children.

"Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with," he said.

The children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris and Prince Michael, 7, joined the family on stage for a mass chorus of Jackson's inspirational hits "We Are the World" and "Heal the World."

Paris, in tears, took the microphone to say: "Ever since I was born my daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine and I just wanted to say I love him, so much."

Jackson's family and close friends held a brief private ceremony earlier Tuesday at a Los Angeles cemetery before the memorial and were reported afterwards to have gathered at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

But the destination of the singer's body remained unknown with speculation that he could yet be laid to rest at his beloved ranch, Neverland, in central California.

Police had estimated more than 250,000 people would gather at the arena but the orderly crowds were much smaller than expected.

Police, security, escorts and sanitation for the memorial are expected to cost cash-strapped Los Angeles city council nearly $4 million and the city council Tuesday launched a website asking for fans to make donations toward the costs.

Fans in Asia stayed awake into the wee hours, bars across Europe held Michael Jackson theme nights and television stations from Sydney to Paris cleared their schedules Tuesday to broadcast the King of Pop's star-studded memorial service from Los Angeles.

Fans mourned the singer and celebrated his life along with the thousands attending the U.S. event, where entertainers including Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie paid tribute to Jackson, who died June 25. The 12-year-old Welsh schoolboy Shaheen Jafargholi, who wowed TV audiences earlier this year with the Jackson 5 song "Who's Loving You" on "Britain's Got Talent" got a standing ovation after he sang the same song to the stadium.

In London, dozens of fans sheltered under umbrellas against the rain as they watched the event on a big screen outside the 02 Arena, where Jackson was to have performed 50 comeback shows starting next week. Many more stayed dry at home after the BBC announced it would cancel scheduled programming and show the ceremony live.

"His whole life was a global broadcast in a way, so I suppose it's fitting that his death also is," said barista Robert Anderson, 26, in London.

Crowds gathered outside Harlem's Apollo Theater in New York — where the Jackson 5 won "Amateur Night" in 1967 — and in Detroit, where his career was launched with Motown Records.

"I think he was somebody who really did change the style of music," said Jonathan Contreras, a 23-year-old college student from Westland, Michigan. "They call him the King of Pop. I call him the King of Music."

Fans gathered at Berlin's O2 World arena and at a bar just off Paris' Champs-Elysees, where about 20 people, many dressed in black, Jackson-style hats or white gloves, watched the ceremony.

"I didn't want to experience this moment alone," said Marie-Anne Le Saux, 25, an insurance company employee who helped organize the ceremony.

In Santiago, Chile, national police band played "We Are the World" during the traditional guard change at the presidential palace La Moneda, as hundreds watched.

About 50 fans lit candles and laid flowers in the main square in Stockholm, as "Billie Jean" and "Earth Song" poured out of a small stereo.

Hannah Ralme, 14, from Stockholm, said she had been heartbroken by Jackson's death. "It's like a piece of me died," she said. "The music, the way he danced, the way he expressed it showed me how to live my life — to be childlike and think about other people."

At a Pan-African culture festival in Algiers, Algeria, hundreds of singers and dancers from across the continent performed The Jackson 5's "Blame it on the Boogie" as a tribute.

Several hundred Jackson fans gathered at a Hong Kong mall late Tuesday to remember their idol and watch the memorial on a big screen, surrounded by shuttered store fronts. Holding white candles, Hong Kong singer William Chan and Taiwanese pop star Judy Chou led the audience in observing a 30-second silence. Many fans clutched red roses and wore black; some donned Jackson's trademark fedora hats.

In Japan, home to some of Jackson's most passionate fans, about 100 people gathered at a Tower Records store in downtown Tokyo to watch his videos on a big screen hours before the Los Angeles memorial. The store, which Jackson visited twice, displayed his hand print in a cement block and large posters celebrating his performances. Several shelves dedicated to the pop star were stacked with his CDs and DVDs.

"I love him," said Namiko Hayakawa, a 31-year-old housewife, one of the first to grab a seat. "He is one of the greatest and most original solo performers. He also has a message about peace. He is such a big star, but he has a message for every little person."

In the Philippines, noontime television variety show "Eat Bulaga" said it would hold a Jackson dance contest Wednesday in honor of the pop icon.

For some, the relentless media coverage of Jackson since his death was too much.

"In Ireland we like a good funeral, so we'll be tuning in. There's no good sports match on tonight anyway," said barman Peadar O Docherty, 24, in the Stag's Head pub in central Dublin.

But, he added, "a lot of the adulation is completely over the top."

More than 2,000 people have attended a candlelight vigil at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in celebration of the life of Michael Jackson.

Fans left handwritten notes, flowers and teddy bears inside the hall of fame lobby Tuesday night. On the museum plaza, they danced to "Billie Jean" and other Jackson hits.

A local church pastor led the crowd in an a cappella version of "I'll Be There" by the Jackson 5.

Earlier Tuesday, the museum unveiled a special memorial wall dedicated to Jackson, a two-time hall of fame inductee. He was inducted in 1997 as part of the Jackson 5 and then again in 2001 as a solo artist.

The hall's collection includes several outfits Jackson performed in and one of those very familiar gloves.

Rush Limbaugh said Jackson ‘defined individuality’ during the Reagan years

NEW YORK - Michael Jackson was once so safe that presidents from both parties welcomed him to the White House. In death, after a scandal-filled decline, he is the latest target in the cultural war.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., denounced him this week in a YouTube video as a “pervert” and a “child molester.” Rush Limbaugh said Jackson “defined individuality” and “flourished” during the conservative Reagan years. New York Times columnist Bob Herbert raised the Reagan connection to attack Jackson as a symbol of impossible promises and “grotesque irresponsibility.”

Others upheld a different image. Liberal columnist John Nichols believed “the singer projected to the world the sense and the promise of a multicultural and tolerant United States.” Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., called King’s comments “scandalous and outlandish” and praised Jackson as an exemplar of “hard work, discipline, perseverance and self-determination.”

“Musical savant though he was,” columnist Patricia Williams wrote recently in the liberal magazine The Nation, “Jackson was, almost from the beginning, a tragic figure ... forever reflecting what others wanted him to be.”

Cited by the Rev. Al Sharpton at Tuesday’s memorial as helping Obama to become the first black president, Jackson himself was as cautious in his politics as he was daring in his music. He advocated self-improvement over organized action and favored uncontroversial causes such as education and anti-poverty programs. His riskiest stance may have been calling Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola a racist, in 2002, and accusing the record industry of ripping off black artists.

“He wasn’t interested in electoral politics, but he was interested in causes in the black community. He contributed to a lot of charities and was close to the Rev. (Jesse) Jackson and to Rev. Sharpton,” says poet and essayist Ishmael Reed, who wrote about Jackson in “Mixing It Up,” an essay collection.

Musicians and politicians often mix
Musicians have often served as irresistible, and frustrating candidates, for political branding. Elvis Presley was a counterculture pioneer who later requested, and received, an audience with President Nixon to offer his help in the government’s war on drugs. Bob Dylan taunted his admirers by implying that he was for the Vietnam War. Louis Armstrong, accused by fellow blacks of being a grinning Uncle Tom, shocked the world when he called President Eisenhower “two-faced” on civil rights and said “the government can go to hell.”

Politicians, in turn, have a history of celebrity fascination/revulsion — from the Washington legislators who condemned Ingrid Bergman as an adulteress to Jimmy Carter quoting Dylan’s lyrics as he campaigned for president in 1976. The star-crossed syndrome was captured whole in the 1950s when, according to Arthur Miller, he was offered a loophole on being charged for contempt of Congress for refusing to name suspected Communists. All Miller had to do was agree to one legislator’s request — permit a photo with the playwright’s wife, Marilyn Monroe.

The request was denied.

Before Jackson’s 2003 arrest on child molestation charges (he was found not guilty), Republicans felt safe to stand in his company. In 1984, President Reagan invited Jackson to the White House to thank him for supporting a campaign against drunk driving. “He is totally opposed to Drugs & Alcohol & is using his popularity to influence young people against them,” Reagan wrote in his diary at the time.

The first President Bush also complimented Jackson, appearing with him in the Rose Garden in 1990 and noting that Jackson had received a humanitarian award from the Capital Children’s Museum. “He does good work, what we call the ‘Points of Light’ concept,” said Bush, referring to his national volunteer program. “Glad you’re here, sir. Very pleased you’re here.”

Jackson sang “Heal the World” at President Clinton’s first inaugural gala, in 1993. Nine years later, even after allegations had emerged of inappropriate behavior with children (child sexual abuse charges had been settled out of court in 1994), Jackson appeared at a New York fundraising concert for the Democratic National Committee.

Affection remains among leading Democrats. Clinton recalled Tuesday that the singer had saved the party from “terrible financial distress.” President Obama mentioned his “sad personal life,” but emphasized “the great joy that he brought to a lot of people through his extraordinary gifts as an entertainer.”

“He was a universal African-American, probably the first post-race superstar,” Reed said. “It’s weird to see people attack him now because in some ways he reminds you of Obama — looking for compromise between different groups, for ways we could all get along.”

This was eulogy as performance art, public outpouring as premium content

“I just don’t believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others,” one of Michael Jackson’s closest friends said on Twitter this week. “I cannot be part of the public whoopla.”

But on Tuesday, a very curious day in the republic of epic productions, Elizabeth Taylor — hardly a stranger to living the public life — seemed just about the only one.

He was a celebrity spectacle like no other, so it seemed natural that Michael Jackson’s end unfolded the same way. The staging of his final show Tuesday commandeered the heart of the city of fame, turning millions of his fans into lottery players who chased unlikely dreams of front-row goodbyes.

The result: an unparalleled, though strikingly sedate, public memorial that offered, like his jumbled life, a little something for everyone who went looking.

Sharing grief with millions of others — on TV, in mass spectacles and across the gossamer human connection known as the Internet — has become as American as, say, churning out fresh disposable idols on reality TV.

This was eulogy as performance art, public outpouring as premium content — and, not accidentally, funeral as variety show. To call it a last performance is barely metaphorical. The service alone was a guided tour of American show business — a little gospel telethon, a little Grammy ceremony, a little “Soul Train,” a little “Weekly Top 40,” even a little “Circus of the Stars.”

The public mourning of prematurely departed celebrities isn’t new in America. More than 100,000 people, many of them weeping, turned out in 1926 for the New York funeral of Rudolph Valentino. It has only accelerated in recent decades: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Princess Diana. And of course there was Jackson’s former father-in-law and brother in stratospheric fame, Elvis.

But contained communal lament is one thing. What unfolded on Tuesday and in the days leading up to it felt like something else — something magnified beyond even the usual American embrace of the epic.

“In life, he was rejected by so many different groups of people. But, in death, everyone seems to want to claim him,” said Jennifer James McCollum, 41, of Oklahoma City, who writes about generational issues in her blog, JenX67.

This absurdly talented, weird, tragic man who contained so many of the things that perplex and consume modern America — from race and sex to obsession with appearance and attachment to childhood — seems to have touched most every chord at once.

“There are many Michaels for many souls,” said CNN contributor Bryan Monroe, who interviewed Jackson at length in 2007 when he was editorial director of Ebony magazine.

There are also, suddenly, many more ways to connect, lament, magnify, share. The emerging mythology — that the communications explosion that followed Jackson’s death almost “broke the Internet” — suggests both the emergence of new communities and the hunger for some kind of mass public square of sentiment.

“People want to be a part of something. And this is something really memorable. Why did everybody go to Woodstock?” asked Rosemary Hornak, a psychology professor at Meredith College in North Carolina who studies how people remember.

Now they can. No longer, as in Sunday morning services, do you just turn to your pewmate and shake hands. This is the age of the global funeral, the interactive death, with mourners always on hand to prolong the experience — either with a big-time celebrity lament or a simple online guest book for a beloved great-aunt.

“The Internet was originally an exchange of ideas. It’s almost as if, with Web 2.0, it’s about exchanging emotions,” said Paul Soper, 25, who works in retail in Columbus, Ohio.

That’s not the only change, though. The usual suspects — a 24-hour news cycle, the digitization of music and imagery, the fragmentation of society, the democratization of the arts — helped set the stage for Tuesday’s service and its runup.

In fact, some of the precise pathways that Michael Jackson so pivotally carved, such as pioneering the music video and mixing black and white traditions, helped create the cultural place for an event like this.

“It’s pop art. But just walking down the street in America today is pop art,” said John Tebeau, a New York artist who uses cartoon art to interpret popular culture in his paintings.

Beyond the closed roads, the costly security and the funerary hyperbole (“simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived,” Motown founder Berry Gordy said), one notion seemed to reign. The man who built a reputation as one of the most reclusive entertainers of our era was, to hear almost everyone tell it, a universal and personal inspiration to millions.

“You believed in Michael and he believed in you. He made you believe in yourself,” Queen Latifah told mourners. And in the context of our continuously refracted society, she nailed it.

In the end, Jackson was indeed the man in the mirror — our mirror. No matter that sometimes it was a fun-house mirror. No matter that, behind the music, we didn’t always like the reflection that peered back at us. No matter that, finally, the mirror was cracked beyond any hope of repair. The big goodbye was what mattered, and it was the show of a lifetime.

“Death,” Jim Morrison once said, “is only going to happen to you once. I don’t want to miss it.” Today his grave at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris is overrun by people wanting to touch a piece of him, even if only a hunk of granite.

It was the same way with Michael Jackson. On Tuesday, people who never actually saw him in real life — those who adored him, those who danced to him, even those who thought he was a freak — amassed to say they just wanted to see him one last time.

And in their expressions, one thing seemed clear: In death, as in life, Michael Jackson remains a product — bought, sold and looked upon, scorned and glorified and admired. And still, forever, coveted.

The endless gaze, the endless desire for more. What’s a bigger part of the modern American experience than that?

An economist thinks the city may not need family or fans’ help

LOS ANGELES - Deficit-ridden Los Angeles may break even on the bill for the cost of police and other public servants on duty for Michael Jackson’s memorial service, even though the city asked the singer’s fans to help defray the costs, an economist said Tuesday.

A Web site was posted Tuesday seeking donations to cover the costs, estimated at between $1.5 million and $4 million, according to Matt Szabo, a spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The Web page reads: “Help the City of Angels provide the extraordinary public safety resources required to give Michael the safe, orderly and respectful memorial he deserves.” The site is linked to a PayPal account where donors can make tax-deductible contributions.

But Jack Kyser, founding economist of the Kyser Center for Economic Research of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, estimates the city could rake in $4 million from the event, thanks to the throng of media and other visitors who stayed at hotels, ate at restaurants and shopped in Los Angeles.

Kyser believes the city also got a major image boost because the memorial service went off without any major problems.

“This thing went off very smoothly,” Kyser said. “I think you had some good exposure for downtown and for the entire city.”

Thousands of police officers and other city workers were enlisted to provide security and logistical support for Jackson’s private service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills and the public memorial at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Some city officials have expressed concern about the cost, given the city’s estimated $530 million deficit.

Similar complaints followed the announcement that the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers would hold a victory celebration at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum last month. In the days before the event, much was made of its estimated $2 million cost, with critics grumbling that the city could not afford it.

Large crowds never surfaced
The Lakers and AEG, which owns Staples Center, donated $1 million and private donors covered public costs. AEG, which also was the promoter for Jackson’s now-canceled London shows, has not committed any money to cover the city’s bill for the Jackson memorial.

Despite the police being out in full force — some 3,200 officers, according to the Los Angeles Times — large crowds never surfaced, apparently heeding city officials warning not to come downtown unless they had a ticket for the memorial service. Some people who worked downtown also stayed home, Kyser said.

Preliminary estimates on the crowd had ranged into the hundreds of thousands.

“This was an extraordinarily unique event,” Szabo said. “The only thing certain about this event was uncertainty.”

It wasn’t the first time Angelenos took heed of such advice. Dire warnings of massive traffic jams led to just the opposite during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and a 1987 papal visit, which were marked by lighter-than-normal traffic.

The city may reap additional funds from the Jackson event, especially if he is buried in the Los Angeles area. Staples Inc. earned several years of value in its naming rights because of the exposure the Staples Center received, Kyser said.

“I think people now have a better idea of what is downtown Los Angeles,” Kyser said.

Emotions peaked when the Rev. Al 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 again 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!”

Jubilation erupted, with the longest standing ovation of the day. It seemed as if Sharpton broke through some sort of wall, freeing shouts from the crowd of “We love you Michael!” After he left the stage, chants of “Mi-chael! Mi-chael!” filled the arena.

The parade of famous names continued: Jennifer Hudson, Stevie Wonder, Usher, Martin Luther King III and his sister Bernice, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Kobe Bryant.

For a performer who smashed the race barrier on MTV and did as much as anyone to make black music mainstream — not to mention was accused of trying to turn himself white through skin treatments and plastic surgery — the ceremony had a remarkably black cast. John Mayer and Brooke Shields were the only white celebs with major roles.

700,000 gawkers? More like 1,000
Another unexpected aspect was the logistics. The mayhem and traffic snarls that had been feared by city officials never materialized. The thousands of ticketholders began filing in early and encountered few problems, and traffic was actually considered by police to be lighter than normal. An estimate of up to 700,000 gawkers turned out to be about 1,000.

The city of Los Angeles set up a Web site to allow fans to contribute money to help the city pay for the memorial, which was estimated to cost $1.5 million to $4 million. AEG, the event promoter behind the memorial, has not addressed whether it will give money for the effort, but did contribute $1 million to the city after it staged a victory parade for the Los Angeles Lakers last month.

It was not clear what will happen to Jackson’s body. The Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills cemetery, where a private service was held, is the final resting place for such stars as Bette Davis, Andy Gibb, Freddie Prinze, Liberace and recently deceased David Carradine and Ed McMahon.

But Jackson’s brother Jermaine has expressed a desire to have him buried someday at Neverland, his estate in Southern California.

The ceremony ended with Jackson’s family on stage, amid a choir, singing “Heal the World.”

“All around us are people of different cultures, different religions, different nationalities,” Rev. Smith said as he closed the service. “And yet the music of Michael Jackson brings us together.”

Teary tribute from singer’s young daughter caps music-filled ceremony

LOS ANGELES - It was not spectacular, extravagant or bizarre. There were songs and tears but little dancing. Instead, Michael Jackson’s memorial was a somber, spiritual ceremony that reached back for the essence of the man.

Singer, dancer, superstar, humanitarian: That was how the some 20,000 people gathered inside the Staples Center arena on Tuesday, and untold millions watching around the world, remembered Jackson, whose immense talents almost drowned beneath the spectacle of his life and fame.

If there was a shocking moment, it came in the form of Jackson’s daughter, Paris-Michael, who made the first public statement of her 11 years.

“Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine,” she said, dissolving into tears and turning into the embrace of her aunt Janet. “And I just wanted to say I love him — so much.”

Outside the arena, the celebrity-industrial complex that Jackson helped create ground on. More than 3,000 police officers massed downtown to keep the ticketless at bay. Helicopters followed the golden casket as it was driven over blocked-off freeways from Forest Lawn cemetery to Staples Center. A bazaar of T-shirts, buttons, photos and other memorabilia sprouted in the blocks around the memorial. Movie theaters played the service live and people paused around the world to watch.

Inside, however, the atmosphere was churchlike, assisted by the enormous video image of a stained glass window, with red-gold clouds blowing past, that was projected behind the stage.

Stars come out for Jackson
The ceremony began with Smokey Robinson reading statements from Jackson’s close friend Diana Ross — “Michael was part of the fabric of my life” — and then Nelson Mandela — “Be strong.”

A lengthy silence of several minutes followed, punctuated only by a steady twinkle of camera flashes. The thousands of mourners spoke softly to those in neighboring seats or contemplated their private thoughts.

Celebrities made their way to their seats in front of the stage: Kobe Bryant, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, Lou Ferrigno, Don King, the Kardashian sisters, Magic Johnson, Brooke Shields, Larry King. While Jackson was among the most famous faces in the world, today’s megastars were largely absent. Those present mostly reflected some connection to Jackson’s life or work.

Among those conspicuously not in attendance were Elizabeth Taylor, Ross and Debbie Rowe, Jackson’s ex-wife and the mother of Jackson’s two oldest children.

Many vehicles left Staples in a long motorcade that ended up in a Beverly Hills hotel. Record producer Jimmy Jam told AP Television that he was headed for a gathering for friends and family, but he won’t give details.

The fans, clutching tickets that 1.6 million people had sought, were a visual representation of Jackson’s life: white, black and everything in between; from Mexico, Japan, Italy or America; wearing fedoras, African headdresses, sequins or surgical masks. Actor Corey Feldman showed up fully costumed as Michael Jackson.

“Words can’t express how I feel,” said Dani Harris, a 35-year-old stay-at-home mom from Los Angeles.

“You think about one person, larger than presidents and kings and queens,” Harris said. “People in countries you can’t even see on the map know his face, his music.”

The pre-ceremony stillness was broken by the organ strains of “Soon and Very Soon,” a gospel hymn by Andrae Crouch. “Hallelujah, hallelujah, we’re going to see the King,” a choir sang. The crowd cheered and rose to its feet.

The Rev. Lucious W. Smith of the Friendship Baptist Church in Pasadena gave the greeting, standing on the same stage where Jackson had been rehearsing for a comeback concert before his death on June 25 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.

Queen Latifah read a special poem composed by Maya Angelou. Lionel Richie sang gospel, “Jesus Is Love.” Berry Gordy remembered the prodigy of young Michael, drawing a standing ovation when he said the title King of Pop would no longer suffice: “He is simply the greatest entertainer who ever lived.”

The King of Pop is more popular than the leader of the free world, at least on Facebook.

During Tuesday's memorial service for fallen music icon Michael Jackson, when numerous news, music and entertainment events streamed the event live, Facebook users were averaging 6,000 status updates per minute. That's roughly 2,000 more updates per minute than occurred during the inauguration ceremony for President Obama last January.

Just like the inauguration, Facebook users could comment during the Jackson funeral while streaming it live on CNN.com. Perhaps given Jackson's global appeal, along the 10-day plus news crescendo following his death, Facebook/CNN.com users turned up in droves to view and share their thoughts on the memorial ceremony. According to Facebook officials as of 1:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday — just a half hour into the ceremony — users had already posted 500,000 status updates. Over 300,000 users were logged in at that time.

Whether the total Web audience for the Jackson funeral tops the inauguration remains to be seen. But Jackson already has over a million more friends than Obama (close to 7 million). Meanwhile, a virtual Michael Jackson glove has become the most popular gift in the site's history, as over 800,000 gloves have been exchanged by Facebook friends.

NEW YORK - Nielsen SoundScan says 800,000 copies of Michael Jackson albums were bought in the U.S. last week — nearly double his sales from the previous week.

Jackson is claiming the entire Top 10 roster on the Top Catalog Album chart this week. His “Number Ones” collection is the top seller, followed by “Thriller.” Solo albums occupy every position but No. 7, where the Jackson 5’s “Ultimate Collection” album resides.

Data from the week ending Sunday — the first full week since Jackson’s June 25 death — shows physical albums accounted for 80 percent of his sales.

On Billboard’s Hot Digital Songs chart, Jackson holds five out of the top 10 slots, with “Man in the Mirror” leading as his top-selling digital download song of the week.

Four Jackson CDs also are in the top 10 albums sold on iTunes, and five of the top 10 singles for the week ending Monday.

Authorities will file report on whether third parties can be pressed to pay

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles city attorney's office is investigating how the city can legally press third parties to pick up at least some of the costs for Michael Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center.

City attorney spokesman John Franklin said Wednesday that his office aims to have a report ready for the City Council by Friday.

More than 17,000 fans attended the pop star's public memorial service on Tuesday. The event is estimated to cost up to $4 million in overtime for hundreds of police officers and other services.

AEG Live, which owns the Staples Center, hasn't committed any money to cover the city's bill. AEG Live spokesman Michael Roth didn't immediately return a message Wednesday morning.

At memorial, the Jackson family invited a stadium of people into their lives

LOS ANGELES - Plenty of expectations were placed on Michael Jackson’s public memorial at the Staples Center on July 7: There would be drama (leading up to the event and possibly during), there would be celebrities, there would be songs that remind us of what made Jackson famous.

What no one expected was that, for about 90 minutes, the Jackson family would invite a stadium full of strangers into their lives.

It all began with a subtle family message: At the memorial the remaining Jackson brothers wore yellow ties, and family friend Lionel Ritchie wore a yellow flower on his lapel.

The color coordination wasn’t planned, said a person who helped the Jackson family with the wardrobe for the memorial. “The color has family significance,” he said. “It was fine for the world to notice, and they’ll explain it when they’re ready. But they wanted to put the message out there.”

Then there was the deeply religious overtones of some of the songs — “Jesus is Love,” performed by Ritchie, was just one of them. Although the Jacksons are religious — they were Jehovah’s Witnesses — the idea that Michael’s memorial would have so many non-secular songs surprised many.

During the memorial I reached, via text, a close friend of the “King of Pop” who said that those who really knew Michael weren’t surprised by the spiritual element of the memorial.

“He was DEEPLY spiritual,” read the first text. He added, “And he expressed it often and at length to those close to him. Especially during the creation of his (London) show. (Jackson’s spiritualism) would have been very evident when people saw it.”

Those subtle nods to the real Jackson and his family were amplified by the sentiments of his friends. Magic Johnson, who spoke of sharing fried chicken with Jackson; Brooke Shields, who with Jackson snuck in to see Elizabeth Taylor’s wedding dress, and finally, there was Jackson’s young daughter Paris, who bravely took to the microphone to express what a wonderful father she had.

Al Sharpton went to great lengths to say Jackson wasn’t strange, but was in a strange situation. The truth might lie somewhere in between, but Tuesday, that was all forgotten. The Jackson family and their friends shared something deeply personal, raw and human. And they didn’t just share it with the Staples Center — they shared it with the world.

Many of the day’s memorable sentiments might have come from the A-list, but the message was one that real people could understand. Jackson might have been a celebrity’s celebrity but inside the Staples Center on Tuesday, we got to know the world’s greatest performer in a way we might get to know a friend. Yet another first for Jackson, not to be repeated, perhaps ever.

About 20,000 people gathered inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday for a somber, spiritual ceremony, watched by millions more around the world.

Crowds gathered outside Harlem's Apollo Theater in New York to soak it in. In Santiago, Chile, national police band played "We Are the World" during the traditional guard change at the presidential palace. About 50 fans lit candles and laid flowers in the main square in Stockholm, as "Billie Jean" and "Earth Song" poured out of a small stereo.

In London, dozens of fans stood under umbrellas in the rain as they watched the event on a big screen outside the 02 Arena, where Jackson was to have performed 50 comeback shows starting next week. Many more stayed dry at home after the BBC announced it would cancel scheduled programming and show the ceremony live.

Calculating just how many people in total watched the ceremony — around the world and across all platforms — will take several days and even then will likely be an approximation, given the huge variety of outlets.

At the ceremony, a star-studded lineup of performers closely linked to Jackson's life and music remembered the King of Pop as an unparalleled singer, dancer and humanitarian whose music united people of all backgrounds.

Outside, more than 3,000 police officers massed downtown to keep the ticketless at bay. Helicopters followed the golden casket as it was driven over blocked-off freeways from Forest Lawn cemetery to the Staples Center. Movie theaters played the service live.

Inside, however, the atmosphere was churchlike, assisted by an enormous video image of a stained-glass window with red-gold clouds blowing past that was projected behind the stage.

The Rev. Lucious W. Smith of the Friendship Baptist Church in Pasadena gave the greeting, standing on the same stage where Jackson had been rehearsing for a comeback concert before his death at age 50.

The ceremony ended with Jackson's family on stage, amid a choir singing "Heal the World."

Deficit-ridden Los Angeles asked Jackson fans to help pay the bill for police and other public servants needed for the entertainer's memorial service.

A Web site was posted Tuesday seeking donations to cover the costs, estimated at between $1.5 million and $4 million, according to Matt Szabo, a spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

But Jack Kyser, founding economist of the Kyser Center for Economic Research of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, estimates the city could rake in $4 million from the event, thanks to the throng of media and other visitors who stayed at hotels, ate at restaurants and shopped in Los Angeles.

Kyser believes the city also got a major image boost because the memorial service went off without any major problems. "This thing went off very smoothly," Kyser said. "I think you had some good exposure for downtown and for the entire city."

Dermatologist says singer danced in his office 3 days before his death

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's dermatologist said he had sedated the pop star in the past for painful medical procedures but had never given him dangerous sedatives like Propofol to use.

"I was not one of the doctors who participated in giving him overdoses of drugs or too much of anything," Dr. Arnold Klein said in an interview that aired Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "In fact, I was the one who limited everything, who stopped everything."

Investigators looking into the cause of Jackson's death have honed in on drugs that were administered to the insomniac musician. The powerful sedative Diprivan, also known as Propofol and usually administered by anesthesiologists in hospitals, was found in Jackson's home, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to comment about the matter

Any drugs he used with Jackson were on very mild levels, Klein said. "How am I going to prescribe Diprivan when I don't know how to use it?" he said.

Klein said he saw Jackson three days before he died on June 25. In response to rumors that the musician was dangerously thin at the time of his death, Klein said he saw nothing to make him worry.

"He danced in my office," he said. "He danced for my patients."

Klein also said that Jackson was “at the hands of plastic surgeons who didn’t know when to stop” and that the singer viewed his face as a piece of art.

Klein said he was always concerned about Jackson because he knew that whatever he wanted, he could always find someone to give it to him.

The saga surrounding Jackson's death will continue past Tuesday's memorial service in Los Angeles, watched by millions around the world.

Despite the presence of stars like Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey and Kobe Bryant, the emotional speech by Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris, was the memorial's most heart-tugging moment. NBC's TODAY show replayed portions of it three times in its first eight minutes Wednesday. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft.)

"Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father I could imagine," Paris said, dissolving into tears and turning into the arms of her aunt Janet Jackson. "I just want to say I love him so much."

Custody of Jackson's three children is one of the biggest legal issues still unresolved. In his 2002 will, Jackson made his wishes clear — his three children should remain under the care of his mother, Katherine.

Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of Paris and her 12-year-old brother, Prince Michael, has indicated she may seek custody. The surrogate mother of Jackson's youngest child, 7-year-old Prince Michael II, is unknown. A custody hearing was scheduled for Monday.

As the world paused to remember Jackson, authorities released his death certificate, which did not list a cause of death. The official determination will likely wait until toxicology results are completed, which could be weeks away.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said Jackson's brain, or at least part of it, was still being held by investigators and would be returned to the family for interment once neuropathology tests were completed.

Jackson's final resting place was another unknown. Permission is needed to bury him at his former home, Neverland Ranch. A private memorial was held at a cemetery in the Hollywood Hills that is the resting place of many stars, but it does not appear Jackson will be buried among them.

Then there's Jackson's money. He died deeply in debt, but left an estate potentially worth $500 million and his enduring star power with its tremendous earning potential.

Jackson's financial adviser, Tohme Tohme, said on TODAY that he had fired Jackson staff members in an effort to get the star's finances untangled.

"I saw that there was a lot of money being wasted and a lot of people taking advantage of the situation," Tohme said.

He said Jackson didn't appear to care about money. "He said, ‘It's your department, not mine.'"

Former Sony Music chairman and CEO Tommy Mottola has said Jackson left dozens of songs that included newer material and leftover works from some of his biggest albums. Mottola predicted the potential playlist was bigger than the one left behind by Elvis Presley.

The singer also left behind an elaborate production dubbed "The Dome Project," which could be Jackson's last complete video piece. Little is publicly known about the production, but its existence has been confirmed by two knowledgeable sources who spoke to The Associated Press on condition they not be identified because they signed confidentiality agreements.

There also is more than 100 hours of footage of preparations for his London concerts, which were canceled because of his death. Randy Phillips, president and CEO of concert promoter AEG Live, said last week the company also has enough material for two live albums.

Michael Jackson will not be allowed to rest in peace at his beloved Neverland Ranch.

The singer's family, who wanted a funeral at Jackson's former home north of Santa Barbara, was not able to obtain a residential exemption required for a burial on private property.

"Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland," says a Jackson family statement. "Plans are underway regarding a public memorial for Michael Jackson, and we will announce those plans shortly."

Colony Capital, the investment company that purchased Neverland in May 2008, tried to get an exemption for burial. "They couldn't get it in time," a Colony spokesperson says.

As for reports that Jackson's body is being held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, William Martin, communications director for the funeral home, won't confirm or deny if Jackson will be buried there.

The hardscrabble city of Gary, Ind., which rose to prosperity in its steelmaking heyday and saw its fortunes fall with the industry, sees an opportunity in the death of its most famous native: Michael Jackson.

The mayor is calling Jackson's modest boyhood home the new Graceland, and others hope to use Jackson's name to raise funds for a museum.

But Jackson and his family, like so many others, left the northwest Indiana city behind a long time ago.

Flags flew at half staff outside Gary's City Hall on Friday as Jackson's hits, including "Bad," blared inside the building intercom system. Outside Jackson's childhood home, fans danced to a boombox playing "Thriller" and performed his trademark Moonwalk on the street.

Major Rudy Clay said he would like to transform the downtrodden community into a mecca for the pop singer's fans. He said even he'd like to arrange to have the pop icon, who died Thursday at the age of 50, buried in Gary, though he has not broached that possibility with Jackson's family.

"If they can do it for Elvis Presley in Graceland, we can do it for Michael Jackson in Gary," Clay, 73, told The Associated Press.

But tourism experts said they were skeptical that Gary could really draw Jackson fans.

For one, Jackson only lived in this community about 30 miles southeast of Chicago through the age of 11. Since then, the pop star rarely visited.

Michael Jackson had been considering releasing his next music album as a videogame, it has emerged

The singer, who died last Thursday aged 50, discussed the idea with veteran games developer David Perry prior to the announcement of his comeback string of concerts at the 02 Arena in London.

It would have seen a collection of songs Jackson was working on being put out as part of a videogame first before being released as a standalone album.

“This would have introduced many new players to videogames,” says Perry, who had visited Jackson's Neverland ranch to discuss the idea before the superstar was forced to sell the property due to mounting debts.

“He was incredibly interested in the idea, and we got quite far down that road, working on the story and mechanics. We were excited about the press potential.”

Perry, who is an executive videogame industry consultant and founded Shiny Entertainment, makers of Earthworm Jim in 1993, revealed the plans in a post on his website, dperry.com, following the singer's death.

He wrote: “Michael Jackson was a gamer, he wanted me to come up to Neverland and talk to him about games.”

He added: “I feel lucky to have spent time with him, I think the music industry lost a major part of its history, I know his children will be devastated, and for people like me that spent time with him, that got to see the "real" guy, (outside of his celebrity) the world lost a really great person too.”

Jackson's love of videogames was well documented and he had a gaming arcade as part of his multi-million dollar Neverland ranch.

Jackson's last rehearsal, filmed on the eve of his death and recorded in multi-camera, high-definition video, could be released as the performer's last album, according to several sources close to the now-defunct concert tour. The recordings were made as part of concert promotion company AEG Live's deal with Jackson, which included a plan to produce both an album and DVD of what Jackson had billed his "final performance" tour, titled "This Is It." The recordings also could be used to produce both a DVD or Blu-ray disc of the entertainer's last performance – the entertainer singing his greatest hits.

One AEG official is reported to have boasted to a colleague: "We have a live album in the can." The rehearsal, which went on for several hours, included dancers, musicians and aerial performers. Patrick Woodroffe, lighting designer, watched the final rehearsal. He said: "We had rehearsed for the last couple weeks. We put together a complicated show, quite a spectacular show. Of course a huge part of it was him, and I would say for the last week he hadn't really been with us. He would appear, and he would rehearse sometimes, and he would not rehearse." Randy Phillips, president of AEG Live, has refused to comment for the story.

Obama writes to Jackson family

President Barack Obama has written to Jackson's family to express his condolences, one of his aides said. Mr Obama has not made any public comment on Jackson's death but his senior adviser David Axelrod told NBC: "The President obviously believes that Michael Jackson was an important and magnificent performer and obviously he led a sad life in many ways as well but his impact is undeniable. The President has written to the family and has shared his feelings".

'Use your O2 refund to try something new'

The Culture Secretary, Ben Bradshaw, said the "vast majority" of fans would get refunds on tickets for Jackson's 50 planned concerts at the O2 in London, and called on them to spend the money on other events this summer. "My understanding is that for those people who bought their tickets through bona fide means ... that they are entitled to a refund." The online shopping site eBay said users would get their money back. The retailer Seatwave and the ticket exchange site viagogo also said they would offer refunds.

The hit machine keeps on rolling...

Michael Jackson topped the album chart and made six new entries in the singles top 40, yesterday, six years after his last number one. His Number Ones album, that features his biggest hits, raced up the charts from 121 to number one. That album earned Jackson his last number one hit when it was released in 2003. Four of his other hit albums also reappeared in the top 20 today. A total of 11 Michael Jackson or Jackson Five albums were back in this week's Top 200, the Official Charts Company revealed. Thriller, still the biggest-selling album in history, surged from 179 to number seven. The single, "Man in the Mirror", re-entered the charts at number 11, nearly 20 years after its release. Jackson hits accounted for all but one of the new entries in this week's top 40 singles. A spokesman for HMV said: "We've seen this [posthumous comeback] with John Lennon, Elvis, Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra. Michael Jackson in particular, he was just on the cusp of a big comeback anyway."

Plan for Neverland to become 'new Graceland'

Speculative reports suggest that Jackson's home, Neverland, could be turned into a tourist mausoleum much like the late Elvis Presley's home, Graceland, with Jackson's grave as the central attraction. The proposal has apparently come from Tohme Tohme, Jackson's former manager and special ambassador to Senegal. Mr Tohme works with Colony Capital LLC, the firm that holds the mortgage note on Neverland. Their idea is to turn the estate into a new Graceland. The idea is likely to be met by substantial legal issues, including a permit to bury someone on site. Neverland is on a two-lane country road opposite a school, in the hills above the Santa Ynez Valley, which many locals feel is not equipped for heavy traffic.

Michael Jackson still had a faint pulse and his body was warm when his doctor found him in bed and not breathing, a lawyer for the doctor told The Associated Press.

Edward Chernoff also said Dr. Conrad Murray never prescribed or gave Jackson the drugs Demerol or OxyContin. He denied reports suggesting Murray gave Jackson drugs that contributed to his death.

Chernoff told the AP that Murray was at the pop icon's rented mansion on Thursday afternoon when he discovered Jackson in bed and not breathing. The doctor immediately began administering CPR, Chernoff said.

"He just happened to find him in his bed, and he wasn't breathing," the lawyer said. "Mr. Jackson was still warm and had a pulse."

Jackson's family requested a private autopsy in part because of questions about Murray, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday. Murray also told the family an autopsy should be performed, Chernoff said.

Three days after the death of the King of Pop, celebrities descended on Los Angeles for a spectacular celebration of Jackson's life at the annual BET awards show.

Joe Jackson, Michael's father, walked on the red carpet wearing a black hat, sunglasses and a dark suit. He did not appear on stage during the show.

"I just wish he could be here to celebrate himself," he said. "Sadly, he's not here, so I'm here to celebrate for him."

In a statement read at the show, Jackson's parents said they solely had the personal and legal "authority for our son and his children." It was their strongest declaration yet about their son's affairs.

A tearful Janet Jackson appeared on stage in a white dress at the end of the BET awards. After a long pause to gather herself, she spoke haltingly but deliberately to the audience.

"I'd just like to say that to you, Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family. And he will forever live in all of our hearts," she said.

People close to Michael Jackson have said since his death that they were concerned about his use of painkillers. Los Angeles County medical examiners completed their autopsy Friday and said Jackson had taken unspecified prescription medication.

Chernoff said any drugs the doctor gave Jackson were prescribed in response to a specific complaint from the entertainer.

"Dr. Murray has never prescribed nor administered Demerol to Michael Jackson," Chernoff said. "Not ever. Not that day. ... Not Oxycontin (either) for that matter."

Paramedics were called to the mansion while the doctor was performing CPR, according to a recording of the emergency call.

Because Jackson was so frail, Murray "administered with his hand behind his back to provide the necessary support," Chernoff said. Some have speculated the doctor botched the CPR.

"He's a trained doctor," Chernoff said. "He knows how to administer CPR."

Medics spent three-quarters of an hour trying to revive Jackson. He was pronounced dead later at UCLA Medical Center.

Murray was interviewed by investigators for three hours Saturday. His spokeswoman called Murray "a witness to this tragedy," not a suspect in the death, and police described the doctor as cooperative.

The attorney said Murray will wait to speak publicly until after the police and forensics investigation is complete.

"One of his best friends just died, essentially in his arms — yeah he's looking forward to telling his story," Chernoff said.

Chernoff also said the promoter of Jackson's 50-show London concerts, AEG Live, owes the cardiologist $300,000.

"His contract with the promoters states he would receive an amount of money each month to be his (Jackson's) personal physician and they have failed to honor that contract," Chernoff said. "They are two months behind."

Randy Phillips, president and CEO of AEG Live, acknowledged the contract called for Murray to be paid $150,000 a month, but said the contract required Jackson's signature.

"Michael never signed the contract," Phillips said.

He also said the doctor's claim for payment may be against Jackson's estate, not AEG which was merely advancing the money to Jackson.

A private pathologist hired by the Jackson family completed a second, private autopsy Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the case.

A second autopsy can allow the family to get some information about a death almost immediately, including signs of heart, brain or lung disease or fresh needle punctures, said Dr. Michael Baden, a medical examiner not involved in the Jackson case.

"Usually if it looks normal with the naked eye, it looks normal under the microscope," said Baden, who recently performed a second autopsy on actor David Carradine.

Los Angeles County coroner's officials said their autopsy found no indication of trauma or foul play. But because of additional tests, an official cause of death could take weeks to determine.

There was no word from the Jackson family on funeral plans. Many of Jackson's relatives have gathered at the family's Encino compound, caring there for Jackson's three children.

Al Sharpton, who arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, said he was heading to the Jackson compound and would talk with the family about how to memorialize the late pop star. Sharpton said they want to hold memorials in key cities around the globe and also planned a memorial service Tuesday at the Apollo Theater in New York.

It also wasn't clear what would become of Jackson's Neverland Ranch. Investor Thomas Barrack previously set up the joint venture with Michael Jackson after the singer nearly lost the ranch to foreclosure.

Barrack feels close to family members and wants to hear their thoughts on how best to honor Jackson's memory, said Owen Blicksilver, a spokesman for Colony Capital LLC, the Los Angeles-based firm where Barrack is chairman and CEO. The investor joined Jackson's brother Jackie, Jermaine and Tito for lunch Saturday at the sprawling Santa Barbara County property.

A White House adviser said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that President Barack Obama had written to the Jackson family to express his condolences.

A tearful Janet Jackson made her first public appearance since her brother's death today as she joined a host of stars honouring the King of Pop.

The singer struggled to speak as she thanked people for their support at the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards in Los Angeles.

During emotional remarks, she spoke of her family's loss: "To you Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts."

Her father Joe Jackson also attended the star-studded event. He sat in the front row at the Shrine Auditorium as a succession of singers and actors paid tribute to his son and celebrated the musical legacy he left behind.

The BET Awards ceremony was always due to take place today. But after the announcement of Michael Jackson's death on Thursday, it was decided that the event would be turned into a celebration of his life and music.

"When we heard that he had passed, we knew we had to revamp this year's show and make it special for him," BET's chief executive Debra Lee said.

Host Jamie Foxx got the show off to a fitting start.

With a Jackson 5 medley pumping through the auditorium, the actor moonwalked on stage wearing a Jacksonesque red jacket and white glove.

Addressing the celebrity guests, Foxx said: "No need to be sad. We want to celebrate this black man. We gonna go through all of Michael Jackson."

And celebrate the music they did. Most of the acts incorporated classic Jackson tunes into their performance in a night when award winners had no chance of stealing the show from the absent main attraction.

In between musical tributes, guests were invited to share their memories and thoughts of Jackson.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs said the singer "knocked down barriers" for black artists like himself. "Love you Mike," he added.

Picking up an award for best female R'n'B artist, Beyonce - who had earlier dedicated a version of Ave Maria to the late singer - held aloft her trophy and said: "This is for you Michael Jackson. I have to thank Michael for being my future and hero."

Other stars who paid tribute to the late singer included basketball star LeBron James and singer Ne-Yo. The R'n'B star said of Jackson: "He's the man who made it possible for me to be on the stage. I love you and I miss you."

Jackson's father said that he thought that his son would have approved of the tribute.

Mr Jackson said: "I think if Michael was here he would enjoy the celebrations. He couldn't be here but it's like he is larger than he was before.

"Michael gives his love to everybody and we hope that his record will never be broken."

Asked how he would like his son to be remembered, the grieving father replied: "I would like him to be remembered forever around the world. And we know that all over the world, everybody is supporting him at the moment."

Janet Jackson's appearance drew an emotional response from the audience.

Taking to the stage, the tearful singer said: "On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all your love."

After she spoke, the celebrity crowd rose to its feet. After a standing ovation during which more than one celebrity was seen to be wiping away tears, Foxx and Ne-Yo sang Jackson's I'll Be There to the backdrop of photos of the star.