On second thought, the Michael Jackson memorial organizers got it right.
There couldn’t have been a better tribute to the King of Pop, who died nearly two weeks ago of cardiac arrest. Some of the biggest names in the music industry, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and John Maher, performed his songs. Even Michael’s older brother Jermaine mustered the strength to sing, “Smile”.

Michael’s former girlfriend Brooke Shields revealed that “Smile” was Michael’s favorite song because he was a fan of Charlie Chaplin, and she said the news headlines considered her and Michael to be an odd couple in the 1980s, but she said it was a very natural friendship.

Michael’s mother sat front and center beside her son’s three children, Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket, during the public memorial on Tuesday at L.A.’s Staples Center. Also in attendance were his five brothers, who wore a glitter glove in homage to Michael, along with his three sisters. The family even allowed the casket with Michael’s body to be brought to the arena, where it rested on a lower stage.

Michael Jackson’s brother Marlon, his mentor Smokey Robinson, and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy also revealed intimate details about the pop icon. Wasn’t it heart-warming that Marlon recognized his little brother in a record store by his shoes even though Michael was disguised as an old man?
NBA players Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson also disclosed little known information about the King of Pop. Magic Johnson joked about ditching the grilled chicken Michael’s chef cooked for him to share MJ’s food from Kentucky Fried Chicken while sitting on the floor of the pop star’s mansion. Kobe said Michael contributed to more charities than any other artist complements of his USA for Africa and Heal the World campaigns.
And of course, Michael’s only daughter Paris Jackson tugged at everyone’s heart strings when she grabbed the microphone to declare how much she missed “the best father” she could ever have as her aunts and uncles consoled her on the stage.

So the nearly one million fans who traveled to L.A. to be in the midst and the millions more who stayed at home to watch the memorial on television witnessed more than we were entitled to see and we didn’t even need one of those 19,500 golden tickets and wristbands. During the days before the memorial, fans visiting from all over the world and right in L.A. were able to give their respects on several Michael Jackson tribute walls outside the Staples Center. I wrote to Michael: “U did more in 50 yrs than most do in 100 yrs”.
The memorial was broadcast live to an estimated one billion viewers. It was carried on all of America’s major television stations and on news organizations from throughout the world in addition to online media organizations.
Michael Jackson’s family and close friends didn’t have to share their grief with the world, but they recognized the need to allow the King of Pop’s millions of worldwide fans to say goodbye and the memorial organizers put together a show worthy of who Gordy labeled “the greatest performer that ever lived”.

By Teneshia LaFaye

Buy a limited edition I Was There, King of Pop Commemorative Journal featuring many of these stories to remember the positive side of Michael Jackson’s life. The journal went on sale at the pop icon’s public memorial in L.A., and a limited supply is left over. Don’t let this moment pass you by. Get the journal while supplies last as a keepsake for MJ’s passing with spaces for your personal experience and pictures.

To receive your copy, please send $8 per copy in cash or money order to King of Pop Journal, 3832-10 Baymeadows Rd., Suite 205, Jacksonville, FL 32217 and make sure your name and address is on the envelope.

Or you can buy now for $7.35:

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