Some 20,000 people gathered inside the Staples Center on Tuesday for a somber, spiritual ceremony, watched by untold millions more around the world as they celebrated a man whose immense talents almost drowned beneath the spectacle of his life and fame. A star-studded lineup of performers closely linked to Jackson’s life and music reached back for the essence of the man. They remembered Jackson as an unparalleled singer, dancer and humanitarian whose music united people of all backgrounds. “Don’t focus on the scars, focus on the journey,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose fiery eulogy was an emotional high point of the service.
“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.
It was strange what your daddy had to deal with!” he said to Jackson’s three children in the front row, drawing the longest ovation of the service. Jackson’s daughter, Paris-Michael, later provided the only real surprise of the service: the first public statement of her 11 years. “Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father I could imagine,” she said, dissolving into tears and turning into the embrace of her aunt Janet. “I just want to say I love him so much.
” Unlike Jackson’s life, the ceremony was not spectacular, extravagant or bizarre. 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 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.
” 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 elsewhere were Elizabeth Taylor, Ross and Debbie Rowe, Jackson’s ex-wife and the mother of Jackson’s two oldest children. 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.
“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. Then Mariah Carey sang “I’ll Be There.
” Queen Latifah read a poem composed by Maya Angelou for Jackson. “Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon,” Angelou wrote.
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