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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Family, the world say goodbye to King of Pop
Source: Agencies |
July 8, 2009, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MICHAEL Jackson was mourned yesterday in a private service attended by his family and then commemorated in a star-studded event featuring a long list of world celebrities and televised to millions of fans around the globe.
Jackson's family members and dozens of friends, led by his parents, Joe and Katherine, were seen entering a building at the Hollywood Hills cemetery yesterday morning. News reports estimated as many as 20 helicopters circled overhead.
After the private ceremony, Jackson's golden casket was taken to the singer's public memorial at the Los Angeles Staples Center. Among the celebrities expected to attend were Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III.
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."
Police blocked off roads and warned those without tickets to stay away because they would not be able to get near the downtown venue.
Inside the Staples Center, a stage was bathed in blue light and a spray of yellow and orange flowers was placed in front of a podium. The backdrop featured a photo of a smiling Jackson looking up toward the sky and the words: "In loving memory of Michael Jackson King of Pop. 1958-2009."
Outside the arena, video billboards showed a montage of pictures from Jackson's life, including those of the singer as a child, with celebrities such as Luciano Pavarotti and Marcel Marceau, and with members of his family.
Some fans were allowed past street barriers into the immediate area around the Staples Center early yesterday. Dozens of street vendors sold T-shirts, photos, buttons and other Jackson memorabilia.
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.
Los Angeles was the epicenter of Jackson-mania, but the outpouring of emotion was worldwide. Belgium's two national public broadcasters planned to broadcast the memorial live, and several hundred Jackson fans gathered at a Hong Kong mall late yesterday.
Holding white candles, Hong Kong singer William Chan and Taiwan pop star Judy Chou led the audience in observing a 30-second silence. Many of the fans clutched red roses and wore black; some donned Jackson's trademark fedora hats.
In America, about 50 movie theaters across the country, from Los Angeles to Topeka, Kansas, and Washington, DC, planned to show the memorial live, for free. Jackson died at age 50 on June 25.
"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 Website yesterday to allow fans to help it pay for the Staples Center memorial service, estimated to cost up to US$4 million.
Jackson's family members and dozens of friends, led by his parents, Joe and Katherine, were seen entering a building at the Hollywood Hills cemetery yesterday morning. News reports estimated as many as 20 helicopters circled overhead.
After the private ceremony, Jackson's golden casket was taken to the singer's public memorial at the Los Angeles Staples Center. Among the celebrities expected to attend were Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III.
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."
Police blocked off roads and warned those without tickets to stay away because they would not be able to get near the downtown venue.
Inside the Staples Center, a stage was bathed in blue light and a spray of yellow and orange flowers was placed in front of a podium. The backdrop featured a photo of a smiling Jackson looking up toward the sky and the words: "In loving memory of Michael Jackson King of Pop. 1958-2009."
Outside the arena, video billboards showed a montage of pictures from Jackson's life, including those of the singer as a child, with celebrities such as Luciano Pavarotti and Marcel Marceau, and with members of his family.
Some fans were allowed past street barriers into the immediate area around the Staples Center early yesterday. Dozens of street vendors sold T-shirts, photos, buttons and other Jackson memorabilia.
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.
Los Angeles was the epicenter of Jackson-mania, but the outpouring of emotion was worldwide. Belgium's two national public broadcasters planned to broadcast the memorial live, and several hundred Jackson fans gathered at a Hong Kong mall late yesterday.
Holding white candles, Hong Kong singer William Chan and Taiwan pop star Judy Chou led the audience in observing a 30-second silence. Many of the fans clutched red roses and wore black; some donned Jackson's trademark fedora hats.
In America, about 50 movie theaters across the country, from Los Angeles to Topeka, Kansas, and Washington, DC, planned to show the memorial live, for free. Jackson died at age 50 on June 25.
"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 Website yesterday to allow fans to help it pay for the Staples Center memorial service, estimated to cost up to US$4 million.
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