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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2009 > July > 07 > Entry

By Michael Corcoran | Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 03:17 PM

3:00: Before the memorial, broadcasters were wondering if the mood was going to be too celebratory. Some kids were waving their tickets like they were going to a Michael Jackson concert. But the audience of 16,000 was reverent, respectful. It’s been hard the past 10 days to get a sense of what Jackson’s death has meant to so many, but at this memorial you could feel the love. Perhaps the saddest part is not knowing if Michael Jackson, the subject of so much ridicule in his life, was aware that he’d be the focus of so much love in his death.

2:55: Wait, we’re not done yet. This service doesn’t want to end. The Rev. Lucius from the beginning is back to ladle on more superlatives. Then he leads the worldwide audience in a prayer. Talk about anti-climatic.

2:41: Michael’s kid Paris Katherine Jackson ends it by saying Michael was the best father any kid could have. Then, as the casket is carried away the band plays “Man In the Mirror” as exit music. The camera fixes on an empty microphone.

2:40: After an awkward silence of about two minutes Jermaine Jackson says “Thank you,” then Marlon breaks down and says “I’m hurt.” The long story Marlon tells would’ve been better in the middle of the show. “Maybe now Michael, they will leave you alone.”

2:39: The show goes on one song too many. The cast sings “Heal the World.” This is just corny. A billion people are wondering why the memorial didn’t end with “We Are the World.”

2:30: Jackson’s band and singers, who were to play 50 concerts in London, sing “We Are the World.” Cameras show crowds all over the country swaying and singing along. This is what Michael Jackson was all about, getting people together.

2:25: 12-year-old Brit Shaheen Jafargholi wails on “Who’s Lovin’ You.” Shaheen was apparently going to be part of Jackson’s “This Is It” shows in London.

2:18: An adorable Michael Jackson sings “Who’s Lovin’ You” on the “Ed Sullivan Show.” Then Smokey Robinson, the song’s writer, comes out and tells a funny story about how he had to check a 10-year-old Michael’s birth certificate because he didn’t think someone that young could pull the emotions out on the song. “That’s my little brother,” Robinson said, motioning to the casket.

2:14: Usher sings “Gone Too Soon” under a photo montage of Jackson. Now he’s walking over to the casket in midsong. A bit of melodrama. Usher takes off his sunglasses at the end of the song and falls into the arms of the Jackson brothers.

2:03: Texas is in the house. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston) is speaking for the House of Representatives. “We understand the Constitution.We know that people are innocent until proven otherwise.” Huge applause.

1:56: Dr. King’s kids, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, address the crowd. Ms. King recalls a phone call to her mother Coretta King from Michael “all the way from the Middle East” that brought comfort on her deathbed.

1:54: Right after Shields mentioned that “Smile” was Michael’s favorite song, brother Jermain Jackson wearing a sequined gove, comes out and sings it. “Smile, what’s the use of crying?”

1:42: Brooke Shields is overcome with emotion. “We had a bond and maybe it was because we both knew what it was like to be in the spotlight at a young age… Both of us needed to be adults very early, but when we were together we were two little kids, having fun.” Very touching memories from someone who truly knew Michael Jackson. “Smile though your heart is aching.”

1:36: John Mayer plays an electric guitar instrumental version of “Human Nature,” then is joined by voices after a couple of minutes. The number comes off more as background music than center stage.

1:27: Al Sharpton being Al Sharpton. “There are those who like to dig around messes, but millions around the world, we’re going to uphold his message.” Jesse Jackson’s gotta be kicking himself for not thinking of that one. A bit of revisionism from Rev. Al: “Every time Michael got knocked down he got back up.” Number of times he performed after his 2005 trial: 0.

1:20: Jennifer Hudson sings “Will You Be There.” The First AME Church of Los Angeles is rocking. And they’re dancing in Harlem. We haven’t seen so many different locations since the Obama election.

A lot of dark glasses inside the Staples Center.

1:15: Kobe Bryant talks about MJ’s charity work. Magic Johnson talks about meeting Michael’s older brother Jackie. Who knew the Jacksons were such softball fans? Magic credits Michael with making him a better point guard. (Huh?) Then says the greatest moment of his life was eating a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken with Michael.

1:05: A video montage of Jackson performing is followed by a clearly distraught Stevie Wonder onstage. “This is a moment that I wished I didn’t see come,” Wonder says. The first truly emotional moment of the memorial. Sound problems on CNN while Stevie sings “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer.”

12:56: Lionel Richie sings “Jesus Is Love” with the backing of a full, interracial choir. Then out comes Berry Gordy, the Motown founder. Gordy talks about the Jackson 5 and Michael in particular. “Michael had a quality that I couldn’t completely understand, but we all knew he was special.”

Gordy gets a huge applause when he calls Jackson “simply the greatest entertainer who has ever lived.”

12:53: Queen Latifah reads a poem “Dr.” Maya Angelou wrote about Michael. “We had him and we are the world.”

12:46: Mariah Carey sings “I’ll Be There.” Is her voice cracking from emotion? Mariah’s missing the high notes she usually nails. By the way, who’s Trey Lorenz? (Ed. note: Lorenz is a long-time Carey back-up singer who sang “I’ll Be There” with her on her MTV Unplugged show in 1992.)

Pastor Lucius Smith gives opening remarks. “May this moment of remembrance, a moment of feeling, a moment of music and a moment of love, bring comfort to those who loved our friend.”

12:26: “Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king/ Hallelujah,” starts the first song, from a gospel choir. The rose covered-casket it placed in front of the stage. The audience is intensely somber.

Over at ABC, Charlie Gibson is using the example of wedding bands butchering MJ’s music as a measure of his greatness. Martin Bashir tells a long, meaningless anecdote about Princess Di. Please, let this long pause be over.

Fox is showing rehearsal footage of Jackson at the Staples Center two days before he died. He looks in good shape.

12:16: Smokey Robinson opens the ceremony reading a message from Diana Ross, who couldn’t be there. Then another one from Nelson Mandela. A silence fell over the Staples Center for a good minute, without anyone asking for it. Then a couple of yahoos wanted to have their voices heard so they acted like they were at the old Arsenio Hall show. Then silence again. Powerful.

12:13: Running late.

Estimates put the worldwide audience at one billion people.

Radio host Tom Joiner said, “I’m glad to see that the news is focusing on his legacy and not on the controversy. For us in radio, especially black radio, he’s family. He’s a brother. He’s a part of every African American’s family. We want to celebrate his life. We don’t want to hear all the negative stuff.” Amen.

11:58: The motorcade arrives at Staples. Now MSNBC hosts can stop poring over the program and what it means that father Joe Jackson is not mentioned.

11:46 (MSNBC): The motorcade is all black cars, except for a single white car containing the kids. Wonder why the the route from Forest Lawn to the Staples Center wasn’t made public? No one’s lining the streets.

“It’s such an odd vibe,” Nancy O’Dell of “Access Hollywood” said of the Oscars-like celebratory mood at the Staples Center before the memorial.

11:34 a.m.: As the golden casket is enroute from Forest Lawn in Burbank to the Staples Center in downtown L.A., let’s get ready for what promises to be the most over-the-top memorial service ever.

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By kim hanna

September 4, 2009 12:11 PM | Link to this

i just want to say that i loved and still do love michael jackson. i hope doctor murray gets whats coming to him. i loved all his songs.he was my hereo.