Yesterday morning, here in Los Angeles, CA, thousands of family, friends and fans of Michael Jackson paid tribute and homage to the late King of Pop in a respectful, somber yet mostly celebratory memorial service at the Staples Center in downtown LA (which you may have watched online HERE). David and I were at yesterday’s memorial service and I will share my personal experience from the event a little later on today … but I will say that it was a very beautiful, very fitting tribute to Michael Jackson. Family and friends eulogized him with words and songs as his shining casket, reportedly with his body inside, stood at the front of the venue for those in attendance to pay their respects. Here are a few photos and some info about the event itself:

His was a tumultuous life and a chaotic death, but Michael Jackson’s funeral and memorial Tuesday were orderly and celebratory, moving and bittersweet, as family, friends and fans around the world joined in lamenting the loss of the King of Pop. It was one of the most-watched celebrity sendoffs in history, telecast across multiple channels and streamed across the Internet. But the predicted traffic and crowd-control nightmares did not materialize. Thousands of police officers helped keep the ticketless crowd to a minimum — about 1,000 people vs. the 250,000 feared — and the motorcade with Jackson’s hearse encountered few problems traveling blocked-off freeways to downtown. The goodbye to Jackson started early with a private service for family and close friends at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills. (A crash was heard as drivers slowed to watch the procession leave the cemetery). A star-crowded memorial program followed, at the downtown Staples Center, that was spiritual, smoothly entertaining and jubilantly roof-raising as Jackson was hailed as a superstar and humanitarian. “The King of Pop has gone to meet the King of Kings,” intoned the Rev. Lucious Smith, pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church in Pasadena. It was a day filled with touching moments, perhaps the most poignant when Jackson’s daughter, Paris, 11, took the microphone. “I just want to say ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine. And I just wanted to say I love him so much,” she said, breaking into tears. That followed two hours of farewell tributes from musicians, athletes and friends of Michael Joseph Jackson, who died suddenly June 25 at age 50. The crowd of 20,000 was alternately reverent and boisterous. They watched in solemn silence as the likes of Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey sang sweetly, and older brother Jermaine crooned Smile, the theme from Charlie Chaplin’s classic film Modern Times. Usher sang Jackson’s sadly prescient Gone Too Soon as he caressed the golden casket spotlighted in front of the stage and draped in flowers. But when Kobe Bryant walked in, many jumped to their feet and started cheering and taking pictures; some reached over for high-fives. They cheered loud approval for the Rev. Al Sharpton’s fiery eulogy and laughed at a story Magic Johnson told about fried chicken. And they snapped photos with phones and rained shout-outs of “I love you, Michael!” during lulls … Other celebrities in the crowd: Cicely Tyson; P. Diddy; Rick, Kathy and Nicky Hilton; Lil Kim; Chris Brown; and Tatum O’Neal. Diana Ross and Nelson Mandela sent messages. Also absent: Jackson’s longtime pal Elizabeth Taylor, who said in a Twitter post she couldn’t bear to be part of the public hoopla, and Debbie Rowe, Jackson’s ex-wife and mother of Jackson’s two oldest children. Outside the Staples Center, the mood was festive. Vendors hawked T-shirts, buttons, photos and other memorabilia … As the memorial service ended, Jackson’s three children and eight siblings — his brothers were all wearing one beaded white glove in his honor — gathered onstage to say thanks. “We will never understand what he endured … being judged, ridiculed,” said brother Marlon, choking up. “Maybe, now, Michael, they will leave you alone.” The Rev. Smith closed by noting: “All around us are people of different cultures, different religions, different nationalities. And yet the music of Michael Jackson brings us together.” After the memorial, the family went to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for a private reception. It was unclear whether Jackson’s casket would be returned to Forest Lawn for burial or taken to another final resting place.

I have to tell you that I was touched by the service more than I thought I would be. As I’ve tried to make clear, I’m not the biggest Michael Jackson fan in the world (there are plenty of uberfans all around the globe who are more fitting of that title than I) but I really wanted to pay respects to such an icon of pop culture. I didn’t count in being as affected by the memorial service as I was. Mariah Carey’s performance brought the first tears to my eyes … Brooke Shields’s eulogy brought them back. When Paris Michael Katherine, MJ’s 11 year old only daughter, spoke at the end of the service I absolutely burst out crying. There wasn’t a dry eye anywhere in our vicinity. Paris’s comments were so heartfelt, so honest … so raw. I’m sure it was difficult for most to keep from crying as she declared her love for her daddy. She said, “I just want to say… ever since I was born…. daddy has been the best father you can imagine. And I just want to say I love him so much.” In case you missed it, you can watch Paris’s short speech after the jump …

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Good Morning America aired some very special, previously unseen home video footage of Michael Jackson in happier times with his young children, Prince Michael Joseph and Paris Michael Katherine in the years between 1999-2003 … at a time when he was still happily married to his second wife Debbie Rowe, was still living at the Neverland Ranch, before the birth of his third child (Prince Michael Joseph, II aka Blanket) and before he was brought up on a second round of charges of child molestation. The home video is painfully sweet and gives us a different look at the man that we believed we knew. Here are a few screencaps from the GMA footage that has been made available:

Those of you who remember this period in MJ’s life know that he was absolutely private and generally out of public eye for some time. It was ages before we saw him out and about with his children. It was not until he agreed to do the interview with Martin Bashir, Living with Michael Jackson, (after the birth of his third child) that he really opened himself up to the media (and, as you may recall, it was one of the young boys who was featured in that interview that leveled the second round of child molestation charges against him). The home video comes from an earlier, more innocent time. It really is something to see — after the jump, check it out in full …

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Michael Jackson spent some more time away from the rehearsal studio for his upcoming 50 date concert residency at the O2 Arena in London, England (which gets underway in just a little over a month from now) to take his children — unmasked — to a recording studio in SoCal this week. Jacko, with only Prince Michael Joseph and Paris Michael Katherine in tow (Prince Michael Joseph II was not allowed to come along presumably because he got to go to the medical center with Jacko by himself earlier this week), did force his kids to wear masks for part of the day …

… but eventually allowed his kiddies to show their faces, completely unmasked:

Since Michael Jackson’s children were first unveiled from their masked existence a year ago, they haven’t been seen since without their face covered. But yesterday Prince Michael I, 12, and Paris Michael, 11, were seen enjoying the fresh air with their faces revealed to the world as they joined their famous father at a Los Angeles recording studio. Not realising they could be seen from the street, Prince and Paris looked like regular pre-teens as they strolled through the car park. It was only when they left the studio two hours later, they were wearing masks again. Also joining the Jacksons at the building was High School Musical director Kenny Ortega, who is creative director of the star’s This Is It UK tour. Michael has been hard at work in recent weeks preparing for his 50-date residency at London’s O2 Arena, which kicks off on July 13. He recently upset fans when he postponed the first four dates by a week, meaning many are frantically trying to rearrange travel plans. The Thriller singer has kept his children’s lives shrouded in mystery since he first became a father in 1997. As well as fathering Prince and Paris with ex-wife Debbie Rowe, Michael also has a seven-year-old Prince Michael II, aka Blanket. While the physical similarities between the elder Prince and Paris is striking, Blanket is much darker than his older siblings in skin tone and hair colour. Blanket was the child famously dangled off a hotel balcony in Germany in November 2002. In an interview last year, former nurse Debbie insisted it was her choice to have the children’s faces covered. She said: “The veils were my idea, not Michael’s. I had kidnap threats when they were babies. I did not want them to be recognised.” Despite widespread belief the children are not biologically his, Michael insists he is the father of all three. During his infamous 2003 interview with Martin Bashir, he said: “I used a surrogate mother (for Blanket) and my own sperm cells. I had my own sperm cells in my other two children. They are all my children but I used a surrogate mother and she doesn’t know me, I don’t know her.” Debbie reiterated in 2008: “Of course it was artificial insemination. Paris was conceived in Paris, that’s how she got her name. I turned out two pretty good-looking kids. For that I am proud.”

Previously, we’ve gotten to see glimpses of the children’s faces sans masks but these new photos how the clearest view of what Michael Jackson’s eldest children look like when they are not waring Mardi Gras feather masks. After the jump, check ‘em out …

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Last week Michael Jackson stepped out with his children — Prince Michael Joseph, Paris Michael Katherine and Prince Michael Joseph II — for a shopping excursion in Beverly Hills, CA where the self-proclaimed King of Pop ventured out in public unmasked in an effort to show the world that he is not hiding skin cancer underneath his trademark surgical mask. This past weekend, the mask was back on as Jacko took his kiddies to the Farmer’s Market at The Grove for a lunch spectacle. As the family was driving away in their car, tho, Jackson’s only daughter Paris waved to the photogs while unmasked!

It’s very rare that the children are allowed to be seen in public without their masks on (Jacko claims the children are required to wear masks to foil would-be kidnappers) so this is a rare look at what his children look like … and, it must be said, they look nothing like him — at all. I don’t understand how anyone can seriously believe that he fathered these children. I’m sure that they are all legally his children but there are absolutely no genetic markers that seem to even hint that he fathered any of these kids. Perhaps that is the real reason the children must be masked at all times? What a strange, strange family. I’m still having a hard time envisioning what Jacko’s big stage concert will look like this Summer. As I mentioned before, David is a HUGE MJ fan and we are going to London to see Jacko perform in September. I’m dying to see if he can really pull off 50 shows at the O2 Arena. I guess we shall soon see.

[Photo credit: X17]

Michael Jackson, who has been holed up in a studio in Burbank, CA for the last few weeks working on rehearsals for his upcoming 50-date residency at the O2 Arena in London, England later on this year, stepped out for a bit of shopping with his masked children — Prince Michael Joseph, Paris Michael Katherine and Prince Michael Joseph, II — in Beverly Hills, CA yesterday unmasked … perhaps in an attempt to prove to the world that he is not suffering from skin cancer as one British report alleges. Additionally, according to TMZ, MJ spent part of his afternoon yesterday dealing with a little matter of a new lawsuit that may hinder his upcoming UK concert stint … just another Friday for the so-called King of Pop:

We’ve learned there was a secret meeting yesterday at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Michael Jackson made it clear — he will not perform with Janet and the Jackson 5; and the dude who organized the concert tour tells us he will sue them. As we first reported, Jacko’s manager signed a deal on behalf of M.J. to perform with his sis and bros at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas in 2010. Part of the deal — that he not sign any other concert deal for 18 months. But then Jacko went and signed up for his London concerts which are scheduled to begin in July. The company that organized the family concert — AllGood Entertainment — got Michael, daddy Joe Jackson and several others in a room yesterday at the Bev Hills Hotel. Joe tried to convince Michael that the family tour should go on, but Michael wouldn’t budge because it would have aired on pay-per-view and M.J. said he doesn’t like pay-per-view! The meeting was heated and no one agreed to anything. Patrick Alloco of AllGood tells us he’s going to sue Jackson and his family next week.

It’s a shame that MJ is vehemently fighting his contractual commitment to perform with his brothers and sister in concert cuz THAT would be a kickass show. But, I’m fairly certain, this impending lawsuit will do nothing to halt his 50-date stint at the O2 Arena. There is no way the promoters of the O2 shows are gonna let anything keep him from getting on that stage when the stint kicks off in July. Michael Jackson sold 1 million tickets in just 4 days … that’s a lot of money. I’m pretty sure that if this lawsuit becomes a real problem, there will be a paid settlement to make it go away. Additionally, I think it’s a very good idea that Jacko keep being seen in public without wearing a mask. The time is drawing very nigh when he’s gonna have to be on stage performing in front of thousands of people on almost a nightly basis. It’s almost time for him to show what he’s got. I can’t wait to see for myself if he is still all that.

[Photo credit: X17; Source]

Now that everyone is worried about contracting the swine flu from going out in public it’s not too surprising to see folks wearing surgical masks these days … so mebbe Michael Jackson thought it would be the perfect opportunity to don is fave mask and take his children — Prince Michael Jackson, Paris Michael Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson, II a.k.a. Blanket — out for a shopping excursion on Melrose Ave. yesterday. Perhaps he thought he might be able to avoid detection by blending it with the other masked shoppers … and he almost got away with it if it weren’t for those fancy red pants he was wearing. Here are a few pics:

Michael Jackson caused a stir in West Hollywood yesterday as he took his three children on a shopping spree. The eccentric pop star enjoyed a chaotic visit to the Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier store with seven-year-old Prince Michael II (known as Blanket), 11-year-old Paris and 12-year-old Prince Michael in tow. The 50-year-old’s children donned school uniforms for the trip and kept their faces covered up with flamboyant carnival masks as they shopped inside. Jackson also opted for the school look and sported a green blazer and red baggy trousers with his trademark surgical mask. After spending over an hour inside the store, the group left the premises while an aide carried their numerous purchases. It was a rare public family outing for the Jackson clan. The star has gone to great lengths to ensure that his children are protected from the media glare and the youngsters’ faces have only been pictured once. Jackson has been locked away in recent months as he rehearses for his 50-night comeback tour at London’s O2 arena this summer.

I always thought it was counterproductive for Jacko to insist that his children wear masks when they go out in public. As I understand it, Jacko wants his kids to wear disguises so that they won’t be targeted by kidnappers. It seems to me that if someone wanted to kidnap his children, they’d know exactly which kids to target … the only kids wearing brightly feathered masks. If you look closely at the insignias on the uniform jackets the kids are wearing, it appears that the logo is an MJ crest of some sort. Clearly, these children are getting the best education possible at the Michael Jackson School of Scholastics. It is so hard not to feel bad for these kids … I cannot even imagine how odd their lives must be.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Here are a few more photos of Michael Jackson and his children — Prince Michael, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II — lookin’ their Halloween best with new masks as they made their way en masse to Borders bookstore in Westwood, CA last night:

You may recall that yesterday we saw that Jacko and the kiddies got a jump-start on their Halloween celebrations this year by doing a bit of trick-or-treating early. Personally, I like these masks much better than their previous masks. I mean, it’s all still very much WTF? but I guess the semi-daily sightings are making them seem more normal? It is Halloween, after all, so … what the hell.

Oh and about that reported Jackson 5 reunion that Jermaine Jackson promised would come in 2009? Yeah, Michael Jackson says that ain’t happening:

Jermaine Jackson made headlines earlier this week, when he hinted that the original members of the Jackson 5 were ready for a comeback album and tour. Alas, Michael Jackson quickly debunked the reunion talk. “My brothers and sisters have my full love and support, and we’ve certainly shared many great experiences,” the King of Pop said in a statement released by his rep, identified as “Dr. Tohme.” “But at this time I have no plans to record or tour with them. I am now in the studio developing new and exciting projects that I look forward to sharing with my fans in concert soon,” he continued. Jackson has been “in L.A. working … and meeting with people like will.i.am,” confirmed one music source, adding, “From what I hear, it’s going really well.”

Of course, none of this surprises me in the least. It seems absolutely impossible for this group of unstable (to say the least) family members to coordinate in any real way that would make a reunion possible. Michael Jackson seems happily ensconced in his own little dream world, flitting about from book store to book store with his costumed children to care at all about working with his family again. We’ve been hearing about these “new projects” for months … years. I’d be shocked if any of the work he’s been reportedly doing with Will.i.am will actually get released. We’ve also heard that Las Vegas big wigs are trying to woo Jacko into undertaking his own Vegas show … I highly doubt that will ever come to be either. I’m sorry, I just have a real hard time believing that Michael Jackson is functionally capable of becoming a performer again. Nothing that I’ve seen or heard from him in the past 10+ years leads me to believe that he is able to reclaim his pretend title as the King of Pop. Altho a bit sad, IMHO, at least he seems happy in his new life with his children. At long last he has a group of kids who he can play with and no outside force can come in and ruin that relationship. Of course, his kids are growing up fast … he better enjoy the playtime while he still can.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin]