The event, broadcast live to the world via television and streaming internet video, was neither the mob scene authorities were expecting nor the bizarre gathering most anticipated, given the 20,000 people gathered inside the Staples Center.
The Associated Press reports that the ceremony was equal parts celebration and mourning, songs and tears. Michael Jackson's memorial was a somber, spiritual ceremony that reached back for the essence of the man.
Jackson's daughter, Paris-Michael, was moved to tears when she took the stage.
One of the more memorable moments was when Jackson's daughter, Paris-Michael, 11, took to the stage and made her first public statement regarding her father's passing.
"Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine," she said, dissolving into tears and turning to lean on her aunt, Janet Jackson. "And I just wanted to say I love him — so much."
More than 3,000 police officers massed downtown to keep the ticketless at bay. The atmosphere inside the arena was very somber, almost churchlike, with the help of a large video screen projecting the image of a stained-glass window 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."
Kobe Bryant, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, Lou Ferrigno, Don King, the Kardashian sisters, Magic Johnson, Brooke Shields and Larry King were also on hand for the memorial.
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