MJ hailed as greatest entertainer, best dad

Some 18,000 fans, family members and friends took part in a public memorial for Jackson in the Los Angeles sports arena where the singer had rehearsed the day before his death for a highly-anticipated series of comeback concerts.
Jackson’s brothers, each wearing a single sequined glove in homage to his signature look, carried the singer’s golden casket into the downtown Staples Centre.
Carey performed Jackson’s 1970 ballad I’ll Be There, Usher’s voice cracked as he sang Gone Too Soon and the King of Pop’s three children made a rare public appearance without veils used for years by Jackson to shield them from the media.
But it was Jackson himself who loomed larger than life, shown in old concert footage, music videos and news clips, singing, dancing his moonwalk and surrounded by adoring crowds.
“The more I think about Michael, and talk about Michael, the more I think that ‘King of Pop’ is not good enough,” said Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, who signed The Jackson 5 to a recording contract in 1968. “I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived.”
The two-hour memorial focused on Jackson’s musical achievements, overshadowed in the last 10 years by the darker side of the singer’s life, including his humiliating 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of child sex abuse.
Jackson’s sudden death from cardiac arrest in Los Angeles on June 25 at the age of 50 stunned fans across the world and sent sales of his biggest hits from albums such as Thriller and Off the Wall back to the top of music charts.
President Barack Obama, on a visit to Russia, said he was “one of the greatest entertainers of our generation, perhaps any generation,” and added: “I think like Elvis, like Sinatra, like The Beatles he became a core part of our culture.”
The memorial focused on Jackson’s 45-year musical career in which he was awarded 13 Grammys, his charity work for childrens’ groups and his role in opening the mainstream pop and celebrity world to African-Americans.
It was broadcast live on US national TV networks and Internet company Akamai said it was the most widely viewed event on the Web since the inauguration of Obama in January. — Reuters.