Tattle: Forever Young

THE KING (of Pop) is dead, long live the King (of Pop).

That was the message yesterday at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, where an overflow crowd mourned Michael Jackson in a somber ceremony that was not the comeback Michael or his fans had hoped for.

With streets closed; CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC all sending their A-list news teams (ABC had Senior Law and Justice correspondent Jim Avila outside the Staples Center, CNN had political analysts Donna Brazile and Roland Martin weighing in); and Smokey Robinson reading condolences from Nelson Mandela, the event had the air of a memorial service for a head of state. Speakers did little to dissuade viewers of that notion.

Michael was not only hailed as a great entertainer and giving humanitarian, which he was, but he was also hailed as a key figure in bringing the races together and changing the world, which may be a bit much.

His troubles with the law were barely alluded to.

The service began around 1:11 p.m. ET with Smokey speaking the words of no-show Diana Ross (Quincy Jones, Elizabeth Taylor and Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe also stayed away), and then sound problems led to a 20-minute break before Michael's rose-covered casket was carried in to the sounds of a church choir. (Any Internet rumors of Michael converting to Islam should have been dispelled by this, and Lionel Richie singing "Jesus Is Love.")

The Jacksons' pastor, Lucious Smith, set the tone with his welcoming remarks, calling Michael an "idol, hero, even a king," and that segued into Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz reprising their hit rendition of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There."

Queen Latifah, there to represent the fans, told about how the first record she and her brother ever bought was "Dancing Machine," and they tried to do "The Robot." Latifah also read "We Had Him," a poem about Michael by Maya Angelou.

Latifah referred to Michael as "the biggest star on Earth," but she was soon one-upped by Motown founder Berry Gordy, who called Michael "the greatest entertainer that ever lived."

Gordy was the first speaker to put a human face on Michael, telling the audience about Gordys vs. Jacksons baseball games and Michael not being a very good catcher. He talked about how a 10-year-old Michael blew away everyone at Motown with his bluesy, lived-in version of Smokey's "Who's Lovin' You," and joked to Robinson that Michael sang the song better than he did. When he had his turn at the microphone later, Smokey agreed.

But Gordy, the first speaker to mention Michael's "questionable decisions," also gave him and his brothers their props, saying that the Jackson 5 was the first group ever to have its first four albums go to No. 1, and that Michael "studied the greats and became greater," and "raised the bar and then broke the bar."

Next up was an emotional Stevie Wonder performing "I Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer," followed by Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson discussing Michael's charitable works. The always personable Magic told a great story about his nervous first dinner visit to Michael's house and telling the chef that he wanted grilled chicken. When the food came out, Magic got his grilled chicken and the chef gave Michael a bucket of Kentucky Fried.

"Michael, you eat KFC?" a stunned Magic asked, and the two of them got down on the floor, laughed, and went through the bucket.

Even with a national championship, a gold medal and numerous NBA titles, Magic said, "That was the greatest moment of my life."

Jennifer Hudson performed a soulful version of "Will You Be There" with members of the rehearsal cast from Michael's show. Then Al Sharpton, who said that he first met the King of Pop in 1970, showed why he is the King of Hyperbole.

Drawing a line from the cultural acceptance of Michael Jackson to the election of Barack Obama, Sharpton said, "We should celebrate a man who taught the world how to love"; and that: "It was Michael Jackson who brought blacks and whites and Asians together."

The crowd then went wild as Sharpton told Michael's children (and all the haters out there), "There was nothing strange about your daddy - it was strange what your daddy had to deal with."

Why John Mayer played a guitar version of "Human Nature," Tattle has no idea.

We were about an hour into the service at this point when we finally got a eulogy for Michael . . . from Brooke Shields.

Those old pictures of them palling around as youngsters weren't staged - they really were friends.

The press called them an "odd couple" and "an unlikely pair," Brooke said, "but to us it was the easiest and most natural of friendships. . . . We had a bond.

"Both of us needed to be adults very early, but when we were together we were kids.

"Michael loved to laugh," she said, "and he had the sweetest and purest laugh."

In one of the ceremony's more heartfelt moments, Brooke choked back tears as she read a passage from "The Little Prince."

"Eyes are blind," she read. "You have to look with the heart. What's most important is invisible."

Jermaine Jackson then fought through his grief by soloing on Michael's favorite song - Charlie Chaplin's "Smile."

Bernice King, with her brother Martin Luther King III, told a story about how a call from Michael meant so much to her dying mother, Coretta Scott King. Then, Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee gave a stump speech mixed with a sermon.

Her purpose - because it was becoming clear that the organizers wanted to cover certain talking points - was apparently to say, as a representative of the United States government, that an American is "innocent until proven otherwise" (much applause) and to announce Congressional Resolution 600 which recognizes Michael Jackson as an American legend, world humanitarian and icon. It will be interesting to see where the votes shake out when that one comes to the House floor.

Usher, who many of us were hoping would rock the house with some Jackson-like dancing, realized that it's bad form to upstage Michael at his own memorial and went in the other direction with a teary serenade of "Gone too Soon" to Michael's casket.

An Ed Sullivan clip of a young Michael preceded the return of Smokey giving his own thoughts. And then came one of the event's few missteps because it so smacked of AEG commercialism - boy singer Shaheen Jafargholi, from "Britain's Got Talent," did his own, straining version of "Who's Lovin' You."

Shaheen's got a great set of pipes for a kid, but, come on, nobody unknown in America should be singing at Michael Jackson's memorial. Thankfully, Michael's choreographer, Kenny Ortega, told people who Shaheen was - and how much Michael liked him and how he'd invited him to his London shows.

Sorry, too much information.

Everybody, including Michael's backup singers and dancers, then led everyone in "We Are the World" and "Heal the World."

That was supposed to be the big finish, but, in the end, everyone was upstaged by Michael's daughter, Paris. Yes, the cynical among us might note that her few words filled in another gap in the MJ bio - dad - but it was hard not to be moved by this rarely seen 11-year-old girl who not only lost her father 12 days ago but had never spoken in public.

Here, kid, start with the Staples Center and a TV audience of millions.

But Paris did Michael proud. "Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine," she said before breaking down in the arms of aunt Janet. "And I just want to say I love him so much." *