7/7/2009

in

An uplifting tribute fit for a King.

Jonathan White

The greatest entertainer in the world was honored by family, friends, entertainers, and fans Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angles.  
  
Performers such as Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson and Usher graced the stage. Mariah Carey sang "I'll Be There" along with Trey Lorenz. Hudson performed "Will You Be There," a song featured in the movie *Free Willy*. Usher sang a tearful rendition of "Gone to Soon." After being hugged by Jackson's brothers and sisters, he kneeled down to Jackson's mother, Katherine, to show respect.  
  
The King of Pop was brought out in a gold-plated casket in a circle of light in front of the stage. According to MTV, the pallbearers, including Jackson's family members, set the flower-bedecked casket down while wearing the singer's signature single sequined white glove.  
  
Fans continuously applauded inside the Staples Center, where the mood was at turns celebratory and somber, and fans shouted "We love you, Michael!" during the pauses in the nearly three-hour long program.  
  
Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Champion, Kobe Bryant, honored Jackson's charitable acts. Former Lakers legend Magic Johnson said he became a greater basketball player by watching the singer's moves onstage and fondly remembered being asked for an appearance in Jackson's 1992 video for "Remember the Time."  
  
From words of longtime friends Rev. Al Sharpen to Smokey Robinson, no one could uphold to 11-year-old Paris Jackson's message to her late father. Her small speech became of one the most emotionally charged out of all the speakers. She tearfully said, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. And I just wanted to say I love him so much," folding in sobs into her Aunt Janet's arms as the ceremony came to a close.  
  
In honor of the best to ever done it, thank you Michael Jackson for your music and legacy you have left behind. It's not goodbye because you're contribution of music lives forever.