- previous
- 1
- 2
- | single page
E-mail
Print
You'll get by, if you smile
Other performances included Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz performing "I'll Be There," the Jackson 5 classic that was also a key hit for Carey in 1992, and Stevie Wonder -- a performer who could certainly understand Jackson's struggle to handle a show-biz childhood -- giving an emotion-charged revival of his own 1971 composition "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer."
Some performers sang to the audience, others to the casket. Some of the producers were reluctant at first to have the casket present, especially considering the Forest Lawn ceremony before the Staples event and logistics of moving the body across town.
"The family said to us that Michael was going to be there," Ehrlich said. "At first, I kind of gulped, but I went back to, 'If this was a Baptist service, the casket would be there. And it made a difference. They were singing right over the casket of Michael Jackson. I know what that did to Mariah. I know what that did to Usher. I know what that did to John Mayer."
Ehrlich said the pacing of the service mirrored black church services: Uplifting musical numbers followed by fiery, emotional speeches followed by brief pauses. "People had time to think about what they had heard before we went on to the next order of business," he said.
Viewers also studied the service for hidden meanings. Would long-estranged sister La Toya sit with her family? She did. Would the singer's two former wives, Lisa Marie Presley (daughter of Elvis) and Debbie Rowe (mother of Jackson's two eldest children) attend? They did not.
Two other key figures in Jackson's life saga, actress Elizabeth Taylor and singer Diana Ross, also did not attend. Both released statements saying they were not ready to grieve in public.
The next order of business for organizers is figuring out who will pay the bill. Leiweke blasted L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine for publicly demanding on Monday that AEG and the family shoulder the costs. The issue is the estimated cost of police and emergency services (as much as $3.8 million) for the event, but Leiweke framed it as more than a civic matter.
"There should be a thing called common decency," Leiweke said. "This could have waited until after the family was through the memorial. It shows no class at all. Beware the man who shouts while standing on another man's casket."
The more enduring struggle, though, is over the legacy of Jackson, a man who rivaled Elvis Presley in fame but also was marked in his last years by his indictment and acquittal on child molestation charges and sometimes cruel commentary on his ever-changing visage.
The producers and participants at the memorial offered their version of that legacy: An essential pop-culture figure, agent of cultural change and beloved humanitarian.
"He was driven by his hunger to learn," Gordy said. "To confidently top himself, to be the best, the consummate student. He studied the greats and became greater. He raised the bar and then broke the bar."
geoff.boucher@latimes.com
maria.elena.fernandez@latimes.com
Other performances included Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz performing "I'll Be There," the Jackson 5 classic that was also a key hit for Carey in 1992, and Stevie Wonder -- a performer who could certainly understand Jackson's struggle to handle a show-biz childhood -- giving an emotion-charged revival of his own 1971 composition "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer."
Some performers sang to the audience, others to the casket. Some of the producers were reluctant at first to have the casket present, especially considering the Forest Lawn ceremony before the Staples event and logistics of moving the body across town.
"The family said to us that Michael was going to be there," Ehrlich said. "At first, I kind of gulped, but I went back to, 'If this was a Baptist service, the casket would be there. And it made a difference. They were singing right over the casket of Michael Jackson. I know what that did to Mariah. I know what that did to Usher. I know what that did to John Mayer."
Ehrlich said the pacing of the service mirrored black church services: Uplifting musical numbers followed by fiery, emotional speeches followed by brief pauses. "People had time to think about what they had heard before we went on to the next order of business," he said.
Viewers also studied the service for hidden meanings. Would long-estranged sister La Toya sit with her family? She did. Would the singer's two former wives, Lisa Marie Presley (daughter of Elvis) and Debbie Rowe (mother of Jackson's two eldest children) attend? They did not.
Two other key figures in Jackson's life saga, actress Elizabeth Taylor and singer Diana Ross, also did not attend. Both released statements saying they were not ready to grieve in public.
The next order of business for organizers is figuring out who will pay the bill. Leiweke blasted L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine for publicly demanding on Monday that AEG and the family shoulder the costs. The issue is the estimated cost of police and emergency services (as much as $3.8 million) for the event, but Leiweke framed it as more than a civic matter.
"There should be a thing called common decency," Leiweke said. "This could have waited until after the family was through the memorial. It shows no class at all. Beware the man who shouts while standing on another man's casket."
The more enduring struggle, though, is over the legacy of Jackson, a man who rivaled Elvis Presley in fame but also was marked in his last years by his indictment and acquittal on child molestation charges and sometimes cruel commentary on his ever-changing visage.
The producers and participants at the memorial offered their version of that legacy: An essential pop-culture figure, agent of cultural change and beloved humanitarian.
"He was driven by his hunger to learn," Gordy said. "To confidently top himself, to be the best, the consummate student. He studied the greats and became greater. He raised the bar and then broke the bar."
geoff.boucher@latimes.com
maria.elena.fernandez@latimes.com
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Save more than