I watched Michael's memorial service. There were the usual stars and high profile ppl, that are always in attendance when someone of Michael's entertainment stature dies.
The two most touching speakers, overall, for me, were Brooke Shields, and Michael's eleven year old daughter.
Brooke talked of a Michael we never saw publicly. They were best friends. She met him, when she was thirteen. They shared many happy times together, many laughs, and a wonderful friendship.
His daughter, spoke of her daddy. It doesn't matter if Michael was her father biologically, he was her father, in both of their hearts.
He was a great entertainer, but even more, he left his legacy of love.

Hear hear. It was lovely to hear his daughter speak, but heartbreaking at the same time. I loved Stevie Wonder's song, that was the real tear jerker fo me

I had to work in downtown L.A. this morning, and I was dreading the drive! Traffic was a little heavier than usual, but I left early and got there in plenty of time. I was over near City Hall, about 3 or 4 miles away from the Staples Center, so I didn't even meet up with any closed off-ramps. The only evidence we saw that something was going on was lots of helicopters in the sky. I finished my job and was on my way home by noon, before the service ended, so I had no problems with traffic.

What I'd like to know is why the heck is the City of L.A. paying for this when they're forcing their employees to take furlough days???? Seems to me that if the family wanted to do something like this service, they certainly had the financial means to do it. Frankly, I think it's just more evidence of how we bow and scrape to "the stars" here. Same deal with the Lakers' parade--why do we need to pay for a parade for a bunch of already-rich men?

My own feeling is that funerals are private affairs. But I guess that's the way he lived his life, so maybe it's fitting that that's the way he leaves it. Hope he finally finds some peace.

they managed to put together quite a production in just a few days

Yes Harmony, I agree w/you about the family paying for all the security for this, it was a very nice tribute to him. But Calif is in a bad financial way and I don't think we should have to pay for extra law enforcement for this event.

Thank you!!!

I agree with you, Harmony. It's not like they (the family) don't have the means to foot the bill. It shouldn't be up to the city to pay for the extra security for an event THEY wanted. Same thing for the Laker's parade. Why are the residents of LA and the state having to pay for security for things like these when the state is issuing IOUs because they're out of money. Messed up priorities.... :( I agree that Michael was a genious entertainer, and see why the family wanted a huge send-off...but it shouldn't be at the expense of the people who DON'T have estates worth bazillions of dollars.