LOS ANGELES—A world mourning and moonwalking in memoriam was to bid a final farewell to Michael Jackson early today in what could be the biggest, most spectacular celebrity send-off of all time.
Nearly two weeks after the death of the tragic “King of Pop,” America was expected to grind to a standstill while other nations—even Burma—braced for a late-night vigil for his private funeral and star-studded memorial service on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Ecstatic fans who won the lottery for seats at the memorial received tickets and wristbands that will get them into the 20,000-seat Staples Center, where entertainers like Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher and Lionel Richie were due to pay tribute.
Also expected to attend were Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Smokey Robinson, Brooke Shields, John Mayer, Jennifer Hudson, Whitney Houston, Beyonce and Martin Luther King III.
Jackson’s family and close friends were to attend a private funeral service for the music icon at the picturesque Forest Lawn mortuary nestled in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles.
More than 1.6 million people registered for free tickets to the 10 a.m. memorial, which will be broadcast live worldwide (around 1 a.m. Wednesday in Manila).
“My mother loves Elvis. This is my Elvis,” said ticket winner Mynor Garcia, 29, one of the 8,750 people chosen to receive two tickets each.
“I think this is America’s version of Princess Diana,” said Virgin Atlantic spokesperson Paul Charles.
He said Virgin’s trans-Atlantic flights to San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles were all packed with fans and VIPs who “want to be in the vicinity (and) share their emotions together.”
Honored in ‘Eat Bulaga!’
“It’s the passing of a great soul,” Matt Tyson, 31, said of Jackson who died June 25 from an apparent cardiac arrest at age 50. “He brought people together, helped express something that’s in us all.”
From Tokyo to Melbourne, Asian fans yesterday braced for a late night in solidarity with the thousands attending the Los Angeles services.
In the Philippines, the country’s longest running noontime television variety show, “Eat Bulaga,” will hold a Michael Jackson dancing contest on Wednesday in honor of the pop icon, organizers said.
In Australia, the memorial will be broadcast live on a giant screen in the southern city of Melbourne at 3 a.m. local time. Several Australian TV stations will also carry the event live.
In Hong Kong, a suburban mall will tune its TV screens to the event at 1 a.m. as part of a celebration featuring performances of Jackson’s signature “moonwalk” and a nonstop broadcast of his videos.
Even in Burma
At another Hong Kong mall, Taiwanese newcomer Judy Chou was to perform Jackson classics as Hong Kong and Chinese fans lay flowers at a wax statue of the singer on loan from the local Madame Tussauds museum.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 34-year-old actor and magician Henzi Andalas said he wants to watch the memorial as closure.
“It gives a sense of OK, now he’s no longer here,” he said. “He’s one of my biggest influences in becoming an artist.”
Even in the reclusive, military-controlled Burma (Myanmar), a dance group held a memorial service for Jackson as nearly 200 fans held a candlelight vigil in a Rangoon (Yangon) park last week, the local Weekly Eleven News journal reported.
“Michael Jackson is my teacher. I learned dancing by watching Michael Jackson’s movements. I am profoundly saddened by his death,” said dancer Min Min Htun, who arranged the service during his regular show at the Happy World Entertainment park.
Liz, Debbie keep it private
But one of Jackson’s closest friends, Elizabeth Taylor, will be mourning in private. She said on her Twitter feed on Monday that she would not attend the memorial.
“I just don’t believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others,” she tweeted. “How I feel is between us. Not a public event.”
Debbie Rowe, Jackson’s ex-wife and the mother of Jackson’s two oldest children, had planned to attend the memorial but backed out on Monday.
“The onslaught of media attention has made it clear her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction to an event that should focus exclusively on Michael’s legacy,” her attorney Marta Almli said in a statement.
“Debbie will continue to celebrate Michael’s memory privately,” Almli said.
Chaos among ticketless
An additional 1,400 police officers will be on duty in Los Angeles to provide security, while city blocks surrounding the venue have been sealed off.
Organizers have appealed to ticketless fans to watch the memorial on television, fearing chaos if hundreds of thousands take to the streets to mourn.
A live feed of the service is being made available free to television networks, while the event will also be streamed via social networking websites Facebook and MySpace, officials said.
