"Ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine," said Paris Katherine Jackson, the second of Michael Jackson's three children, as a massive memorial service for her father neared its end in downtown Los Angeles.
"And I just want to say that I love him so much," Paris added, before breaking down in tears and burying herself in the arms of her aunt, Janet Jackson.
Her aunts, uncles and two brothers who were on stage at the Staples Center arena reached over to console Paris. Thousands of mourners in the audience dabbed their eyes with tissues.
It was the first time they had heard from a girl who, along with her two siblings, have often been hidden by veils or blankets when seen with their father."Everybody just broke down," said Tracie Laymon, a filmmaker from Los Angeles, who was in the audience. "Wow, it was really powerful."
It was the same refrain from other fans as they left the star-studded service or watched the broadcast on their television sets or online.
At some points during the 90-minute program, global Web traffic was 31 percent above normal, said Akamai Technologies, which monitors Internet trafficAisha Morgan said all the television stations at her workplace in Kingston, Jamaica, were turned to the memorial -- "from upper management, all the way down."
"Some persons cried," said Morgan, who sent in a photo to CNN's iReport. "The atmosphere in one department was like a funeral."
Inside the Staples Center, Jackson lay at the foot of the stage in a closed, rose-draped, bronze casket.
His brothers, who served as pallbearers, wore single white sequined gloves, a tribute to Jackson's signature look. Singers and sports celebrities took the stage and shared what Jackson meant to them. Between them, the performers have 40 Grammy awards -- a fitting tribute to a man who alone earned 13 in his lifetime.
Jackson died on June 25 of cardiac arrest. The exact cause of death is pending toxicology tests, but speculation continues to swirl about the role of prescription drugs.
Brother Marlon Jackson was among some who alluded to the controversies that surround the pop icon in death.
The world, he said, could not understand what Jackson endured "being judged and ridiculed."
"How much pain can one man take?" Marlon Jackson asked. "Maybe now, Michael, they will leave you alone."
Pomp and precaution
The morning began with a half-hour gathering for several hundred family and friends inside a chapel at the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn cemetery.
Jackson's casket -- bronze with 14-karat gold plate handles, a velvet-lined interior and a reported price tag upward of $20,000 -- was then placed in a hearse for the 10-mile trip to the arena.
The motorcade of black limousines and sports utility vehicles to the arena was accompanied by police cruisers and motorcycles, which shut down freeway ramps and caused a miles-long traffic backup.
Three thousand police officers, almost one-third of the Los Angeles police force, were on hand to ensure the Jackson events proceeded smoothly, Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell said.n comparison, about 2,000 officers were deployed for the parade and celebration at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the L.A. Lakers' NBA championship victory last month.
The mayor's office estimated the cost for security for the Staples ceremony to be between $2 million and $4 million.
And the city, which is $530 million in debt, set up a Web page asking Jackson fans to donate money to help with expenses.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/07/michael.jackson.wrap/index.html
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