Fall TV Blog

From one famous family to another, Kim Kardashian, her sisters Khloe and Kourtney and their mother Kris attended the memorial service for Michael Jackson Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Afterward, Kim shared her thoughts on her Twitter page:

“Kourtney, Khloe, my mom and I just left the Memorial. Everyone had such amazing memories of MJ. We all cried & laughed & remembered!”

“Michael’s children were so brave … 2 stand there on stage & speak to the world about their father”

“I spoke at my dad’s funeral & it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I was shaking & crying & what Paris did was sooo soooo brave!”

Kim, who once dated one of Jackson’s nephews when she was a teenager, recently told PEOPLE about her 14th birthday party at Neverland Ranch.

Kevin Mazur/MJ Memorial/WireImage

As the star-studded tribute to the King of Pop concluded, Michael Jackson’s own children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II (Blanket), 7, took the stage during a group performance of “Heal the World.”

After the song, Paris gave an impromptu speech from the stage surrounded by the Jackson family.

“I just want to say ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine,” she said through tears. “And I just want to say I love him so much.”

Her aunt Janet Jackson then took her into her arms for a hug before the entire Jackson family then left the stage, closing the service that lasted more than two hours.

The moving tribute was especially startling because it marked one of the first times Jackson’s daughter has ever been heard publicly.

Paris and her siblings are also the subject of an ongoing custody dispute. Currently, her grandmother Katherine Jackson has been granted temporary custody of the three children, but Debbie Rowe has parental rights over the eldest children which she may choose to exercise.

Blanket’s mother has not been identified.

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R&B sensation Usher performed Michael Jackson’s song “Gone Too Soon” from his Dangerous album at Tuesday’s memorial, serenading the casket that carried the King of Pop as it left the stage.

Fans could be heard shouting, “Long live the King!’

Lyrics to the song, about someone who dies too young, include the following:

Like A Comet
Blazing ‘Cross The Evening Sky
Gone Too Soon

Like A Rainbow
Fading In The Twinkling Of An Eye
Gone Too Soon

Shiny And Sparkly
And Splendidly Bright
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Jermaine Jackson took the stage to perform a touching version of “Smile” in one of the emotional highlights from the memorial service in Los Angeles to honor the King of Pop on Tuesday.

Jermaine, and all his brothers in attendance — as well as Janet Jackson — wore sequined gloves to honor their late brother, who famously wore a single glove.

The Jackson brothers, who carried Michael’s casket onto the stage at the Staples Center, also wore yellow ties.

Janet seems very emotional, reports an eyewitness, while Jermaine seems to be the strongest so far.

Kevin Mazur/MJ Memorial/Wireimage

Jennifer Hudson performed a rousing rendition of Jackson’s song “Will You Be There” with a choir and the King of Pop’s dancers at the memorial in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The song, released in 1993, is off Michael Jackson’s Dangerous album, but was also featured on the Free Willy soundtrack.

The song, with its big gospel cathedral-like feel, was the perfect number for Hudson to lead with her powerhouse pipes.

Watch a clip of her performance.

John Mayer may not be the type to wear a single shiny glove or do the moonwalk, but he’s been inspired by Michael Jackson nonetheless. The singer took the stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to pay tribute to the King of Pop on Tuesday, singing Jackson’s song “Human Nature” on the guitar.

Mayer, an avid Tweeter, posted the following messages on his Twitter page leading up to Tuesday’s memorial:

“I’m honored to have been asked to play at MJ’s memorial service. I will be representing all of us who can’t be there.”

“Going to say goodbye from all us kids.”

“I also want you to know that I’m going not to ‘perform’ but to contribute… Proud to be a musician.”

Kevork Djansezian/Getty

Michael Jackson pal Corey Feldman attended the singer’s memorial dressed like the King of Pop. Actor Mickey Rooney also attended the service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

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“This is a moment that I wished I didn’t live to see come,” Stevie Wonder said at Michael Jackson’s memorial service in Los Angeles. “But as much as I can say that and mean it, I do know that God is good. And I do know that as much as we may feel, and we do, that we need Michael here with us, God must have needed him far more. Michael I love you and I’ve told you that many times so I’m at peace with that.”

Wonder then performed “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer,” from his 1971 album Where I’m Coming From. Read the lyrics to the song.

The song brought quiet sobs in crowd as he started to sing. “Oh, my God,” a fan was heard saying. “I’m going to cry!”

Wonder and Jackson go way back. Wonder was the little one on the Motown record label until Jackson came along. Wonder performed on Jackson’s Bad album with the duet “Just Good Friends.” Michael returned the favor on Stevie Wonder’s 1987 album Characters, singing on “Get It.”

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Before introducing Lionel Richie, who sang “Jesus Is Love” from The Commodores‘ 1980 album Heroes, Queen Latifah spoke about the King of Pop as a delicate Natalie Cole arrived alone in dark sunglasses, cream suit, white gloves, and white mask over her face. Cole, 59, is recovering from a kidney transplant.

Here’s what Queen Latifah said:

I’m here representing millions of fans who grew up listening to Michael, being inspired and loving Michael from a distance. All of you. Somehow when Michael Jackson sang and when he danced, we never felt distant. We felt like he was right there. Right before us. You believed in Michael and he made you believe in yourself. I loved him all my life. One of the first records my brother and I ever bought was [1973's] “Dancing Machine,” and I never forget the two of us trying to get the robot going, trying to be like the Jackson 5. Thank you. Thank you. Michael was the biggest star on earth. He let me know that as an African-American, you could travel the world — there was a world outside of America. Other people. All you people who came here to pay respect for someone who you felt was one of you — a human being first.

April L. Brown/AP

Inside the Staples Center, Mariah Carey performs “I’ll Be There,” a No. 1 hit for the Jackson 5 in 1970 with Michael sharing lead vocals with his older brother Jermaine, who was seen singing along at the memorial service.

Carey covered the song on her 1992 Unplugged album, which was a No. 1 hit for her.

In Carey’s version, Trey Lorenz sang the Jermaine part and he joins Carey onstage at the service. The pair riffed a little bit of the Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye” into their performance while people in the audience wept.

Luke Frazza/AFP/Getty; Chuck Kennedy/MCT/Landov