Farewell to King of Pop (From This is Hampshire)

Farewell to King of Pop

2:52pm Friday 10th July 2009

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WHATEVER you thought of the man, his memorial service was pretty moving.

You would have to have had a heart of stone not to be touched by the performances of Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine and daughter Paris and the genuine grief of people like Usher and Brooke Shields.

It was part funeral, part celebration, but it was also one of the most glitzy of Hollywood occasions – a morbid circus of a show.

What The King of Pop would have thought of it all is anyone’s guess. He is said to have wanted the funeral of all funerals, but he is unlikely to have approved of the children he protected so fiercely that they wore masks in public being suddenly thrust into the limelight.

What also struck me was how much attention has been paid to the “rising stock” of any performers gracing the stage in front of a worldwide TV audience of more than 30 million at Jackson’s memorial.

Britain’s Got Talent finalist Shaheen Jafargholi, for example, is said to have been inundated with big money offers within hours of his appearance.

Now there’s a time and a place for deal-broking. A funeral is most certainly not it.

But I guess that’s showbiz.