Liveblogging Michael Jackson's funeral and memorial service

7.24am (10.24am eastern, 3.24pm UK time): The crowds are gathering in downtown Los Angeles, and the Jackson family have left for the Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills... so a little earlier than scheduled, let's begin today's live coverage of the most-hyped wake of the decade. Andrew Gumbel will be inside the Staples Centre later, where he'll be joined, we learn this morning, by Michael Jackson's casket. Your insightful comments, memories, observations and impeccably tasteful remarks are actively encouraged! The public service proper is scheduled to begin at 10am PDT/6pm UK time.

7.40am (3.40pm): A nice click-and-drag panorama from the LA Times gives a good sense of the venue for the main event later today.

7.46am (3.46pm): The Jackson family motorcade is being sponsored by Range Rover, according to website-that-we-apparently-all-now-trust, TMZ.

7.55am (3.55pm): Above: the stage setting inside the arena. Drumkits, basically. Not visible in this photograph are the enormous screens on which the performances will be carried — there are others outside the venue, too — and really rather copious branding for Staples. Why not honour one of the greatest musical talents in living memory by purchasing some office products?

8.03am (4.03pm): So, to clarify, the 16-vehicle motorcade has now left the fan-surrounded Jackson family home in Encino, California, and is en route... uh, somewhere, because at least some of the family seem to have paid their respects at the cemetery last night. Perhaps they're making a second visit. Mystery still surrounds how Jackson's body is going to make it to downtown LA: there were reportedly problems with a plan to helicopter it there.

8.12am (4.12pm): Insert ponderous metaphor about the worldwide media CIRCUS surrounding Michael Jackson's death! Actual circus company Ringling Bros is due to start performing at the same venue tomorrow, so in the small hours of this morning, 11 Asian elephants were duly escorted inside by police.

8.15am (4.15pm): The Jackson family motorcade arrives at the Forest Lawn cemetery. In response to commenter mackat, the confusion is because a) there's a private family funeral followed by a public memorial service at a different venue, b) Jackson's body will be at the public memorial service — and also at the private funeral? — in which case, when and where will he actually be buried?, and c) more generally, nobody has a damn clue what's going on.

8.21am (4.21pm): The front steps of Forest Lawn are a mass of mourners in dark suits and dresses, greeting and hugging each other. If "private family funeral" makes you think of 20 or 30 people, be assured there are, by my estimate, a minimum of 200 people there. Meanwhile, in downtown LA, 3,200 police officers are on duty.

8.29am (4.29pm): The front doors of the cemetery complex close after the last arrivals, leaving the motorcade parked up outside, and the private service begins. You're going to have to imagine this part.

8.43am (4.43pm): Be it known that Geraldo Rivera will NOT be attending today's memorial. He is doing this as a protest against the exploitation of Michael Jackson's memory, by bloodsuckers. What on earth will happen when this news reaches the thousands of onlookers gathered on the streets of LA?

8.56am (4.56pm): And in other important news, you'll maybe be surprised to learn that that wasn't Michael Jackson's ghost at the Neverland Ranch after all. Remarkably, it was a shadow from a member of a TV crew. In the linked video, Larry King (who actually is a paranormal phenomenon) explains all.

9.01am (5.01pm): At Forest Lawn, the private ceremony's now over, and the mourners are returning to their vehicles. A hearse is waiting to carry Jackson's body to the Staples Centre -- a journey of about 20-25 minutes, apparently. We seem to be on schedule, except that it's now being reported that the public service will begin half an hour late, at 10.30am.

...Aaand there's the casket, now in the hearse and ready for the journey to begin.

9.14am (5.14pm): Andrew Gumbel calls in from the heart of the throng. He'll be in the Staples Centre for the ceremony, and got a look inside just now. Behind the stage, a huge screen reads "Michael Jackson: In Loving Memory," while the front of the stage is knee-deep in bouquets of flowers — just one more Dianaesque aspect of today's frenzy. The atmosphere among the fans is calm and happy, he says, while the specially printed memorial programme features photographs of Jackson with Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. Inside, family members offer their thoughts. "I watched the light in Michael's eyes fade as he faced trials and tribulations for being misunderstood," observes his brother Tito. The programme does not appear to have been created using a special lenticular process.

9.24am (5.24pm): An exclusive investigation by my colleague Andrew Clark elicits the following information from the British consulate in Los Angeles: according to a spokeswoman, there is no official British government presence at the King of Pop's memorial — even though he was, like, a king — "unless you count the number of British cars the Jackson family arrived in: Range Rovers and Bentleys." Today is, it seems, all about car company sponsorship. And UK plc! Well done chaps.

9.28am (5.28pm): A non-exclusive investigation by myself reveals that the ceremony, now due to begin in an hour, is going to conclude with a star-packed rendition of We Are The World, led by Lionel Richie. So now you know. Meanwhile, the Staples Centre's filling up.

9.40am (5.40pm): The funeral cortege is still en route...

9.47am (5.47pm): While we're waiting, a real development: Moon Crater To Be Designated In Memoriam Of Legendary Entertainer Michael Jackson! Apparently, Jackson "was among the largest private owners of lunar property claims. In addition to his significant parcel in the Lake of Dreams, which he obtained in 2005, he also owned a smaller property in the Sea of Vapours." I never knew this, and yet I am not altogether surprised.

Also, here are hundreds of people moonwalking in Jackson's honour, mainly in Belgium, for a reason that isn't made clear. Man, those Belgians can dance though. Apart from the ones who can't.

9.50am (5.50pm): The Jackson family motorcade arrives at the Staples Centre.

10.01am (6.01pm): Here's that commemorative programme. The venue is pretty full now, as we hit the originally scheduled start time for today's service.

10.12am (6.12pm): Some action at the Staples Centre — sometime ahead of the rescheduled start time — as Smokey Robinson reads tribute messages first from Diana Ross and then from Nelson Mandela, who says Michael Jackson became a close friend. Jackson's casket, apparently, has now arrived at the building.

10.25am (6.25pm): Apologies for the technology-induced delay. Still nothing happening on stage, though. Offstage, though, reports Andrew Gumbel: "A big welcome cheer and standing ovation for Kobe Bryant, who owns the Staples crowd because the Lakers play here. No cheers for the others, such as Al Sharpton."

10.32am (6.32pm): And the service begins. A gospel choir sings Soon And Very Soon against a backdrop projection of stained-glass church windows, with lurid pink and purple clouds behind them as Jackson's coffin, covered with roses, is wheeled out to the front and centre of the blue stage. The crowd is mainly respectfully quiet, with occasional outbreaks of cheering.

10.38am (6.38pm): Jackson family pastor Lucious Smith opens the proceedings. "We remember this man by celebrating all of the love he brought to all of our lives for half a century. Our hearts are heavy today because [he] is gone far too soon, but as long as we remember our time with him, the truth is he is never really gone at all." Through his words and music, Smith says, "Michael did so much to try and heal our world."

10.40am (6.40pm): Mariah Carey takes to the stage with Trey Lorenz to sing a slightly thin version I'll Be There, accompanied by a montage of photographs of the young Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Plenty of moist eyes in the audience already. The layout of the stage is such that they're literally singing at Jackson, whose casket lies immediately in front of them.

10.45am (6.45pm): Queen Latifah, close to tears from the start, steps up to the rostrum to speak, she says, on behalf of fans everywhere. "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." She reads a poem by Maya Angelou. "Sing our songs among the stars, and walk our dances across the face of the moon. In the instant we learned that Michael was gone, we know nothing... with the abrupt absence of our treasure, though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone. Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us, and we did have him."

10.49am (6.49pm): "In Birmingham, Alabama and Birmingham, England, we are missing Michael Jackson. But we do know that we had him." Lionel Richie now, with a fetching yellow rose in his buttonhole, gets things going with a properly impassioned rendition of Jesus Is Love.

10.54am (6.54pm): Here's Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, who's looking exceedingly vigorous and healthy for 79. "Today the world mourns the death of a friend and brother, Michael Jackson, who was like a son to me... Michael Jackson was 10 years old when he and his brothers auditioned for me in Motown in Detroit that July day in 1968, and blew us all away. The Jackson 5 were just amazing, and little Michael's performance was way beyond his years. This little kid had an incredible knowingness about him... he sung a Smokey Robinson song called Who's Lovin' You. He sang it with the sadness and passion of a man who'd been living the blues and heartbreak his whole life. And as great as Smokey sang it, I thought Michael was better." Robinson, in the audience, chuckles in agreement.

10.59am (6.59pm): "From the first beat of Billie Jean, I was mesmerised. And when he did his iconic moonwalk, I was shocked. It was magic. Michael Jackson went into orbit, and never came down. Though it ended way too soon, Michael's life was beautiful. Sure, there were some sad, sad times, and maybe some questionable decisions on his part, but Michael Jackson accomplished everything he dreamed of." That's the first reference to anything negative in Jackson's life and career so far during this service, though Gordy soon passes over it.

11.02am (7.02pm): And Gordy finishes up, to the loudest cheers and applause so far: "The more I think about Michael Jackson, the more I think The King of Pop is not big enough for him. I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived... Michael, thank you."

11.04am (7.04pm): Now we're watching a fast-moving compilation of Jackson music videos and concert footage — from the old dance moves in black-and-white, via Thriller and Bad, to the stadium ballads of more recent years. (I think I saw a clip of Bubbles the chimpanzee in there...) And plenty of shots of Jackson, arms outstretched, Messiah-like.

11.08am (7.08pm): Stevie Wonder. "This is a moment that I wished that I didn't have to see coming... but I do know that God is good, and I do know that as much as we may feel that we need Michael here with us, God must have needed him far more," he says, then effortlessly segues into his song Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer. Maybe I'm just biased in Stevie Wonder's favour, but this strikes me as easily the high point of the event so far, performance-wise.

11.15am (7.15pm): Words from Kobe Bryant — "Michael was a true humanitarian" — and Magic Johnson, who recalls being invited to dinner at Jackson's house, where the chef prepared grilled chicken for Johnson but then brought out Kentucky Fried Chicken for Jackson. "Michael? You eat Kentucky Fried Chicken?" (Johnson describes this chicken incident as "the greatest moment of his life.") "His three children will have the most incredible grandmother that God has put on this earth... so may God continue to bless this incredible family. We're praying for you. Remain strong."

11.21am (7.21pm): Jennifer Hudson sings Jackson's song Will You Be There, accompanied, I think, by Jackson's spoken voice from the original recording.

11.26am (7.26pm): Al Sharpton steps up to the podium, addressing the audience in his usual stentorian tones. "He never gave up dreaming. It was that dream that changed culture all over the world... Because Michael kept going, because... he refused to let people decide his boundaries... it was Michael Jackson who brought blacks and whites and Latinos and Asians together... Because Michael Jackson kept going, he created a comfort level... so that later it wasn't strange to us to watch Oprah on television, it wasn't strange to watch Tiger Woods golf. Those kids grew up from being kids who were comfortable with Michael Jackson, to being 40 year olds [who were] comfortable to vote for a person of colour as president of the United States."

11.32am (7.32pm): Sharpton works towards a conclusion with this rather striking claim: "I want his children to know: wasn't nothing strange about your Daddy. It was strange what your Daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway."

11.35am (7.35pm): A rather lengthy pause in proceedings. Turns out we've been waiting for... John Mayer. Oh.

He's performing a largely instrumental version of Jackson's song Human Nature. As he greets members of the family in the audience, I note for the first time that the members of the funeral party are all each wearing a single sequinned glove.

11.40am (7.40pm): Brooke Shields is crying so much she can barely speak. But she does eventually manage. Whenever they were photographed together, she says, the caption would read "The Odd Couple", or something similar. But "to us it was the most natural and easiest of friendships... maybe it was because we both understood what it was like to be in the spotlight from a very young age... Both of us needed to be adults very early. But when we were together, we were two little kids having fun." Hmmm, this tribute is thus far somewhat more about Brooke Shields than Michael Jackson. Then again, it is also the most personal and heartfelt set of anecdotes we've heard about Jackson's offstage personality so far. Now she's quoting from The Little Prince.

11.49am (7.49pm): Jermaine Jackson now sings Smile, from the Charlie Chaplin film Modern Times, which Shields had just been quoting.

11.53am (7.53pm): We hear now from Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, children of MLK. Martin Luther King III begins with his father's famous words about the importance of stewarding your talents and doing your job as well as you can, whether you're an artist or a street-sweeper. "On June 25, because he was the best, I believe heaven and earth did pause to say, 'here lived a great entertainer, who did his job well,'" he says, before his sister takes up an even more religious theme. "At the end of the day, it is only God's love that will sustain you and move you to a higher ground, far above the noise of life..."

11.58am (7.58pm): Texan congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee speaks now, and quickly makes a markedly overt reference to the child molestation charges against Jackson: "We understand laws, and we know that people are innocent until proven otherwise. That is what the Constitution stands for." Applause. The rest of her speech focuses on Jackson-as-humanitarian.

12.05pm (8.05pm): Jackson Lee brings out a framed document, explaining that she has introduced into the House of Representatives "a resolution, to be debated on the floor of the House, that claims Michael Jackson as an American legend, a musical icon, and a world humanitarian." Among those who won't be voting in favour: New York congressman Pete King.

12.10pm (8.10pm): And now Usher, singing Gone Too Soon.

12.12pm (8.12pm): Footage of the Jackson 5 singing Smokey Robinson's Who's Loving You serves as a reminder of what a bizarrely talented stage performer the 10-year-old Jackson was. It serves as a prologue to Robinson's own spoken tribute. When he heard Jackson's version of the song, Robinson says, he thought: "This boy cannot possibly be 10 years old. This song is about somebody who had somebody who loved him, but they treated him bad... and now they are paying the price... How could he possibly know these things? I quickly went over to him because I wanted to see his birth certificate. I did not believe that someone that young could have that much feeling and soul and knowing... My brother is in a place now where he is most certainly going to live forever. But he's going to live forever twice, because he's going to live forever right here: the world will never, ever forget Michael Jackson."

12.18pm (8.18pm): And now, somewhat incongruously if you ask me, 12-year-old Swansea singing sensation Shaheen Jafargholi, from Britain's Got Talent, who picks up Who's Lovin' You again. Apparently Jackson had been impressed by Jafargholi's performance after seeing it on YouTube, prompting the Jackson family to invite him to sing today.

12.24pm (8.24pm): We're moving towards a denoument here now, as Kenny Ortega, director of the O2 Centre concerts that Jackson never gave, introduces a sequence he says was prepared for those concerts — it's We Are The World. The singers are rapidly joined by many of the musicians who performed today, making for a classic stage-packed-full-of-celebrities finale. Although it's actually not quite the finale...

12.29pm (8.29pm): The singers are joined by a large number of children. I'm not clear which children. Maybe this will become clear. The song is Heal The World.

12.31pm (8.31pm): "The atmosphere has really been very subdued," says Andrew Gumbel, as he hastens off to write his piece for the newspaper. "Only a few people jumped up to dance." Occasionally people shouted "Michael we love you!" or "See you in heaven" — but the prevailing sense was one of quiet.

12.35pm (8.35pm): ...Aaaand I believe that probably just about wraps things up here. As Janet Jackson, in beret and dark glasses, grips Berry Gordy in a hug just behind him, Jermaine Jackson thanks the crowd. "I stand here trying to find words of comfort... trying to find why the Lord has taken our brother after such a short time on earth," brother Marlon Jackson adds. All his life, he says, his brother was unable to move without a crowd gathering. "Maybe now, Michael, they will leave you alone... you have finished your work here on earth, and the Lord has called for you to come home with him... I have one request, Michael, one request. I would like for your to give our brother, my twin brother, Brandon, a hug from me." (Brandon Jackson, Marlon's twin, died in childhood.)

12.40pm (8.40pm): Janet Jackson brings Jackson's daughter Paris Katherine Jackson to the podium, where the 11-year-old tries to talk through tears. ("Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine... I just wanted to say I love him so much.") Pretty hard to watch actually — a rare moment of truly unstaged emotion.

12.45pm (8.45pm): The casket is wheeled off stage. But where to? Forest Lawn, presumably, although we still have no definite confirmation, as far as I'm aware, of where Jackson is to be buried. A prayer brings the proceedings to a close.

1.15pm (9.15pm): So, as we take stock of today, it's worth asking: just how big a deal was "interplanetary phenomenon" Michael Jackson? Gawker has a video compilation of US newscasters' judgments.

1.25pm (9.25pm): Hey, how's this for meta: I note that the Wall Street Journal, of all publications, has been liveblogging the Jackson funeral liveblogs, including this one. I'm not sure why.

1.36pm (9.36pm): An observation based on watching CNN: monotonous politics host Wolf Blitzer should not comment on subjects such as Michael Jackson's influence on modern dance. Then again, neither should I. Still no clarity on exactly what's happening to the casket right now.

1.40pm (9.40pm): OK. That's enough Jackson memorial frenzy. Here's my colleague Ed Pilkington's take on the day, and watch out for Andrew Gumbel's soon. Thanks for reading and commenting.