Real-time coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial service at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

‘We are here for a moment and then we are gone ...” | 12:47 Pastor Lucious Smith concludes service with brief benediction, as attendees leave Staples. L.A. authorities estimate that about 50,000 people gathered around the perimeter.

Paris speaks | 12:40 Jackson’s middle child, daughter Paris, says “Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can imagine.” If the sound of her voice doesn’t move you to tears …

‘Trying to understand why the Lord has taken our brother’ | 12:36 As siblings crowd around microphone, brother Marlon struggles to compose himself while speaking about his brother. Shares a memory of spotting and shouting out a heavily-disguised MJ in a record store. When Michael asked how he recognized him, Marlon replied simply, “You’re my brother.” Said he recognized his walk and his shoes. Breaks down at the end of his remarks while referencing his own late twin, Brandon, hoping they can be reunited in the afterlife.

MJ: ‘World’ Champion | 12:30 Some of the singers who would have performed with Michael in London are joined on stage by celebrities and Michael’s family for a “We Are the World” singalong. Fitting conclusion to the memorial, given MJ’s commitment to humanitarian causes. More crowd onto the stage as it goes into “Heal the World.”

Shaheen Jafargholi | 12:14 The “Britain’s Got Talent” teenage star breaks it down with “Who’s Loving You,” and is thanked by Kenny Ortega, one of Michael’s creative partners.

Can’t be real | 12:14 “I wrote that song,” Smokey Robinson says after a brief clip of Michael leading the Jackson 5 in “Who’s Loving You” on the “Ed Sullivan Show.” He sang it so well (and with such pathos), said Smokey, that he thought the family had “pulled a fast one” by telling the world that Michael was only 10 years old.

Too slow | 12:11 Now, we understand that Michael’s “Gone Too Soon” is apropos here; but Usher? Figured they would send him out to dance. A little uncomfortable reviewing this like a concert, but let’s leave the ballads to the balladeers.

Congressional resolution | 12:07 With Jackson-Lee showing off the proclamation from the House of Representatives, a colleague wonders if the Republicans, given King’s tacky tirade, will try to block the honor with a filibuster.

From Capitol Hill | 12:01 “People are innocent until proven otherwise,” Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Houston, says in a speech, drawing some of the days loudest cheers. Saays she is representing Congress; wonder how the South L.A.-area’s triumvirate of African-American congresswomen — Waters, Watson, Richardson — feel about that. Is this a snub?
 

MLK’s kids | 11:53 Martin III and Bernice A. King quote their father in tribute to Michael. “Ultimately, at the end of the day, it is only God’s love that will anchor you … above the noise of life,” Bernice says, in apparent response to Michael’s critics. She calls the accusations against him “persecution.” Take that, Rep. Peter King.

Michael’s favorite song | 11:48 Jermaine is the first of the Jackson siblings to perform, singing what several people have said was Michael’s favorite: “Smile,” by Charlie Chaplin. Outside of Janet, he is the only other member of the family to achieve substantial commercial success as a solo artist. He was the Jackson 5’s bassist. Who remembers “Let’s Get Serious”?

“He tried in vain to unsuccessfully teach me the moonwalk’ | 11:42 The first of his eulogizers to visibly fight back tears, Brooke Shields says hers and Michael’s was “the most natural and easiest of friendships.” They “had a bond, and maybe it was because we both understood what it was like to be in the spotlight from a very very young age.”

In their ‘Nature’ | 11:37 With an acoustic guitar over his shoulder, John Mayer has crowd clapping along to what sounds like a smooth jazz version of “Human Nature.” Background singers on the chorus makes it sound less like the high-grade Muzak my aunts listen to in their cars.

‘Outsang his cynics, outdanced his doubters’ | 11:31 Sharpton thanks family for “giving us someone who taught us love.”

‘Michael never let the world turn him around from his dreams’ | 11:27 The Rev. Al says Michael “didn’t accept limitations,” and “brought Blacks and Whites, Latinos and Asians together.” He “created a comfort level” among people of different races and backgrounds.

Beautiful tribute | 11:24 Visibly pregnant Jennifer Hudson just completed her tribute song. “Hold me, like the River of Jordan ...”

Dunk | 11:19 Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson offer their tributes. Kobe calls him a “true humanitarian” who is in the Guinness Book for Most Charities Supported by a Pop Star. Trivia: When Michael was a child, he called his younger sister Janet “Dunk” because he said she resembled a donkey. That is how Janet signed her message in the memorial program. Magic recalls how during a meeting with Michael over his appearance in the “Remember The Time” video, he and the King of Pop sat on the floor and shared a bucket of KFC.

Late arrivals’ | 11:16 Our staff photographer Gary McCarthy texts that Mickey Rooney and his wife, Jan, are among the ticketholders still trying to enter Staples since  the service began.

‘This is a Moment That I Wished I Didn’t Live To See Come’ | 11:08 Stevie Wonder says he is at peace because as much as his family and fans need Michael Jackson,”God must have needed him more.” Sings “Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer.” There can’t be a dry eye within a mile of Staples.

Video Tribute | 11:05 Highlights from Michael’s career are wowing crowd. Voiceover of Michael says that he has gone from “‘Where is he?” to “Here he is again!”

Giving him a hand | 11:00 Amazing shot of Michael’s brothers sitting in the front row — all of them wearing one sequined glove in tribute.

Discoverer | 10:56 In his eulogy, Motown founder Berry Gordy says Michael “raised the bar and then he broke the bar.” He is recalling his first meeting with Michael when he was only 10 years old.

“Father, Help Your Children” | 10:50 Lionel Richie, who co-wrote “We Are the World” with Michael, takes the stage with First AME’s choir to sing “Jesus is Love.

Maya Angelou sends tribute | 10:47 In a special piece called “We Had Him,” by the famed poet writes that Michael has “[slipped] away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.”

Surreal quality | 10:45 Like all memorial services, this one is designed to help loved ones find closure, but there is something unbelievable about the fact that MJ is lying there in a casket. Queen Latifah says she is there to represent all those who loved Michael from a distance.

Mariah | 10:40 The pop star, who made the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” a hit again in a cover on her 1992 “Unplugged” album, is joined onstage by Trey Larenz.

Introduction | 10:37 Pastor Lucious Smith says “we come together and we remember the time.”

Emotional time | 10:35 With audio restored, audience shows reverence as MJ’s casket is rolled in and choir sings “We Are Going To See the King.”

Moments of silence | 10:21 As most of you must know by now, audio from the service has been lost and Internet connections are very slow due to the tremendous traffic. Trying to recover now. Before the techincal problems began, Smokey Robinson spoke briefly.

Opening moments | 10:14 While he waits for the service to begin, Olu reports that inside the program  there are messages written by Michael’s siblings Tito, Rebbie and LaToya. Haven’t heard from Rebbie in a while; who remembers her short-lived career as a pop star with the 1984 hit “Centipede”?

Love their brother | 10:11 While he waits for the service to begin, Olu reports that inside the program  there are messages written by Michael’s siblings Tito, Rebbie and LaToya. Haven’t heard from Rebbie in a while; who remembers her short-lived career as a pop star with the 1984 hit “Centipede”?

Pay up | 9:50 No one is buying the inside-baseball City Hall accounting that MJ’s memorial is “costing” Los Angeles $4 million. Aren’t the police and fire department workers being paid anyway? And in a city that bills itself as the world’s entertainment capital, isn’t the funeral of the world’s biggest pop icon just the cost of doing business?

Fans have it covered | 9:47 a.m. It isn’t an original MJ song (but he owned the rights and covered it on his “HIStory” album) but the crowd gathered within and outside the Staples Center perimeter (and lining freeways to watch the hearse ferry Jackson’s body to Staples Center!) brings to mind the lyrics of a classic Beatles song: “Come together right now, over me.”

In our seat 9:30 a.m. Our man inside Staples Center, staff writer Olu Alemoru, is seated stage right. Took his seat, stage right at 8:40 a.m., and texts that said the memorial program is gold-colored and features Michael in what he describes as “The Way You Make Me Feel” pose.

Staff writer Olu Alemoru and photographer Gary McCarthy reported from Staples Center.