Diana Ross

For the comeback tour that never was Michael Jackson had a long list of other artists he wanted to bring up on stage. You can guess who: Janet, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Diana Ross, Justin Timberlake, Bono.

Michael Jackson’s gold casket was covered with red flowers and was wheeled out through the 20,000-strong audience and positioned in front of the stage, as a choir sang Soon And Very Soon in an emotional scene at the Staples Center.

The ceremony got under way about 10 minutes after the scheduled 10am start time as mourners waited for the hearse carrying Jackson’s coffin to arrive from the nearby Forest Lawn Cemetery where there was a private ceremony for family.

Ticketless fans have been warned to stay away from Michael Jackson's star-studded memorial service amid fears of riots.

Los Angeles police have urged people not to head to the Staples Center in the city's downtown area for tomorrow's event unless they are guaranteed entry.

Authorities fear that up to one million fans will descend on the city.

More than 1.6 million people entered a lottery to get tickets, but only 17,500 were successful.

Late pop legend Michael Jackson requested in his will that his mother Katherine be made guardian of his three children – and nominated fellow music icon, Diana Ross, as his second choice to take care of them.

The Thriller icon wanted diva Diana to look after Prince, 12, Paris, 11, and Blanket, seven, if Katherine died before him or could not serve as their guardian.

Jon M. Chu, the director, and Adam Sevani, co-star of Step Up 2: The Streets, challenged Miley Cyrus and her best friend/back up dancer Mandy Jiroux (co-stars of the YouTube show M&M) to "The Biggest Online Dance Battle in YouTube History” two weeks ago.

The rules are...there are NO rules.

ACDC (Adam/Chu Dance Crew) was the first to strike with a battle video, but Miley and Mandy responded with an even bigger video featuring the original Step Up stars, Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan and some very intricate choreography