LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2009 (AFP) - Part showbiz extravaganza, part somber funeral, Michael Jackson's fans and family bid him farewell in a genre-defying send-off true to his legacy that roused the crowd at once to cheers and tears.

From the entry of a gold-plated, rose-covered coffin of the King of Pop to the tearful first public words of his daughter, the nearly two-hour ceremony was packed with more drama than even fans of the consummate showman expected.

"This has been the most emotional time of my entire life," said Donna Green, 44, who founded Michael Jackson's Las Vegas fan club and paid 300 dollars to snag a ticket.

"When the daughter spoke, I was so weak I couldn't stand up," she said with red eyes.

For a few hours Tuesday, central Los Angeles was transformed into a surreal Michael Jackson zone, with an airplane overhead even writing "MJ" and drawing a heart shape in the clear summer sky.

Police on horses and motorbikes sealed the Staples Center arena as news helicopters roared overhead and hawkers sold everything from fresh-off-the-press glossy books to beaten-up jacket covers for "Thriller."

Only 11,000 fans won tickets at the Staples Center out of more than 1.6 million people who applied for a place to the service, which was being televised to hundreds of millions more around the world.

"We love you, Michael!" fans shouted out at the slightest pause in the program, in a reminder of some of Jackson's legendary arena concerts -- only this time it was his coffin before them.

But even though the Staples Center was lit up with the constant clicking of flash cameras, it was hardly just entertainment for fans. Few had dry eyes by the end of the ceremony.

A nervous hush and then a mass of sniffling came collectively from the audience as 11-year-old daughter Paris took the microphone under the wing of her aunt Janet Jackson and said "Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine."

It was the first time Paris had spoken publicly. Jackson's youngest child, seven-year-old Prince Michael II, nicknamed Blanket, was seen sitting through the service holding a doll bearing the likeness of his father.

In turn, the crowd applauded with approval as speakers alluded to Jackson's very public travails -- and defended the King of Pop passionately.

"There wasn't nothing strange about your daddy," the Reverend Al Sharpton, a prominent civil rights activist and politician, said in remarks that met cheers of approval from the crowd.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee also brought the audience to its feet when she cautioned that in the United States, "you are innocent until proven otherwise."

Yet even with the thousands of Jackson fans in the midst, it was impossible to escape the controversy around the pop icon.

Notorious anti-gay pastor Ben Phelps held a rally with a handful of activists outside of the Staples Center. To the jeering of fans, they held signs reading, "Jacko in Hell," calling him a "pervert" due to child molestation allegations. Jackson was acquitted in a 2005 trial.

Others came with very different, but also loaded, messages.

Selah Flores, 28, who failed to beat the odds to win a ticket, wore a white cloak and bore a large wooden cross on her shoulders.

"Michael Jackson was like Jesus Christ. Jesus died for our sins and we killed Michael through what we did," she said.

"There is a spiritual dimension to this. The last days are coming," she said, handing out fliers.

But for the fans who had the chance to take part in the ceremony, virtually all of them were upbeat at the end, hailing the service.

"It's a memorial service, but it's good to make it a performance, because that's what he would have wanted. That's 100 percent Michael," said Forrest Fordyce, 55, who 25 years ago went to the show where Jackson debuted his slick and groundbreaking "Moonwalk" dance.

Wayne Darrington, 20, who remembers singing Jackson songs karaoke-style as a child, praised the ceremony's "peaceful" atmosphere.

"It was very fitting. It was a celebration, yet it was humble," he said.