- "BET Awards 2009" (BET)
- "Bill Cosby: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor" (PBS)
- "The Michael Jackson Memorial: Celebrating the Life of Michael Jackson"
(ABC, BET, CNN, MTV, NBC) - "Wanda Sykes: I'ma Be Me" (HBO)
- "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial" (HBO)
Michael Jackson memorial nominated for Outstanding Variety Television award by NAACP Image Awards
Michael Jackson's funeral has been nominated for an Outstanding Variety award by the NAACP Image Awards.
ABC, BET, CNN, MTV, and NBC broadcast Jackson's memorial service from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 7th, almost two weeks after the 50-year-old singer died of cardiac arrest.
Attended by thousands of fans, the star-studded service, which proceeded a smaller gathering for family members inside a Hollywood Hills chapel, lasted 90 minutes and featured touching tributes by Magic Johnson, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Al Sharpton, Jennifer Hudson, Brooke Shields, Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, Usher, and John Mayer, as well as Jackson's family members.
The most emotional moment came when the King of Pop's 11-year-old daughter, Paris, took the microphone and told the audience, "Ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine."
"And I just want to say that I love him so much," she added, before bursting into tears and burying herself in the arms of her aunt, Janet Jackson.
Jackson was laid to rest as extravagantly as he lived. His bronze casket, which reportedly cost close to $20K, featured 14-karat gold plate handles and a velvet-lined interior.
But the funeral was not without controversy.
Three thousand police officers were on hand to ensure events proceeded smoothly, costing the city of Los Angeles between $2 - 4 million.A Los Angeles tax payer recently sued Jackson's estate for $3.3 million to cover the costs of the singer's memorial.
Regardless of cost, the memorial service turned out to be quite a spectacle.
Akamai Technologies, a company that monitors Internet traffic, noted that at some points during the funeral, global Web traffic was 31 percent above average.
It's main competitor for the NAACP Image Award appears to be President Obama's Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, but anything featuring Jackson these days makes money and wins awards.
The documentary "This Is It," which featured video footage of the tour Jackson was set to embark on when he died, is the highest grossing musical documentary of all time, having taken in over $250 million.
And Jackson also swept the American Music Awards last year, taking home four awards.
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