In Los Angeles Superior Court, a judge appointed Jackson's longtime attorney and a family friend as administrators of his estate over the objections of his mother, Katherine. Attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain had been designated in Jackson's 2002 will as the people he wanted to oversee his empire.

Katherine Jackson's attorneys expressed concerns about McClain and Branca's financial leadership. "Frankly, Mrs. Jackson has concerns about handing over the keys to the kingdom," said one of her attorneys, John E. Schreiber.

Branca and McClain will have to post a $1 million bond on the estate, and their authority will expire Aug. 3, when another hearing will be held.

"Mr. Branca and Mr. McClain for the next month are at the helm of the ship," the judge said.

Jackson died at age 50 with hundreds of millions in debts. But a court filing estimates his estate is worth more than $500 million. His assets are destined for a trust, with his three children, his mother and charities as beneficiaries.

Debbie Rowe, Jackson's ex-wife and the mother of Jackson's two oldest children, had planned to attend the memorial but backed out Monday. "The onslaught of media attention has made it clear her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction," her attorney Marta Almli said in a statement.

ABC News on Tuesday aired portions of a 2003 interview with Rowe that was largely unaired in which she called Jackson's children "the ultimate love children."

"If it hadn't been for how much I love him, I would have never had children," she said. "People make remarks, 'I can't believe she left her children.' Left them? I left my children? I did not leave my children. My children are with their father, where they're supposed to be."

She said Jackson was upset when his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley broke up because he wanted to be a father, so she told him "let me do this."

Rowe said Jackson was not a pedophile.

"He would not do anything inappropriate with a child, ever," she said. "It's not in him. I believe there are people who should be parents, and he's one of them. Always. From the day I met him. I could do something for him, and this is what I wanted to do."

In New York, Republican Rep. Peter King released a YouTube video calling Jackson, who was acquitted of child molestation charges, a "pervert" and a "low-life."

But the memories of Jackson's problems were far from the minds of fans preparing to say goodbye.

"It's the passing of a great soul," said Matt Tyson, 31, of Ojai, Calif. "He brought people together, helped express something that's in us all."

Downtown hotels were quickly filling. Police, trying to avoid a mob scene, warned those without tickets to stay away because they would not be able to get close to the Staples Center.

All those involved say the heart of Los Angeles will become a circus. In one way, that characterization will be literal.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey starts a run at Staples Center on Wednesday, a booking long planned in advance. In the pre-dawn hours before Jackson's memorial, the elephants started walking from the train station to the arena. They were set to arrive some five hours before the memorial.

(AP July 6, 2009)