Remembering Michael

"There's quite a strong feeling that there should be a statue here for him.

"This was going to be his home for six months. To have something like that where that screen is over there would be a fitting tribute to the man."

Kevin Lincoln gestured over to a cluster of people buzzing in the corner of the O2 plaza. A man with blonde dreadlocks and a stumpy megaphone was leading a rhythmic chant, below a jumbotron beaming out slideshow images.

At the bottom of the screen, it read, "Michael Jackson: 1958-2009".

Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana and passed away a half-century later in Los Angeles, California. Both of these places are hardly a short bus hop away from the South London entertainment megaplex at which crowds were gathering with flowers and banners.

Of course, many of these mourners were due to be here anyway. July 13 was the day when the King of Pop was due to start his 50-date residency at The O2, a day when the rhinestone gloves and black hats would come out, the TV cameras would grind together like glittering teeth, and the thousands paid out for single tickets would at last bear fruit.

The fans made it to the O2 on the day, as did the flickering lenses. But there was no Michael.

Kevin adjusted his white hat in the sun, revealing a cigarette pack stuffed into a shirt pocket below his white suit.

He said: "My god-daughter was born 10 minutes after he was pronounced dead. I was in the birthing room in the hospital.

"It wasn't until I was on the train home that I heard someone say he was gone. I thought it was a joke, but I saw the TV news when I got back and I just broke down.

"The very first song I ever heard was Billie Jean. I tried to dance to it but I have all the rhythm of a pit bull terrier with one leg.

"It's incredibly important that people came down today to remember Michael. He's the best there was and the best there ever will be, period.

"Even if it's just for a day, the barriers of race, culture and sexuality have been broken down. Michael did a lot of charity work and I hope the fans will carry on that work now he's gone."

Kevin's 17-year-old sister Kirsty had joined him from Essex, and took to dancing much more than her brother.

She said: "I've been practicing the moves for months. I want to get every move he did nailed down."

Kirsty then stretched out her arms and broke into a short routine from the Smooth Criminal video. Behind her, the man with the loudhailer was guiding a group on the platform through a chorus of Earth Song, which occasionally sank to mumbles during the high notes.

No one knew what to expect from the evening, other than a good turnout. There would be none of the big names from the Staples Center, and the O2 had nothing planned to mark the occasion. The step near the screen may have had the megaphone, but it was hardly the focus of all attention.

Fans mingled in small groups around the plaza. Some posed for photos with UK-based Jackson impersonator Navi, who ambled around under a large black umbrella.

Police and AEG posted light security on-site, including a dog handler. But they had little to do. One man wandered about with a home-made "I hate Martin Bashir" t-shirt, taking snaps and smiling. Another in a red jacket yelled "cock" at an image of Jarvis Cocker on the O2's hoardings, and then made an embarrassed apology to the person standing in front of it.

Morganna Bramah from Manchester milled around the plaza dressed in full-MJ garb, complete with a hat and a white-painted face. She had just returned from LA, where she had tried to secure tickets for the Staples memorial concert, but had instead spent the evening outside on the junction of Olympic and Figueroa.

She said: "There was a lot of police control and security. They erected these concrete barriers so that no one could get close.

"There was no brutality. It was just very controlled and you didn't feel like you had any room to pay your respects. You couldn't even get to his star. But I felt fortunate that I could be so close to his family at that time."

Fighting back tears, Morganna delivered her tribute to the man she had been hoping to see at the O2 that night.

She said: "First and foremost, he was more than just an entertainer. He was a great philanthropist and humanitarian. To me and all the fans here, he was the greatest entertainer that lived in our lifetime, and in other people's lifetimes as well.

"Like all human beings, he had his faults. I don't blame him for any of them. But he wasn't that disgusting "P" word that's applied to him.

"I was meant to come to opening night but that wasn't to be. But it's very important to his fans to get some sense of closure from each other."

Behind her, the crowd were warming to the singalong, delivering a confident rendition of "Rock With You". Smiling fans were trading scraps of paper with email addresses on them, and scribbling their messages on other people's shirts. There was no big performance, and no heaving crowd.

It was the same story hours earlier, as fans gathered at The Ledger Building in West India Quay for a pre-vigil meet-up.

Around a table cluttered by flowers, wine and portions of chips huddled a group separated by hundreds of miles.

Netherlands-born Vincent Van Geel, 27, had come from Greece for the event, after deciding not to cancel his trip for opening night.

He said: "They say music is the language of the soul, so when you have a hero like that it does go deeper than you expect. I've been a fan of Michael since I was five years old, and since then it's been a big part of my life."

Richard Bennett, from Southend, said: "He taught us it was okay to believe in ourselves, to believe in dreams and to believe in innocence. He taught us that to care for someone else is the right thing to do.

"Being here today is about a mixture of many things. We want to pay our respects and to get some sort of closure. And from what we're hearing, the whole world is going to be watching, so it's a way of saying, 'We love you Michael'."

Just opposite, Dianne Perry and her friend Roaa Ali were kitted out in home-made Jackson costumes Dianne had stitched herself.

Roaa originally hailed from Syria, but now lives in Birmingham. She said: "I was planning to go to five concerts, including the one just before his birthday in August.

"When I heard his songs, it was the first time that someone touched the humanity inside me. Since then, he's been the most important part of my life. He helped me through a lot. His voice spoke to me in his darkest hour.

"I personally can't see the light anymore, but we'll all try to keep his legacy going."

In the days since June 25, everyone has had their chance to talk about Michael Jackson. The world has been fed endless column-inches from reporters, boasting of the insight they gained into a man they met once at a performance or a press conference. Politicians have distributed soundbites of grief, and family and friends have made their own tearful tributes under the lights of the Staples Center.

Fans have had their moments, popping up on message boards and giving out words to be sold back to them in the next day's pullouts and newspapers. But while July 13 would no longer be the day they saw the King of Pop perform, it was their chance to swap memories and email addresses with others that really felt they knew what all the fuss was about.

Michiel Cremers, 22, of the Netherlands, said: "I saw him outside the World Music Awards in 2006. He arrived in a limo and walked past me.

"What struck me was the reaction. People were crying and screaming and running. All hell broke loose and it was just a man walking by.

"I never saw him speak a negative word, despite all we'd hear in the media about all the dodgy stuff. It inspired me to be as genuinely nice as I can be, which is really difficult.

"For me, today has been the first time that I've ever meet people that care as much about this man as I do. It's been very special."