Ken Molestina At Jackson Memorial

ABC-7’s Ken Molestinaheaded to Los Angeles to report on the Michael Jackson memorial services. Hetraveledwith a group of El Pasoans who decided to make the trip to L.A. via bus.

Follow Ken on Twitter at twitter.com/abc7ken.

As I expected this trip went by fast. There was so much to see, and so much to do in L.A. in a short time. I hope all of El Paso and those following this trip elsewhere were able to get a taste of what this whirlwind of a ride has been like. As I look out the bus window I can see the Franklin Mountains again in the west end of El Paso County. It’s hard to believe that just a little bit ago we were all underneath the sun and palm trees in L.A. for Michael Jackson’s memorial. If it wasn’t clear to me before it is now, and that is despite what criticism Jackson came under in recent times none of that has mattered these past couple of days. Seeing Jackson fans from all over the world in LA and talking to them conveyed one main point to me:

Michael Jackson was arguably the single most influential entertainer in the world. His worldwide fans may have different looks, speak different languages, and maintain different customs, but at least during what I saw in his memorial they came together under one allegiance … MJ FANS.

Thank you to KVIA-TV/ABC-7 for allowing me to cover this trip and this time in history. Thank you to my photographer Donnie Laffoday. Thank you to our friends at KABC-TV Los Angeles who helped us get situated in L.A., and finally thank you to all those who followed our complete coverage on-air and on line. It’s been fun meeting the El Paso MJ fans on the bus and hanging out with them, and it was awesome to document this trip.

If you missed anything just navigate through this same page and you should find all the reports from the bus and from LA, pictures, and blogs.

KABC helps with broadband lives at 5 and 6 p.m.

Just like that the memorial came and went, and now my photographer Donnie Laffoday and I are working non-stop to get our material back to El Paso. Once we got to L.A. we had to find our partners from KABC. We were lugging heavy equipment through crowds of fans and police. Thankfully we found the KABC truck and we got our credentials. From the view of a journalist covering the memorial I would describe the atmosphere as organized chaos. There were tons of media representatives out here everyone working diligently, but everyone had a rhyme and reason to what appeared to be craziness in the media working area.Right now we are getting ready for a broadband live from LA.

The Michael Jackson memorial brought out crowds from all over the world including El Paso. After a 13-hour bus ride, we finally made it here to Los Angeles. Once we made it here to Downtown it was a sea of police officers and fans that we had to walk alongside to make it to the Staples Center.

Today’s memorial service called on more than 3,000 police officer and hundreds of firefighters to control the crowds of thousands that lined the streets of Downtown L.A. Of course, out of the 1.6 million that applied for the tickets, just more than 8,700 actually got them.

We’re told that the entire memorial is costing the city of Los Angeles anywhere between 1.4 to 4 million dollars.

As the rather spiritual ceremony took place inside the Staples Center, fans had rather spectacular and cheerful memorials of their own.

What was surprising to many of the fans out here was a last-minute decision to have the Michael Jackson casket at the Staples Center during the memorial.

We’re told Jackson’s body, along with his family, will now be on their way to the Forest Lawn Cemetery where he will be buried.

Media row

Street picture in front of Staples Center

Well we’re just outside of LA I know this not only because thats what the bus driver indicated, but because of the heavy traffic we just drove into.

We left El Paso late yesterday and as a result we weren’t able to get in to LA on time to avoid their notorious heavy traffic. However, that isn’t keeping the fans aboard the bus from being excited about what lies ahead on this trip.

Surprisingly enough that I know of only two people on this bus actually have tickets for the memorial. It’s a mom and a daughter who found out they won the ticket lottery at the last minute, Sunday.

We’ve been on the road for nearly 12 hours now, no real meals, no showers, minimal sleep, but still lots of energy among the fans going to memorialize Michael Jackson. I guess that’s why MJ fans keep telling me they consider themselves hardcore.

The bus left a little later than expected from El Paso, however, that has not kept Michael Jackson fans from being thrilled about their opportunity to be in L.A. to memorialize the “King of Pop.”

The bus is made up of primarily women andchildren. Although their gender and ages may differ, one thing they all have in common is that they keep telling me this is a trip of a lifetime for them.

The trip organizers wasted no time in getting Michael Jackson dvd’s playing on the bus’ monitors. Our road trip entertainment consists of concert clips featuring Jackson performing Billy Jean, Thriller, and other “moon-walking” classics.

We are on schedule to be inL.A. by 6 a.m.Tuesday morning. Check back soon. I’ll post another update. On the road to L.A. … Ken Molestina, ABC-7.