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To his fans he was their hero, but to his children he was simply ‘the best daddy ever’.

And last night Michael Jackson’s children stepped into the limelight to pay tribute to their father.

His tearful daughter Paris’s voice broke as she told the millions watching the Los Angeles memorial concert: ‘I just want to say… ever since I was born…. daddy has been the best father you can imagine. And I just want to say I love him so much.’

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The 11-year-old paused as she spoke, struggling to get the words out through her tears.

Her genuine emotion filled the silent Staples Center, which had earlier shook with laughter, sobs and applause as some of the world’s biggest artists lined up to perform and pay tribute to Jackson.

Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer and even Britain’s Got Talent runner up Shaheen Jafargholi took it in turns to perform.

But after all the showmanship and glitz, it was unscripted Paris who summed up the man behind the headlines as she ended the memorial.

She and her brothers, shielded from public view at Jackson’s insistence, shed their masks to commemorate their late father, who died aged 50 on June 25.

Throughout the event Paris sat in the front-row with her brothers, 12-year-old Prince Michael I, and Prince Michael II alongside her. She rested her head on her grandmother Katherine’s shoulder as celebrities spoke about her father.

Prince Michael II, known as Blanket, clutched a doll in his father’s image. At seven he is two years older than Jackson was when he started his singing career.

Jackson’s brothers, each wearing one white glove, began the concert by wheeling his flower-covered gold-trimmed casket onto the stage at the Staples Center, where days before his death he was rehearsing for his O2 concerts.

The coffin sat under a spotlight throughout, in front of the thousands of fans.

Smokey Robinson opened the memorial with tributes from Nelson Mandela and Diana Ross, before Pastor Lucious Smith spoke on behalf of the Jackson family.

‘We come to this space where only days ago Michael Jackson sang,’ he said. ‘First and foremost, this man was our brother, our son, our father and our friend.

‘In his very beautiful and very human heart, Michael Jackson wanted nothing more than to give love to the world.’

Mariah Carey was the first artist to appear on stage. Her voice quivered as she launched into a rendition of I’ll Be There, accompanied by Trey Lorenz.

In a moving tribute actress Queen Latifah then shared her memories of Jackson, saying she was there to represent the fans who ‘grew up loving Michael from a distance’.

‘Somehow, when Michael Jackson sang, when he danced, he never felt distance,’ she said. ‘He felt like he was right there.’

She laughed as she remembered purchasing the Jackson 5 single Dancing Machine, before reading a poem by author Maya Angelou.

It was Jackson’s skills on stage which were remembered next by Berry Gordy Jr, the founder of Motown Records, the label that signed the Jackson 5.

‘He studied the greats and then became greater. He raised the bar, and then he broke the bar,’ he said. ‘It was kill or be killed. The more I talk about Michael Jackson, the more I feel the King Of Pop is not big enough for him.

‘I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived.’

As fans cheered Gordy then reflected on Jackson’s ability as an artist. ‘Off-stage he was shy, soft-spoken and childlike. But when he took the stage in front of his fans he became a different person. A master. Awesome… totally in charge.’

Stevie Wonder then serenaded Jackson’s coffin with the song Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer, which featured in the movie Poetic Justice, starring Janet Jackson.

‘This is a moment that I wish I didn’t live to see coming. But as much as I can say that and mean it, I do know that God is good,’ he said.

‘And I do know that as much as we may feel, and we do, that we need Michael here with us, God must have needed him far more.’

Following Wonder were light-hearted reflections from Jackson’s sporting friends Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson.

Johnson remembered his first meeting with the superstar, who with his brother Marlon, was a season ticket holder for the Los Angeles Lakers.

After receiving a phonecall from Jackson he visited Neverland to discuss appearing in the video for Remember the Time.

On arrival Jackson’s personal chef asked what he wanted to eat, and he recalled asking for grilled chicken.

‘The chef brought me out the grilled chicken, but he brought Michael a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. That was the greatest moment of my life,’ he said, to laughter from the crowd.

The two then shared the chicken, said Johnson.

Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson then gave a moving gospel performance of Jackson’s Will You Be There, from the album Dangerous.

The eight-months pregnant star, whose mother, brother and nephew were murdered late last year, belted out the track.

In a musical interlude a recording of Jackson’s near-tearful voice could be heard, reading out the lyrics.

Actress Brooke Shields, who once attended the Oscars with Jackson, broke down as she paid tribute to her friend.

‘To us it was the most magical and easiest of friendships. I was 13 when we first met and from then on our friendship grew.

‘We had a bond. And maybe it was because we both understood what it was like to be in the spotlight from a very young age.

‘Both of us needed to be adults very early, but when we were together we were two little kids, having fun. We never collaborated together, we never performed together or danced on the same stage, although he did try to teach me the moonwalk… but what we did do was laugh…

‘When he started wearing the glove, I was like “What’s up with the glove?” He just loved to be teased… He was a lover of life.’