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Will Jackson’s son perform at memorial?

Plenty of back-and-forth within family about Prince Michael’s role in event

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By Courtney Hazlett
The Scoop
msnbc.com
updated 8:35 a.m. ET July 7, 2009

Courtney Hazlett
The Scoop
LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's son Prince Michael was meant to make his musical debut at one of the late singer’s concerts in London. Now comes word from sources close to the family that part of the back-and-forth within the family about the public memorial involved talks over whether Prince would perform at Tuesday’s event.

“It should come as no surprise that there are certain members of the family, without naming names, those who don't mind having their face seen right now — and it doesn't seem strange to them that you'd just have Prince perform here, if he's up for it,” said the source.

The source said that Tuesday's memorial is influenced by the plans for the “This Is It” tour in London.

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“Kenny Ortega, the concert director, was involved in the memorial. Various costume designers from the concert weighed in on designs for the memorial, and you might see some songs make their way to the memorial,” said the source.

Jackson children doing OK
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Many members of the Jackson family have been photographed in the days since the singer's June 25 death, but his three children, Michael Jr., 12; Paris, 11; and Prince Michael II, 7, have not been seen.

However, a Jackson family friend who recently spent time with them said, “the kids are doing as OK as can be expected,” adding that the children are mostly isolated from the storm of media attention surrounding the family.

“They’ve been with their grandmother (Katherine Jackson) ever since and she’s doing everything she can to protect them from all the media focus,” the friend said. “They aren’t even close to processing all of this. They are probably years away from that, really. But they’re doing OK.”

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