Michael Jackson's family held a final vigil by his casket last night just hours before he is laid to rest at Hollywood's "cemetery of the stars".

Jackson family members - including his sister LaToya, brother Randy and daughter Paris - were seen at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, where a private funeral is to be held today before the public memorial service for fans.

A KCAL-TV news helicopter filmed a hearse transferring what was believed to be Jackson's casket to the viewing area where family members gathered.

The superstar is to be interred at the famously private cemetery near the tombs of Sammy Davis Jr, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow.

Organisers yesterday announced the shock inclusion of a 12-year-old Swansea schoolboy who was a finalist on "Britain's Got Talent" in the line-up for the Jackson memorial service at Los Angeles' Staples Center after the funeral.

Shaheen Jafargholi, who lives with his single mother and pet cat, was picked after singing Jackson's "Who's Lovin' You?" on the ITV talent show. He has previously sung in the Michael Jackson stage musical Thriller Live!

Jafargholi will appear in the televised extravaganza, expected to reach up to one billion people worldwide, along with Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, Usher, Smokey Robinson and Oscar-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson.

Jackson's former girlfriend Brooke Shields, civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton, and Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant, will also take part.

But Debbie Rowe, the mother of Jackson's two eldest children, said she would not attend because she did not want to become a "distraction" amid continuing questions about whether she will seek custody of the kids.

Elisabeth Taylor also announced that she would not attend the memorial service, saying on Twitter that: "I cannot be part of the public whoopla."

"I just don't believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others. How I feel is between us. Not a public event," she said. "I cannot guarantee that I would be coherent to say a word."

Taylor denied recent tabloid reports that she was on a suicide watch following her friend's death.

Explore Music

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010