Way to go, Joan Rivers. NYPD bagpipers belting out New York New York, the city's Gay Men's Chorus chiming in with Hey Big Spender and Hugh Jackman singing Quiet Please, There's a Lady On Stage. Plus more stars to survey at her funeral than on an episode of Fashion Police.
The 81-year-old stand-up comedienne turned red-carpet critic, television presenter and reality show star could not have scripted her final appearance better. All that was missing was a pushy dame on the steps of the Fifth Avenue synagogue saying: "Who are you wearing?"
"She would love this. We've all said this so many times: The one person who would really think this is the greatest thing ever is the lady who it's all about, and she's not here," said TV anchor Deborah Norville, who delivered tributes at the send-off.
Rivers may not have got quite everything she wished for in her 2012 book. I Hate Everyone ... Starting With Me, in which she imagined "Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents" and "a wind machine, so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyonce's", but her celebrity-filled farewell service's combination of over-the-top celebration and down-home sentiment nicely summed up how she managed to successfully entertain and eviscerate for so long.
