Michael Jackson Staples Center Tickets for Memorial Services Hot Item

The announced registration for Michael Jackson's public memorial service at the Staples Center attracted millions, overburdened servers, and prompted massive delays. A few days ago, a decision was made to have a public memorial for pop icon Michael Jackson on Tuesday, July 7, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the site of his last rehearsal, instead of at his former home at Neverland Ranch. It was also decided that tickets to the 20,000-seat facility for Michael Jackson's public memorial would be free of charge. Those in charge of the event, AEG (who also were promoting Michael Jackson's upcoming "This Is It" concert tour in the United Kingdom), also decided that fairness dictated that the ticket-holders to the public memorial would be chosen through an online lottery.

For most, staying at home and watching the services on CNN and other networks will suffice. But there are those who feel the need to be there...

"It's the family's wish to create a service and a celebration that all of Michael's fans around the world can be part of," President and CEO of AEG Tim Leiweke said. The Jackson family made available 17,500 tickets to Michael Jackson fans. Eleven thousand ticket-holders will be able to attend the public memorial service at the Staples Center. The remaining 6,500 will watch the service from the nearby Nokia Theatre.

The remaining 2,500 tickets for the Staples Center will be given to the family for distribution at the Jackson family's discretion.

According to ABC News, Leiweke said that AEG was taking great lengths to ensure that no tickets were being sold to the memorial service. Although scalping is a concern, ticket-holders will be given a matching wristband with the tickets to help thwart the sale of the memorial tickets.

As for those registering online for a chance at a ticket to the Staples Center, Leiweke said, "We will notify those selected that they have a ticket on Sunday between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Those who were randomly drawn will receive a code to go to Ticketmaster.com and will then be provided with the specifics of where to go."

But registering online for the Michael Jackson tickets was more difficult than many people expected. Messages of "server unavailable" kept appearing for millions as they and millions of other Michael Jackson fans descended on StapleCenter.com and Ticketmaster.com to sign up for tickets.

Public officials in Los Angeles are anticipating a heavy turnout in the Staples Center area as well. They are estimating that upwards of 100,000 people could show up. Many are advising people to stay home and watch the memorial service on television. There are many networks planning to air the public memorial services live.

Media sources say that between 2 and 4 million people were in Rome when services were held for Pope John Paul II. An estimated 750,000 people attended Princess Diana's funeral in London. Some 80,000 people showed up at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, for Elvis' funeral.

Michael Jackson's public memorial at the Staples Center will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning. It remains to be seen how many people actually view the proceedings. It is still unknown who will all attend, if any of the family members will actually be there, if there will be performances or simple testimonials (or both -- or perhaps neither), or even if Michael Jackson's body will even be in attendance.

Registration for the "lottery" for the Michael Jackson memorial tickets ended at 6:00 p.m. (PST), 9:00 p.m. (EST).

There is a great deal of "unknown" still surrounding the public memorial for Michael Jackson, ranging from the who will be there to the who will be allowed to attend.

Given television's massive and unprecedented coverage of Michael Jackson's death, there is one known in all the arrangements and proceedings: Television cameras will be rolling no matter what happens...

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Source:

ABCnews.go.local