MICHAEL JACKSON - OVER 17,000 FANS TO ATTEND JACKSON MEMORIAL

OVER 17,000 FANS TO ATTEND JACKSON MEMORIAL

More than 17,000 fans of MICHAEL JACKSON will get the chance to bid farewell to the late King of Pop at an official memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday (07Jul09).
At a press conference outside the venue, where Jackson was rehearsing for his This Is It comeback shows in the days before his death last week (25Jun09), AEG Live President and CEO Tim Leiweke laid down the rules of next week's tribute to hundreds of fans and media representatives on Friday morning (03Jul09).
Joined by Los Angeles City Council official Jan Perry and Jackson family publicist Ken Sunshine, Leiweke made it clear fans turning up at the Staples Center would not be able to gain access to the memorial.
The AEG Live boss stated he hoped the event would be a "dignified and very uplifting memorial for the Jackson family", which has made available a "worldwide (TV) pool feed from the services for every network for free".
He said, "The family has also made available 17,500 tickets for Michael's fans to be part of this service. 11,000 of those tickets will be at Staples Center, 6,500 of those tickets will be at the Nokia Theatre for a simulcast of the funeral on three big screens across the street."
Fans will be able to register for tickets on Staples Center's official website until 6pm on Saturday (04Jul09). Those people selected in a lottery will be alerted on Sunday (05Jul09) and they will be able to pick up tickets and wristbands on Monday (06Jul09).
Leiweke, whose company is planning the memorial, insisted, "There will be no tickets sold for this memorial service... There will be no distribution of tickets at Staples Center... There will be no outside broadcast of the memorial service in or around Staples Center of L.A. Live.
"We request and encourage everyone to join us for the memorial service by following the worldwide pool. There will be no funeral procession."
Councilwoman Perry added, "I want to stress to those people who are coming or thinking about coming here to our city for this special event that you might want to consider watching this from the comfort of your own home."
Publicist Sunshine stated, "No details are forthcoming about the memorial; it's still being developed."