Michael Jackson Funeral Tickets: Free, Via Random Drawing

Michael Jackson fans will get a chance to say goodbye to the King of Pop at a public memorial service to be held at L.A.'s Staples Center on Tuesday.

Tickets will be available to the general public and will be free of charge.

Fans from around the world are expected to fly to Los Angeles to say farewell to Jackson, who died at 50 after suffering cardiac arrest on June 25.

Jackson's final rehearsal took place at Staples, where he was prepping for his London tour, sponsored by AEG Live (which owns Staples Center).

Preliminary details of the funeral service are as follows:

• The main event will be at the Staples Center and will be simulcast at the adjacent Nokia Theatre in the same complex throughout.
• There is a lottery set up to obtain tickets. You can sign up on the Staples Center website, if it's not crashed by the time
• you do.
• 17,500 tickets are available for the event - 11,000 for Staples and 6,500 for Nokia - a maximum of two per person is allowed.
• If you are one of the 8,750 people selected, you will be given further instructions Sunday. Sounds Mission: Impossible-like.
• Only U.S. citizens can apply for tickets to Jackson's funeral.
• Still unclear is whether Jackson's body will be there.

Michael Jackson Funeral Tickets

The Michael Jackson memorial will now be taking place at the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles, June 7th 2009. Tickets are going for $25 and there will be two sessions, one at 10AM and the other at 12PM. VIP’s including Michael’s family and friends will also attend, occupying the floor seats.
The Barnum Bailey Circus that was scheduled for that day, has been pushed back and will continue at the end of the ceremony. LA Live which includes the Nokia theatre and the large outdoor area have also been designated for the “King of Pop’s” memorial.

I don’t understand why they’re charging the public $25 to attend a memorial. That seems a little inappropriate. Especially when the scalpers start coming out and try to make a profit on this tragedy.

At first, a public viewing was scheduled to be at Neverland Ranch, two hours outside of Los Angeles, but the Jackson family refused. It was probably a smart move on their part, for the simple fact that an open viewing may have caused a lot more commotion then good.