Fans pay tribute to the King of Pop at the Staples Center.

Jackson memorial will be a world event

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Posted: 7/3/09

Thousands are expected to swamp Los Angeles, California, to mourn the death of the King of Pop Tuesday at the Staples Center.

Thousands turned out earlier this week at Harlem’s Apollo Theater to pay tribute to Michael Jackson.

The Los Angeles memorial could one more the most-viewed events of all time.

It’s assumed this his memorial may put the world on pause. Only a handful of events have earned this kind of worldwide coverage. The 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy, Apollo 11 moon landing and Princess Diana’s funeral had million tuning in.

Jackson’s memorial is said to have an audience of hundreds of millions.

It was first believed that the event would take place at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, but the family announced that they will have their own private ceremony Tuesday.

Fans must register for tickets to the worldwide event. There are 17,5000 tickets that organizers will give out for the event. However, the tickets will be awarded in a lottery style. Fans must register online.

According a Jackson family spokesman, web servers counted a half billion “hits” in the first 90 minutes the lottery registration site was online.

Los Angeles police official said that people who do not have a ticket should stay away and watch the event on television.

A computer will randomly select 8,750 names from those who register online at StaplesCenter.com by Saturday at 6 p.m. PT.

Only 11,000 seats are available for fans inside the Staples Center, another 6,000 can watch from the Nokia Theater, which is across the street.