Jul 4, 2009 8:21 pm US/Pacific
1.6M Enter Lottery For Jackson Memorial Tickets
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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Jackson's memorial will be held Tuesday at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.
Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
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An estimated 1.6 million people registered for the online lottery for a chance at 17,500 free tickets for Tuesday's memorial service for Michael Jackson at Staples Center before Saturday's deadline, a spokesperson said.
The 20-hour registration period, which began at 10 a.m. Friday, ended at 6 p.m.
Successful registrants will be notified by email after 11 a.m., but before 8 p.m., Sunday.
Each of the 8,750 people selected will receive an exclusive, unique code and instructions on how to obtain their two free tickets on Monday, according to a news release from family spokesman Ken Sunshine.
Of those, 11,000 tickets will be for admission to the Staples Center service.
The remaining 6,500 tickets will be for the neighboring Nokia Theatre, where the memorial will be simulcast on big screens.
The random selection will be done by computer after the entries are "scrubbed" to eliminate duplicates and those submitted by auto-entry systems or so-called "go-bots," AEG President and CEO Tim Leiweke said earlier.
To avoid potential reselling of tickets, a single distribution center will be used. Only people with a valid ticket and an unaltered wristband will be allowed into the service, the spokesperson said.
So far, no official program or lineup for the service has been announced.
Fans without tickets are not urged to come to the venues. No tickets will be sold for the service.
The service is expected to draw tens of thousands of spectators wanting to pay their respects to the King of Pop, who died June 25. How city officials will handle the massive crowd remains to be settled.
Jackson's brother Jermaine told CNN's Larry King that there will be a private ceremony for family and some special guests before the public memorial. He added the family wants to have other memorials around the United States.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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