LOS ANGELES -- Registration numbers for fans who wish to obtain free tickets to Michael Jackson's public memorial service at the Staples Center have exploded, exceeding 1.6 million hoping to attend.
17,500 tickets are being made available for the memorial, which is set to occur at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
11,000 tickets are for the Staples Center, and 6,500 are for the nearby Nokia Theatre where fans will watch the service on big screens, according to AEG President Tim Leiweke. An AEG representative said 524,330 people had registered for a chance to get tickets as of 5:30 p.m. Friday. The concert promoter also added legal language to the process that now allows foreigners to vie for tickets as well.
A raffle will be held for those who register online at: http://www.staplescenter.com/memorial.php
Registration ended at 6 p.m. Saturday, and now a random drawing will be held to determine who receives tickets.
Leiweke said selected fans will be notified between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday that they're receiving two tickets-- either to Staples Center or Nokia.
The fans will then be given a code and instructions on how to obtain the tickets from Ticketmaster.
Seeking to discourage massive throngs of people, officials said that there would be no funeral procession and that no one would be allowed inside a large area around Staples Center unless they had a ticket and a wristband, a media credential or could prove they live or work there.
A public memorial at Staples Center is fitting, especially since the King of Pop finished his last rehearsal at the arena the night before his death.
Older brother Jermaine Jackson told CNN's Larry King that there would be a smaller, private memorial service for Michael before the public service Tuesday at an undisclosed location.
Jermaine expressed concern that the Staples Center wouldn't be big enough for his little brother's public memorial.
"There's no place even big enough. We talked about the Washington Monument, we talked about the Coliseum. We talked about a lot of places," Jermaine said, "There are 20s of thousands just from the UK."
Officials on Friday said the Jackson family has arranged for a worldwide pool feed of the service for fans to watch on every network.
ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! Entertainment are among the networks that have already announced plans to offer live coverage of the memorial.
Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Don Lemon will be the anchors for the CNN coverage. ABC is sending anchor Charles Gibson to Los Angeles for the story, and CBS anchor Katie Couric will also be on hand at Staples Center.
Original speculation about a memorial and funeral service had focused on Jackson's former home at Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County, but a family statement said no such service was being planned there. Jermaine Jackson said Thursday that he would like to see Neverland Ranch as his brother's final resting place.
Jackson specified no plans for a funeral or wishes for his remains in his 2002 last will, filed in a Los Angeles court Wednesday.
Jermaine Jackson also said the family intends to have a series of memorials around the country, though no further details have been released.
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