UK fans can apply for Jackson memorial tickets
Updated on 04 July 2009
British fans of Michael Jackson are being given the chance to enter a lottery for tickets to attend the star's memorial service in Los Angeles.
US reports say Jackson's family may first hold a service at the Forest Lawn Mortuary on Tuesday and a motorcade will then head to the Staples Center - owned by concert promoter and Jackson backer AEG Live.
There will also be a broadcast at the nearby Nokia Theatre when the service begins at 10am local time (6pm UK time).
A website lottery has been set up for fans to obtain the 17,500 free tickets - 11,000 for the Staples Center and 6,500 for Nokia - which are limited to two per person. Earlier it emerged only US residents could apply but organisers have now said anyone in the world can register.
The Staples Center site is said to have had hundreds of millions of hits since the announcement. The venue was the site of Jackson's last rehearsals for his planned 50-concert comeback tour in London backed by AEG Live and due to start on July 13.
Registration was due to end at 2am UK time on Sunday with the 8,750 successful applicants drawn at random and then notified by email between 7pm on Sunday to 4am on Monday UK time.
Meanwhile, video clips of a rehearsal two nights before the 50-year-old died on June 25 have been released by AEG. They show Jackson looking thin but performing more like his old superstar self.
Video footage of Jackson being interviewed by a lawyer about claims that he abused several young boys was tonight made public for the first time.
Jackson is shown being interviewed in 1996 by Michael Ring, the chief lawyer for a group of former Neverland workers who claimed wrongful dismissal, a civil case which the pop star later won.
The footage shows Jackson looked shocked when he is asked if he was ever accused of sexually molesting one of the boys. He then laughs and shakes his head before covering his face with his hands. He is instructed by his legal representatives not to answer the question.
Lawyers for Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe say she has yet to decide if she will fight for custody of their two children.
© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
