LA is braced for Jackson's farewell

Jul 7 2009

The stage is set for Michael Jackson's final act - as Los Angeles braces itself for what could be the biggest, most spectacular celebrity send-off of all time.

Ecstatic fans - many of them Britons who won the lottery for seats at the memorial service - received their tickets and spangly wristbands which will get them into the 20,000-seat Staples Centre.

Welsh schoolboy Shaheen Jafargholi, a finalist on the Britain's Got Talent TV show, will feature alongside worldwide music icons Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III in the eagerly-awaited tribute, the Jackson family said.

Later, a Los Angeles TV station reported activity at Forest Lawn cemetery which appeared to involve Jackson's family.

KCAL-TV showed helicopter footage taken at sunset (LA time) of a hearse backing up to a building inside the grounds. It also showed footage of a woman in sunglasses and a hat who appeared to be LaToya Jackson entering the cemetery at around 7pm (3am BST Tuesday)

Police had shut the main road to the entrance and were screening drivers, letting a few in and turning others away.

Meanwhile, the legal manoeuvring that marked Jackson's extraordinary and troubled life also continues, with his mother losing a bid to control his enormous, but tangled estate.

And in one of the few reminders of Jackson's darkest hours, a New York congressman branded the King of Pop a "pervert" undeserving of so much attention.

More than 1.6 million people registered for free tickets to the memorial service, which will be broadcast live worldwide. A total of 8,750 people were chosen to receive two tickets each. The lucky ones picked up their passes on Monday at Dodger Stadium amid heavy police presence.

But Jackson's friend Dame Elizabeth Taylor will be mourning in private. She said: "I just don't believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others. How I feel is between us. Not a public event."