Jackson Memorial Tickets, Preparations

Los Angeles - With thousands of Michael Jackson fans expected to descend on downtown Los Angeles for Tuesday's memorial tribute honoring the late King of Pop, police were stationed at various locations for early crowd-control duty, and officials continued urging people who don't have tickets to the event to stay home.

Hal Eisner has a report on the preparations for Tuesday's event and Tricia Takasugi has a report of fans who came great distances to see the King of Pop's memorial. You can watch both in the video player.

"I would emphasize again to all the listeners, if you do not have a ticket, if you are not credentialed, the area surrounding the Staples Center and the Nokia complex, there will be nothing to see," Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said. "Our best advice is to stay at home and watch this ceremony from the comfort of your home."

The memorial tribute will be held at 10 a.m. at Staples Center, with an overflow viewing of the event planned at the Nokia Theatre across the street. Streets around the venues -- stretching between Olympic and Pico boulevards from Flower to Blaine streets -- will be blocked, with access permitted only to people with valid tickets.

About 1.6 million people registered online over the weekend for a shot at tickets -- 11,000 at Staples Center and 6,500 at Nokia Theatre -- and those who were lucky enough to be randomly selected were picking up their tickets and wristbands outside Dodger Stadium Monday.

"Things are going very, very smoothly," Paysinger told reporters outside the stadium. "To this point we've had very few problems at all. People have been very accommodating. People have been extraordinarily patient through this part of the day. It looks like this is going to be an all-day event."

People who receive the tickets and wristbands will not know until Tuesday whether they will be admitted to Staples Center or the Nokia Theatre, where the ceremony will be broadcast on large video screens.

Jackson is expected to be buried Tuesday morning during a private funeral service at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. Although no details of the service have been officially released and the family has not confirmed the location, police and Caltrans announced street and freeway ramp closures in the area to accommodate the event.

Caltrans will close the eastbound Riverside Drive offramp from the Ventura (134) Freeway, along with the eastbound and westbound Forest Lawn Drive offramps on Tuesday morning. Forest Lawn Drive will be closed between the freeway and Barham Boulevard from 6 to 10 a.m. to accommodate funeral traffic, according to Richard French of the LAPD's media relations office.

According to the Jackson family, participants at the Staples Center memorial ceremony will include family friend Ron Boyd; Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant; the Andrae Crouch Choir; Motown founder Berry Gordy; singer and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson; "Britain's Got Talent" finalist Shaheen Jafargholi; former Laker Magic Johnson; Martin Luther King III; Bernice A. King; singers Mariah Carey, John Mayer, Usher, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder; the Rev. Al Sharpton; actress Brooke Shields; and Pastor Lucious Smith, a friend of the family.

A spokesman for the family said the list was preliminary and could change.

Elizabeth Taylor, a longtime friend of Jackson's, said on her Twitter page that she was asked to speak at the ceremony, but she declined.

"I just don't believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others," she wrote. "How I feel is between us. Not a public event."

Taylor wrote that she "cannot be part of the public whoopla," and also that "I cannot guarantee that I would be coherent to say a word."

Jackson died June 25 after being found in full cardiac arrest at the rented Holmby Hills mansion where he was staying while preparing for a series of 50 concerts in London. His death set off a wave of public mourning and media frenzy not seen since the death of Princess Diana.

Jackson fans, media and paparazzi have been camping out at Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara County, where the pop star once lived, outside his family's home in Encino and near Staples Center.