As the world bids farewell to the King of Pop Michael Jackson and billions are preparing to watch the memorial on TV, LA braces for a mass gathering of fans.

It is expected that Michael Jackson will create even more pandemonium in death than in life despite contradicting reports about whether his body will be taken to the Staples Center. CNN cites an official with AEG Live -- the concert promoter handling the memorial - saying there would be no funeral processional.

The ceremony at the LA Staples Center begins at 10 am local time or 20 pm Bulgarian time. Organizers used a computer to choose 8,750 names from 1, 6 million people who registered online. Each received a pair of tickets, for a total of 17,500 tickets. Just 11,000 of those are for seats inside the Staples Center. The other 6,500 are for viewing the memorial telecast across the street at the Nokia Theater.

The LA authorities are planning for a massive police presence and appealed to people without tickets to not even come close to the two venues and watch the event on TV, but regardless of the warnings over half million people are expected to gather near the Staples Center.

CNN reports that police has put up concrete barriers around the center, allowing only fans with tickets to the event to enter while parking lots in the area raised their prices, some as high as USD 30. Airports in Southern California have registered a surge of bookings.

Several movie theaters in the area will feature special screenings of the memorial, which will also be carried live by some television networks and Web sites.

The Jackson family will hold a private memorial early in the morning at Forest Lawn -- where the body is now, but they refuse to reveal where the singer will be buried. Jackson lawyer Burt Levitch confirmed the funeral will be Tuesday without indicating a time or a place. The most likely location is speculated to be the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn cemetery, but there are also reports that the family might never disclose the exact place in order to avoid huge gatherings of fans.

The California Highway Patrol will escort Jackson family members from his parents' Encino, California, home to the cemetery and then to the Staples Center, sources close to the planning said, quoted by CNN.

The Staples event is expected to feature singers Mariah Carey, Usher and Stevie Wonder.

The list of celebrities taking part in the memorial service also includes: Ron Boyd, family friend; basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson; the Andrae Crouch Choir; Berry Gordy; Jennifer Hudson; Shaheen Jafargholi, finalist on Britain's Got Talent; Magic Johnson; Martin Luther King III; Bernice A King; John Mayer; Lionel Richie; Smokey Robinson; Rev Al Sharpton; Brooke Shields; Pastor Lucious Smith, family friend.

Two important absences will be actress Elizabeth Taylor, a longtime Jackson friend, and Debbie Rowe, Jackson's former wife and the mother of his two older children.

In a message posted on Twitter Taylor said she declined an invitation to speak because she "cannot be part of the public whoopla."

"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," the actress stated.

Rowe planned on attending but decided against it over the huge media attention, her lawyer informed.

Michael Jackson will be buried in a USD 25,000, solid bronze, 14-karat gold plated, custom casket. The casket, called a Promethean, is extremely rare and will feature a flame blue velvet interior and a hand-polished, mirror finish. This is the same casket used to bury James Brown.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!