LA braced for Michael Jackson's farewell
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Your support makes all the difference.The stage is set for Michael Jackson's final act - as Los Angeles was braced 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.
The Jackson family announced the participants will include Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III.
A Los Angeles television station reported activity at Forest Lawn Cemetery early on Tuesday that appeared to involve Jackson's family.
KCAL-TV showed helicopter footage taken at sunset on Monday 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.
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 continued, 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.
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