Los Angeles (California): They poured in to Los Angeles from places far-flung, an army of Michael Jackson fans hoping to collectively mourn their idol in a massive ceremony at the Staples Center downtown on Tuesday.
Police put up concrete barriers around the center, allowing only fans with tickets to the star-studded event to enter - beginning at 6 am (9 am ET).
Parking lots in the area raised their prices, some as high as $30. Airports in Southern California saw a spike in bookings. And several movie theaters in the area announced special screenings of the event, which will also be carried live by some television networks and Web sites.
"I guess the crowd estimate is the $64,000 question that everybody is wondering about, and we are as well," Assistant Police Chief for Los Angeles, Jim McDonnell, said on Monday.
"I anticipate the crowd here will be well-behaved. It will be a crowd that gathers for the right reasons and keeps the reason they're there in mind."
Police would not say what kind of security measures they have put in place. The cash-strapped city has said it will foot the bill for law enforcement.
Until the last minute, the Jackson family remained tight-lipped about where the singer will be buried, but signs pointed to Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn cemetery.
Several carloads of people, Michael Jackson's sister La Toya among them, came and went from the heavily secured cemetery after sunset Monday. But it was not immediately clear whether they were there for a private viewing.
Shortly before the cars began arriving, a hearse drove up, with at least five police cars in tow.
The hearse backed partly in through the door of the Hall of Liberty -- a 1,200-seat auditorium on the grounds -- so that any casket unloaded and loaded would not be visible to the media helicopters overhead.
The Jackson family would not comment on the after-hours gathering. Neither would cemetery officials.
A PREVIEW OF TUESDAY'S EVENTS
Tuesday will begin with a private gathering of Jackson family members at the cemetery at 8 am (11 am ET), CNN has learned. 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.
Michael Jackson's funeral will be held on Tuesday, said the late singer's lawyer Burt Levitch. But he did not say what time or place.
It is not known whether Jackson's body will be taken to the Staples Center. However, an official with AEG Live - the concert promoter handling the memorial - said there would be no funeral processional.
The Staples event is expected to feature singers Mariah Carey, Usher and Stevie Wonder. Also participating will be basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson; singers Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Smokey Robinson; and activists Martin Luther King III and the Reverend Al Sharpton, according to an announcement released on behalf of the Jackson family.
Two notable 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.
Taylor, in a message posted on Twitter and verified by CNN, 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," Taylor tweeted. "How I feel is between us. Not a public event."
Rowe planned on attending but decided against it, said lawyer Marta Almli.
"The onslaught of media attention has made it clear her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction to an event that should focus exclusively on Michael's legacy," Almli said.
FANS FLOCK TO DODGER STADIUM
All day Monday, fans who won tickets to the memorial service through a lottery swarmed to Dodger Stadium -- some in smart cars, some on scooters and even one in an airport shuttle.
They entered giddy with anticipation and exited shaking with excitement, holding two priceless tickets and sporting wristbands that organizers put on them to prevent resales.
"It's sparkly," said a student from Pasadena, California, Alex Jugant. "Michael would have liked that."
Organisers 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. AEG Live owns and operates both venues.
The Jackson family set aside an additional 9,000 Staples Center seats to give out to people they choose, organisers said.
The distribution process at the stadium was orderly and smooth, said Los Angeles Police Capt. Bill Murphy. One person tried to pass off a photocopied voucher; he was ejected, Murphy added.
Executors of Jackson's will get control of his assets
Also on Monday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted control of Jackson's assets to the executors of his will.
The executors - John Branca, Jackson's longtime personal attorney, and John McClain, a music industry executive and longtime friend - had sought immediate control of the entertainer's assets at a hearing before Judge Mitchell Beckloff.
The men said control of the assets would allow them to tend to Jackson's numerous outstanding debts, legal cases and business obligations.
The judge appointed the men special administrators until another hearing on August 3. He said they will be responsible for protecting the estate from immediate losses.
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Jackson died of an undetermined cause on June 25. His mother, Katherine Jackson, started administering his assets the next day.
Lawyers for Katherine Jackson objected to Beckloff's decision, saying "irreparable damage" could be done to the estate in coming weeks with Branca in control.
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