Michael Jackson To Be Buried Today

Nearly 10 days after his sudden death from cardiac arrest, pop idol Michael Jackson will be buried today July 7, 2009, at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. While his family has remained mum, LA Police confirmed the event would be taking place and a mammoth memorial service for the singer would be held a few hours later at the Staples Centre. Thousands are expected to swamp Los Angeles, California, to mourn him today, and the accompanying media crush will be enormous. A tribute to the King of Pop at Harlem's Apollo Theater, earlier this week, drew coverage from all over the world, along with a public turnout in the thousands. A total of 8,750 fans were chosen at random to receive tickets to attend the ceremony. More than 1.6 million people applied for one of the 11,000 passes issued for the event, with an additional 6,500 issued for a screening at the nearby Nokia Theatre. Fans have begun collecting the tickets and wristbands they need to enter the memorial from the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Mariah Carey will perform at the memorial where she will sing the Jackson 5 classic, �I'll Be There�. City officials are preparing for massive crowds and have urged people to stay at home and watch the memorial on TV amid estimates that up to 700,000 people may flood the area trying to reach the arena. Streets around the Staples Centre are being closed off, and Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief, Jim McDonnell, warned ticketless fans they would be �standing in the hot sun on a city street with a lot of other people... but not within eyeshot of Staples�. Meanwhile, a judge has said that Michael Jackson's long-time lawyer and family friend should take over the singer's estate. Jackson had put forward John Branca and music executive, John McClain, as executors in his will drawn up in 2002. The singer's mother, Katherine Jackson, had applied to oversee her son's estate before the will surfaced naming Branca and McClain.