Michael Jackson Memorial Gets 1.6 Million Ticket Requests

The more than 1.6 million fans who registered for tickets to Michael Jackson’s memorial service will wait until Sunday to learn if they received one of the 11,000 tickets for Tuesday’s ceremony.

The two-day registration period for the service at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles ended Saturday. Another 6,500 tickets will be given away for the Nokia Theater overflow section next door.

Fans had to register for free at staplescenter.com between 10 a.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday for the random drawing of 8,750 names. Each person selected will receive two tickets and will be notified by e-mail after 11 a.m. Sunday.

Before the drawing, officials at AEG, the owner and operator of the Staples Center, will “scrub” the entries to eliminate duplicates and any suspected of being made by automated systems or “go-bots,” said Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine in a statement.

Winners will receive a unique code and instructions on how to pick up their tickets at an off-site distribution center on Monday. At the distribution center, they will receive the ticket and a wristband that will be placed on their wrists at that time.