1.6 million Jacko fans await tickets lottery results

THE more than 1.6 million fans who registered to attend Michael Jackson’s memorial service were yesterday waiting to learn whether they were among the lucky few to win tickets for tomorrow’s ceremony in Los Angeles.

Fans registered for free on the Staples Centre website for the random draw of only 8,750 names. Each person selected would receive two tickets and would be notified by email, according to a Staples Centre news release. The odds of getting a ticket were about one in 183.

The tickets will admit 11,000 people to the Staples Centre plus 6,500 in the Nokia Theatre overflow section next door. The streets around the stadium will be closed to prevent those without tickets from trying to attend, police said yesterday.