First details about Michael Jackson memorial concert

Michael Jackson's memorial service will be held next week at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. US reports say Jackson's family may hold a service at the Forest Lawn Mortuary then a motorcade will head to the venue owned by concert promoter and Jackson backer AEG Live, and which is home to the LA Lakers basketball team. Reports say there will also be a simulcast at the nearby Nokia Theatre for the service which is due to begin at 10am local time (6pm UK). A lottery has been set up for fans to obtain the 17,500 free tickets - 11,000 for Staples and 6,500 for Nokia - which are limited to two per person. However, only US residents can apply. Staples was the site of the Jackson's last rehearsals for his planned 50-concert comeback tour in London backed by AEG Live and due to start on July 13. Meanwhile, video clips of a rehearsal two nights before the 50-year-old died on June 25 have been released by AEG. They show Jackson looking thin but performing more like his old superstar self. Elsewhere, lawyers for Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe say she has yet to decide if she will fight for custody of their two children. Rowe was reported to have told a US TV station that she wanted to take over the care of children Prince Michael and Paris Michael. But her lawyer Eric George said nothing had been confirmed and that Ms Rowe was still weighing up her options. He said: "Debbie has not reached a final decision concerning pending custody proceedings. "I believe that the pending custody proceedings are the most private, most sensitive of matters as they impact the lives and the fates of young children. "So once again: the truth is that Debbie has not reached a final decision concerning the pending custody proceedings." Mr George added: "When Debbie does take a position in the public forum of a court, those positions will be conveyed to all interested parties. "In the meantime I would very much appreciate everyone's respect for Debbie's privacy at this time." Earlier this week it emerged that Jackson's will specifically cuts out Ms Rowe, who he first met in the mid-1980s, when he had treatment for the skin condition vitiligo. They divorced ten years ago and Jackson won full custody of the youngsters. The singer's will sees his entire estate left to a family trust which will provide for his 79-year-old mother Katherine as well as Prince, Paris and his youngest child, seven-year-old Prince Michael II, who is known as Blanket and was born to a surrogate mother. The will, written in July 2002, also names Katherine as the children's guardian, but if she is unable to care for them, it says singer Diana Ross will step in.

» More on this story... «

ITN | July 3, 2009

Tags:. .forest. .katherine. .youngsters. .skin. .clips