Former wife to attend memorial

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe will attend the pop superstar’s memorial service.

Former Jackson business associate Marc Schaffel said on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ that Rowe was confirmed for VIP seats. Rowe is the mother of Jackson’s two oldest children.Meanwhile, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry said she’d ‘love it’ if the Jacksons helped defray some of the city’s expected costs associated with today’s memorial, but that officials hadn’t heard from the family.Perry said the city didn’t immediately have an estimate of those costs. More than 1,6 million fans registered online for a chance to attend the Staples Center ceremony, and only 8 750 names were chosen. Los Angeles officials are concerned about other fans clogging city streets.’We’re encouraging people to stay away,’ Perry said on CBS’ ‘The Early Show’ yesterday.Meanwhile, lucky fans celebrated when they got an e-mail saying they had scored the hottest ticket in town. ‘Congratulations, your application was successful,’ said the message sent to Deka Motanya (27) of San Francisco.She immediately Twittered: ‘OMG OMG OMG OMG i got tickets to the michael jackson memorial service!!!’It was a real-life version of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets. Each selected person gets a pair of free tickets, with the odds of being chosen about 1 in 183.Dozens of police officers and a fire truck were parked outside Dodger Stadium yesterday, where ticket winners could start picking up their coveted passes.Tickets were handed out in a drive-through process. Voucher holders had to get past a police checkpoint outside the stadium, then drive into a parking lot where orange traffic cones marked about 20 lanes. A police officer and an event staffer stood at the end of each lane. Drivers pulled up, handed over their vouchers, had a band placed on their wrist and were given tickets and another wristband.Ticket winners were to show up with a unique code and instructions, and organisers were to check IDs to make sure those picking up wristbands were the same people who originally applied online, said Staples Center spokesman Michael Roth.Jackson’s family was planning a private ceremony at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, McDonnell said. He did not provide further details. – Nampa-AP