Fans celebrate winning Michael Jackson memorial passes
LOS ANGELES–Like a modern-day Willy Wonka tale, fans began to celebrate Sunday after winning coveted tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service at Staples Center.
More than 1.6 million fans registered online for free in the random drawing of only 8,750 names. Each person selected will receive two tickets to Tuesday's memorial. The odds of getting a ticket were about 1 in 183.
"I'm in shock that it has happened," said Deka Motanya, 27, of San Francisco. "It's surreal." She received an email message at 4:35 p.m. notifying her, "Congratulations, your application was successful."
She immediately Twittered: "OMG OMG OMG OMG i got tickets to the michael jackson memorial service!!!''
Soon after receiving his invitation, David Gobaud, 25, who studies computer science at Stanford University, was scrambling to find his way down to Los Angeles.
"It's amazing. It's quite a surprise. I didn't believe it was real in the beginning," he said. "It's Michael Jackson, one of the greatest musical stars of all time.''
The tickets will admit 11,000 people to the Staples Center plus 6,500 in the Nokia Theater overflow section next door. The streets around the stadium will be closed to prevent those without tickets from trying to attend, police said Sunday.
Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell warned the ticketless to stay away: "You'll be standing in the hot sun on a city street with a lot of other people ... but not within eyeshot of Staples.''
At the Wilshire Grand Los Angeles hotel about a half mile from the Staples Center, more than 90 per cent of the hotel's 1,000 rooms were booked for Monday and Tuesday night, up from about 60 per cent last week.
"There's a lot of demand right now," said spokesperson Marc Loge. "We are going to sell out."
Jackson died at age 50 on June 25 after going into cardiac arrest in the bedroom of his rented mansion. The cause of Jackson's death has not been determined. Autopsy results are not expected for several weeks.
Also Sunday, a judge signed search warrants connected to the investigation of Jackson's death, Los Angeles County Superior Court spokesperson Allan Parachini said. The warrants were sealed and Parachini would not discuss any details.
Authorities are investigating allegations that Jackson had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants. The powerful sedative Diprivan, which is usually administered by anaesthesiologists in hospitals, was found in his home. It was not known what drugs, if any, Jackson obtained from doctors.
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.
More than a week after his death, tributes and accolades keep coming. Madonna had a Jackson impersonator dance to "Wanna Be Starting Something" at her concert Saturday in the same London arena where he was to stage his comeback.
The Rev. Al Sharpton called for nationwide "love vigils" for Jackson, asking people to gather in schools, community centers and churches to watch the memorial service and talk about the pop star's "message" instead of the "mess" surrounding his death.
The memorial service will be broadcast on five television networks, after NBC executives changed their minds Sunday and decided to air the service live. NBC joins ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! Entertainment.
Winners received a unique code and instructions on how to pick up their tickets Monday. When they pick up their tickets, a wristband will be placed on their wrists.
To prevent ticket scalping, fans must have both the ticket and the wristband to enter Staples Center on Tuesday. Wristbands that have been ripped, taped or tampered with will be voided.
City officials are preparing for huge crowds. McDonnell, the assistant police chief, would not say how many police would be on the job, but alluded to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the recent championship celebration for the Los Angeles Lakers at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The ceremony will not be shown on Staples' giant outdoor TV screen and there will be no funeral procession through the city.
No details were available about the actual memorial events.
Beatles, Stones ex-manager Allen Klein dies
Record label executive Allen Klein, who once managed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, has died at age 77.
Bob Merlis, a publicist for Klein's company, ABKCO Music & Records, said Saturday the music mogul died of Alzheimer's disease in his New York City home.
Klein was one of the most influential, and sometimes most reviled, figures in the world of music in the 1960s.
Known for his business acumen, he managed a high-performing stable of talent that included Bobby Darin, Connie Francis, Herman's Hermits and Sam Cooke.
His music company also produced the music of the Animals, Bobby Womack, Marianne Faithfull, Chubby Checker and the Kinks.
He is perhaps most famous for signing the Stones and then the Beatles. Both agreements, however, would end in acrimony and lawsuits.
Klein ended up owning the rights to the recordings of the Rolling Stones and the copyrights from the band's performances from the 1960s, including hit singles such as (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction and Jumpin' Jack Flash.
Klein was often described as ruthless. Stones guitarist Keith Richards would deem Klein's affiliation with the band as "the price of an education."
The New Jersey-born accountant admitted to his hard-boiled attitude.
"Don't talk to me about ethics," he once told Playboy magazine. "The man you beat is likely to call you unethical. So what?"
Klein is also the person often accused of triggering the demise of the Beatles. John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison decided to bring Klein on their management team in 1969 over the protestations of Paul McCartney.
That disagreement led to a court battle and the eventual dissolution of the band.
During that time, a New York Times article called him "the toughest wheeler-dealer in the pop jungle."
A funeral for Klein will be held in New York City on Tuesday.
"Ice Age" sequel heats up worldwide box office
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – In a rare tie, reigning champ "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and the new cartoon "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" shared the top spot at the holiday weekend box office in North America.
According to studio estimates issued Sunday, the movies each sold about $42.5 million worth of tickets during the three-day U.S. Independence Day holiday weekend.
But "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," the third movie in 20th Century Fox's family franchise, was clearly the top pick on a worldwide basis. It earned $148 million from 101 foreign markets, which the News Corp-owned studio said was the sixth-biggest opening overall.
Including its North American tally of $67.5 million since opening Wednesday, the global total stands at $215.5 million.
Paramount's "Transformers" sequel earned $55 million from 62 markets during its second weekend, taking the foreign haul to $298 million. The global total stands at $591 million, taking the robot sequel past Columbia Pictures' "Angels & Demons" ($474 million) to become the biggest film of the year.
In North America, the lucrative summer season is 5 percent ahead of last year's record-setting haul in terms of ticket sales with $2.3 billion banked so far, said industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com Box-Office. But he doubted the number of tickets sold (currently 319 million) would exceed the modern record of 653 million set in 2002.
He said it appeared to be unprecedented for two films to be tied, but noted that an eventual victor will be determined on Monday, when the studios release their final data.
Johnny Depp's gangster saga "Public Enemies" got off to a strong start at No. 3 with $26.2 million, a rare adult-oriented drama in a summer field dominated by effects-driven action movies. As with "Ice Age," Universal Pictures' $100 million release opened Wednesday to get a foothold ahead of holiday distractions. Its five-day total stands at $41 million.
Both Fox and Universal declared themselves thrilled with the initial results.
Comparisons with the first two "Ice Age" movies, released in 2002 and 2006, are difficult because they came out on Fridays in March. They eventually earned $176 million and $195 million domestically, respectively. The new film cost $90 million to make, said Fox.
Some question marks did surround director Michael Mann's "Public Enemies," in which Depp plays Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger, because moviegoers have opted for fantasy over serious dramas in recent months.
"Good news for people who like films about grown-ups. The genre is not dead," said Adam Fogelson, Universal's president of marketing and distribution.
"Transformers" has earned $293 million after 12 days of release in the United States and Canada, about $100 million more than its 2007 predecessor had earned in the same period. The sequel also surpassed Paramount's "Star Trek" ($250 million) to become the biggest movie of the year in the markets.
Television networks planning Jackson coverage
NEW YORK – NBC executives changed their minds Sunday and decided to join other networks that will televise Michael Jackson's memorial service live this week.
NBC joins ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! Entertainment in offering the ceremony live. It's set for 10 a.m. PDT at Los Angeles' Staples Center.
NBC had initially planned only a one-hour prime-time special on Tuesday night, but said Sunday it would also cover the event live. It was not immediately clear who would anchor.
Charles Gibson will anchor coverage for ABC, which is setting aside its typical daytime programming.
CBS anchor Katie Couric will be at the Staples Center, although the network had not yet said whether it was offering live coverage of the memorial.
CNN has seen its ratings soar with the Jackson story, and it will show the memorial on the main network and HLN (formerly Headline News). CNN International will air the ceremony to the rest of the world. Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Don Lemon are the anchors for CNN coverage. Robin Meade, A.J. Hammer and Jane Velez-Mitchell will anchor at HLN. CNN en Espanol also will cover it.
Chris Jansing will anchor live coverage of the memorial on MSNBC. Shepard Smith will anchor live coverage of the ceremony on Fox News, with Megyn Kelly anchoring coverage of the event on the Fox network.
E! Entertainment and TV Guide will cover the ceremony on their television networks and Web sites.