Date:04/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/04/stories/2009070456121400.htm

International

Jackson memorial service on Tuesday

LOS ANGELES: The question of when and where a public memorial service will be held for Michael Jackson has finally been answered.

A public memorial for the late singer has been set for 10 a.m. on Tuesday at the Staples Centre in downtown Los Angeles, according to a press release from the office of the Jackson family’s publicist. A news conference to announce further details was planned for Friday.

Randy Phillips, chief executive of AEG Live, which owns the Staples Centre and was Jackson’s promoter, said tickets would be free. He was not sure how they would be distributed.

Jackson’s brother Jermaine told Larry King during Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Larry King Live,” that there would be a private ceremony for family and some special guests before the public memorial, according to show transcripts.

He added the family wanted to have other memorials around the United States.

Meanwhile, the future of Michael Jackson’s children was thrown into question on Thursday when his ex-wife emerged and won a delay in a custody hearing while she decides whether she wants to raise her two offspring.

It was the first legal move from Deborah Rowe since the entertainer’s death. Jackson’s will asks for his mother, Katherine, to get permanent custody of all three of his children.

Ms. Rowe, who met Jackson as a receptionist in the office of his dermatologist, has characterised their relationship as strictly for the purpose of birthing Jackson children. She is the mother of his two oldest children and received $8.5 million in their divorce, according to court records. His youngest child was conceived with a surrogate. — AP