A public memorial service for Michael Jackson is taking place at the Staples Center today.  The service is open to 11,000 fans, who registered online for a ticket lottery.

The site received 500,000,000 hits within its first hour of being launched, and over 1.5 million people registered for tickets.  Los Angeles authorities are asking that anyone who didn’t receive tickets please refrain from heading to the Staples Center, as the city is fearing that anywhere between 250,000 to 750,000 people might show up.  As it is, there have been hordes of fans and reporters and helicopters descending on his Holmby Hills rental house and the Neverland Ranch property since his death.

Reports are estimating that more people will watch this funeral than those of Princess Diana or Elvis.

The services will be aired on television and online, so anyone wishing to pay respects to Michael Jackson may do so without traveling to a city already famous for its incredible traffic jams.

R.I.P. Michael.