Celebrity Shopping Blog

This post is found on http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/07/michael-jackson-4.html
By - Cara Mia DiMassa

Organizers of Michael Jackson’s memorial service at Staples Center said today they will give away 17,500 tickets to the event and will randomly draw names from those who sign up online to determine who gets to attend.

The service will be live-streamed on television and on the Internet, and there will be no funeral procession, organizers said at a news conference this morning at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Organizers will draw 8,750 names, and those people will receive two tickets each and wristbands on Monday. A total of 11,000 tickets will be for seats at Staples Center and 6,500 for seats at Nokia Theatre, where the live feed will be broadcast.

People can register for the drawing at Staplescenter.com.

No tickets will be sold to the event, organizers said.

City Councilwoman Jan Perry said fans would be better off staying home and watching the event on television.

“I want to stress to people who are thinking about coming, you might want to consider watching this from the comfort of your home,” she said at the news conference.

No details were released on the content of the memorial service, but Jackson’s brother Jermaine Jackson told CNN that it would include tributes from celebrities in the music industry.

Those whose names are drawn will be notified between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Sunday and given the location where they should pick up their tickets Monday.

“There will be no distribution of tickets at Staples Center and L.A. Live,” said Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive officer of AEG, the company that owns and operates Staples Center and was producing Jackson’s comeback concerts.

Los Angeles Police Department Asst. Chief Earl Paysinger said, “You must have a ticket to be admitted to the venue. There’s no way to get to this venue if you don’t have a ticket.”

Officials said the services will not be shown on any of the large screens at L.A. Live, the entertainment complex that houses Staples Center and the Nokia Theatre.

Paysinger said those without proper security identification or tickets will not be allowed within the following boundaries during the event: Flower Street to the east, Olympic Boulevard on the north, Pico Boulevard to the south and Blaine Street to the west, which is one street west of the Harbor Freeway.

Ken Sunshine, a spokesman for the Jackson family, and Leiweke emphasized that they do not want anyone to try to scalp tickets.

“Those who would take advantage of this, shame on them,” Leiweke said.

– Cara Mia DiMassa

Photo: A note taped to a lectern details the plans for distributing tickets to fans for Michael Jackson’s public memorial. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

Gwen Stefani is in NYC for a stop on her tour with No Doubt.  She brought all her boys along.  Looks like daddy had Kingston duty during the stroll around New York.

Known for her on stage fashions, most of which she made herself, Gwen’s fashion line, L.A.M.B., can be found here.

Handbags and large totes are popular with celebrities.  With celebrities like Beyonce and Lindsay Lohan carrying them, they’re “the” fashion item to have!

Not only are they fashionable, they can also net a fantastic charity $10,000!  Kipling is running a “Make Stuff Happen” contest where you can win $10,000 for the cause closest to your heart!  Share with them the charity you love and why.  Sweepstakes ends today at 11:59:59 ET.

In my last post, I mentioned that I hoped that bad things didn’ t happen in threes.  It seems in the celebrity world, it does.

Billy Mays was found dead yesterday morning in his bed.  He passed away sometime through the night.  Speculation initially was that perhaps he passed from being hit during a rough landing of his flight but autopsy has a tentative cause of death as hypertensive heart disease.  A final cause of death will be issued once all tests come back.

Today has been a day to wonder if bad things do come in threes.

Farrah Fawcett passed away today from cancer.  She was 62.  It wasn’t unexpected but still sad.

More of a shock was learning that Michael Jackson passed away unexpectedly today.  Reports so far indicate it was cardiac arrest.  He was 50. 

I hope bad things don’t come in threes.

A movie guaranteed to make the soft-hearted cry hits theatres on Friday.  It’s called My Sister’s Keeper starring Cameron Diazand Abigail Breslin. 

Cameron Diaz plays a mother with a child diagnosed with leukemia.  She and her husband decide to have another child, created in a test tube as a perfect match for their first child, to be a donor.  This new child, after giving umbilical cord blood and her bone marrow, sues her parents to make decisions about her body when she is asked to give her sister a kidney. 

Cameron Diaz, whether dressed for award ceremonies or on a surfboard, always looks beautiful.  She even has a surfboard design inspired by her!

With the recent break-up of Miley Cyrus and model boyfriend Justin Gaston, Miley has been sighted with her ex-boyfriend, Nick Jonas.  It was “kind of sort of” referred to in the recent interview Jo Bros did with Larry King. 

Nick & Miley have also recorded a song together about their break-up together called Before the Storm.  Reports say they’re good friends and happy to be back together and that the families are happy about it as well.  The families are happy about it?  She’s 16.  Is this a publicity stunt for the Jonas Brothers’ recent CD release or is it for real?

In other Miley news, she is filming her new movie, The Last Song, in Georgia and she had her nose pierced.  Father, Billy Ray, took her to get the piercing.

Well, maybe.

Courtney Love, who has been photographed countless times looking less than her best, will reportedly have her own clothing line.  Known as the lead singer for the band, Hole, and as wife to the late Kurt Cobain, Courtney’s creations will include bodysuits and harem pants with a little “something something” sewn into each article of clothing.  It’s what all soccer moms want and need - there will be a ruby sewn into each article of clothing.  Can’t wait to see what the clothing line looks like!

Britney Spears seems to be staying out of court now.  It’s good to see that Britney Spears is looking healthy, even if she’s not exactly eating healthy around the clock.  Ms. Spears was photographed at a McDonald’s in London.  Love the shorts but not crazy about the turtleneck worn with it.

In other legal news, the Bionic Woman isn’t invincible w hen it comes to the law.  She’s being sued over a car accident (Lindsay Wagner wasn’t driving). 

Celebrities must make good targets for lawsuits.  Ryan Cabrera is also being sued by two women who claimed they slipped and fell “violently” down his driveway.

A trip to the movies to see Night at the Museum 2, Battle of the Smithsonian resulted in a big surprise for me.  The Jonas Brothers were chubby, singing little cupids flying around the museum!  I’m sure girls everwhere will find them adorable of course.  For all the Jo Bro fans, here’s a video of the brothers at Cherub Bootcamp.

They weren’t dressed as cherubs yesterday in London outside Radio 1 when fans joined in with them to sing Paranoid.  Reports say the girls caused headaches.  I could see how all the screaming could cause headaches but the crowd’s singing itself wasn’t THAT bad.

The Jonas Brothers’ new CD hits stores today.  It’s called Lines, Vines and Trying Times.