The event gets underway 10 a.m. at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Lionel Richie are among the celebrities who will participate. It is expected to run 6+ hours.

More than 1.5 million people entered a free draw for tickets and ticket holders began arriving in the early hours of Monday to collect their wrist bands for the six-hour show at the home of the LA Lakers.

Streets surrounding the stadium have been closed off by an army of 3,200 police officers.

Organizers expect upwards of one billion people to tune in via CBS & MTV in the US, BBC2 & Sky in the UK and on the web all round the world. Experts are saying the service is expected to be the biggest event in the history of the internet.

ICYDK will continue to cover the memorial all day – so check back here!

At the same venue — the O2 in London — where Michael Jackson was set to perform a series of concerts, Madonna took time out of her show last night to honor the late singer.

Despite reports that Debbie Rowe plans to fight for custody of her two children with Michael Jackson, her lawyer insists she has not made up her mind on the matter.

“Debbie Rowe has not reached a final decision concerning the custody proceedings,” attorney Eric M. George told reporters during a press conference Thursday. “As many of you know, my belief is that the pending custody proceedings are the most private and the most sensitive of matters as they impact the lives and the fates of young children. To that end, I’ve endeavored out of respect for Michael’s children and family, especially in this time of grieving, to keep silence on these matters, to deny all interview requests and to share only that information involving upcoming public court proceedings.”

Earlier Thursday, NBCLA’s Chuck Henry reported that he has spoken to Rowe – mother of Prince, 12, and Paris, 11 – and she told him, “I want my children.”

Although Rowe herself has not spoken publicly about the custody proceedings, George said, “I have no reason to doubt that what was reported from that conversation was accurately and ethically reported, but that said, it would be a distortion of the truth to allow that single snapshot of a single conversation, to stand as the truth on Debbie’s position on this sensitive matter.”

“Once again, the truth is that Debbie has not reached a final decision concerning the pending custody proceedings,” he concluded. “When Debbie does take a position in the public forum of a court, those positions will, of course, be conveyed to all interested persons. In the meantime, I very much appreciate everybody’s continued respect for Debbie’s privacy at this time, and I’m very sorry, but I cannot address any questions at this time.”

In Jackson’s will (released Wednesday) the singer –- who died at age 50 after suffering cardiac arrest June 25 — named his mother Katherine as guardian of his three children – Prince, Paris and 7-year-old Blanket. (If Katherine died before him or couldn’t serve as guardian, Jackson nominated Diana Ross, according to Jackson’s will.) He “intentionally” omitted Rowe from his will, he said.

Last week, Katherine filed a petition in Los Angeles Probate Court seeking legal guardianship of the children. (In her 22-page petition, she claims the children “have no relationship with their biological mother.”) A guardianship hearing scheduled for Monday has been postponed until July 13 at the request of attorneys for Rowe and Katherine Jackson.

Rowe wed Jackson in 1996 (he was a patient in the dermatologist’s office, where she worked as a nurse). The children were born through artificial insemination. (The new issue of Us Weekly exclusively reports that the children’s father is Arnold Klein, Jackson’s L.A.-based dermatologist and Rowe’s former boss.)

After Jackson and Rowe divorced in 1999, she agreed to give up her parental rights, insisting Jackson was a good father.

Since their father’s passing, the kids have been with the Jackson family and “are happy,” Jackson patriarch Joe said at a press conference Monday. They’re with “other young ones in the Jackson family…. They were never around other kids.”

A source tells Us the Jacksons have not yet reached out to Rowe.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

A new photo of Michael Jackson that features him along with his three children, has just been revealed.

The photo was taken on November 27, 2008 at his rented home in Holmby Hills, California.

The new/old photo reveals the children’s faces without their usual mask coverings.

Source

So finally we have something firm on Michael Jackson.

On Tuesday morninig a motorcade will go from Forest Lawn Mortuary in L.A. to the Staples Center complex in downtown Los Angeles where the public memorial will be held.

We’re told the family still hasn’t decided whether the memorial will be at the Staples Center or the smaller Nokia Theatre. A decision on that is expected shortly

Source, Bauer-Griffin

A week after Michael Jackson’s sudden and shocking death, President Obama has finally offered his thoughts, saying the pop icon will “go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers.”

“I grew up on his music,” said Obama, who, at 47, is three years younger than Jackson. “I still have all his stuff on my iPod.”

But the president added in an interview Thursday with the Associated Press that he also felt that Jackson lived a “tragic and in many ways sad personal life.”

Controversy
It stirred controversy in the news media – especially at predominantly African-American outlets – when Obama did not release a formal public statement upon Jackson’s death last week, something typically done by the White House when a prominent public figure dies.

Instead, Obama quietly sent a private letter of condolence to the Jackson family, the contents of which neither side has disclosed.

Obama waved away any controversy over his weeklong silence, telling AP White House correspondent Jennifer Loven: “Look, you’re the first person who’s actually asked me about it.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

A source close to Michael Jackson tells Usmagazine.com the family has not yet reached out to Debbie Rowe, the mother of his two oldest children.

“Even now, she just wants to visit them and be a part of their lives — she’s not after custody unless they were being harmed,” the source tells Us.

Jackson’s mother, Katherine, was granted temporary custody of Prince, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II (Blanket), 7. Dad Joe has said the kids “belong” with Michael’s parents.

Rowe’s lawyer, Eric George, told the Los Angeles Times he would attend a Monday custody hearing to represent Rowe, but said he didn’t know if she would ask for custody or to continue visitation rights.

Rowe filed a petition in 2001 to give up her parental rights, but went back to court to regain custody in 2003 — after Jackson was accused of child molestation.

But Rowe — who was wed to Jackson from 1996 to 1999 — has said: “I didn’t have the kids to be a mother.”

On Wednesday, a 7-year-old will was filed in court. Jackson wrote that he “intentionally” cut out Rowe.

The new issue of Us Weekly exclusively revealed dermatologist Arnold Klein is the biological father of Paris and Prince.

“He and Debbie signed an agreement saying they would never reveal the truth,” an insider told Us.

Source, Bauer-Griffin