Rap Phenomenon® TV update: Michael Jackson Fan Soleta, 19 On Memorial 'I Can't Believe I'm Going'

Longtime fan was among the 8,750 people to obtain tickets.

LOS ANGELES -- For years, Michael Soleta dreamed about seeing Michael Jackson perform onstage, but he was never able to land tickets. Now, Soleta, 19, at least will be able pay his final respects to the late singer.

The California native was one of the 8,750 people to successfully obtain tickets for the public memorial taking place at Staples Center on Tuesday. More than 1.6 million people registered online for the opportunity to attend the service, according to reps for the Jackson family, and a computer-generated program selected who will either see the proceedings live at the Staples Center or in a simulcast across the street at the Nokia Theater.



"I can't believe I'm actually going," Soleta told MTV News not long after he was notified via e-mail, at approximately 6 p.m. PT on Sunday. "Because for most of my life, I always wanted to go to a Michael Jackson concert. And I realized his last tour would be in London, so I wasn't going to that. I was pretty bummed about that, actually. So this is the only way I can be close to him."

Soleta and his mother -- who will be joining him at the memorial -- will be among the thousands heading to the Staples Center on Tuesday. City officials have warned ticket-less fans to stay away from the area, as only those with tickets and the corresponding wristbands will be permitted entry. Reports of a live broadcast outside the arena are false; the best way to view the service is from home, the Los Angeles Police Department has repeatedly urged fans.

Soleta however will be traveling from Fairfield, California, approximately 50 miles north of San Francisco, to see the proceedings. The avid MJ fan (he dressed up like Jackson twice for Halloween, he said) will make the trip to Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, where selected registrants were directed to pick up their tickets at Dodgers Stadium between the hours of 8am and 6pm PT. According to CNN, fans_have already began picking up their tickets and wristbands, one of which is blue and one gold.

Fans were active on social-networking sites like Twitter and Facebook on Sunday as they awaited notification. Posted messages of joy soon began appearing for those receiving tickets; messages dismay for those who didn't.

Soleta was no different. The odds of securing a ticket were estimated at 1 to 182, according to a release sent out by Jackson family reps over the weekend. "I just printed my voucher" Solet Tweeted. "I'm still in shock I was selected."

Additional plans for the public service and a private memorial taking place beforehand were still being developed at press time.

Michael Jackson's Last Tour Rehearsals Filmed For Possible Release AEG Live hopes to recover losses

Rap Phenomenon® TV learns: Show included floating orbs, aerial dancers.

Following Michael Jackson's death on Thursday, 750,000 people who bought tickets to see him perform at the O2 in London will never get the chance to experience the stunning visual and musical spectacle the singer had in store for them. But, according to reports, AEG Live, the promoter of the "This Is It" 50-date residency, recorded enough of Jackson's rehearsal material to release at least one live CD/DVD.

Entertainment industry Web site The Wrap reports that Jackson's final rehearsal at the Staples Center on Wednesday was recorded in multi-camera, high-definition video and multi-track audio. The recording could be released as the singer's final album, according to unnamed sources close to the now scuttled tour, which was reportedly due to go around the globe following the O2 residency. The recordings were made as part of a deal cut by AEG Live with Jackson, which included plans to produce a live album and DVD of the singer performing his greatest hits. If the reports are true, the recording could help AEG Live recoup some of the estimated tens of millions of dollars it is expected to lose as a result of Jackson's untimely death. A spokesperson for AEG Live could not be reached for comment at press time.

The Wrap reported that Jackson had failed to appear at "many" of the scheduled rehearsals over the past two months, but he did appear at the full run-through on Wednesday in anticipation of the July 13 kick-off of the London shows. The final rehearsal reportedly included dancers, musicians and aerial performers, as well as Jackson suspended from a crane at one point and a 3-D view of a "Thriller"-inspired haunted mansion.

On Monday (June 29), USA Today pulled back the curtain on the closely guarded rehearsals, describing an over-the-top Jackson extravaganza that was to feature floating orbs, a flaming bed, lots of pyrotechnics, 20-foot-tall puppets, giant spiders and Jackson breaking out all his signature dance moves.

"He was trying, and succeeding, in structuring the biggest, most spectacular live production ever seen," said Johnny Caswell, co-owner of CenterStaging in Burbank, California, where Jackson worked on the show from late March to early June before shifting rehearsals to larger venues, according to the paper.

"By the time he left my facility, he had graduated through several studios and was on a soundstage taking up 10,000 square feet," Caswell said. "They moved to The Forum, outgrew that and needed the height at Staples. The show was getting so damn big, they couldn't finish it in time. That's why they had to delay." Caswell said reports that Jackson had delayed the start of the engagement due to health problems were "nonsense," explaining that the ballooning size of the production caused the push back.

While it has been reported that Jackson had been taking a number of powerful prescription medications prior to his death and that he died following cardiac arrest, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office has deferred determining his cause of death pending further toxicology tests.

Despite some suggestions that the frail singer with a history of medical problems might not have been strong enough to complete his first full-fledged tour in 12 years, according to USA Today, he was very engaged during Wednesday's final rehearsal at the Staples Center, where he worked with a crew of more than 80 dancers, choreographers, band members and crew to polish the show.

Jackson began what would be his final rehearsal by putting on a headset and walking to an elevated platform to sing the song "Dangerous," at first a cappella, then joined by his band.

"Misfits of Magic" founder Ed Alonzo, who worked on illusions for Britney Spears' Circus tour, joined the Jackson show six weeks ago. He said he designed a number of stunning effects for the King of Pop, including a glowing glass sphere that would float around Jackson and then into the crowd during the opening song, 1982's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." A version of "Dirty Diana" was to feature a flaming bed with a pole-dancing aerialist "playing the part of the fire," Alonzo said. After the fire woman pursued Jackson around the bed, she would tie him to the bed posts with gold rope, and a sheet of red fabric would spring up in front of him as he struggled in silhouette. When the sheet fell, it would be revealed that it was the woman struggling, not Jackson, and he would then materialize on a stage in the middle of the arena.

"It was an amazing show," Alonzo said. "The thing was just days away from being perfected. It was incredible. Even though it was just a walk-through with the dancers, his moves were dead-on — the same Michael Jackson we (saw) through the years in music videos." Alonzo said that while Jackson seemed underweight, he appeared to be in good health and was energetic during the rehearsal. Jackson's manager, Frank DiLeo, told the Hollywood Reporter that after finishing the final run-through around midnight on Wednesday, Jackson was feeling good about the show. "He found me and said, 'Frank, I am so happy. ... This is really our time.' He put his arm around me," DiLeo said.