Los Angeles - Fans lined up Monday to collect their tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service, as reports said that the late King of Pop would be buried in a private ceremony prior to the tribute, according to celebrity website Radaronline. com.

Also Monday, a judge gave control of Jackson's estate to the two executors named in the pop star's 2002 will. Jackson's mother Katherine was handed temporary control of his fortune last week and had sought a delay in naming the two executors.

Jackson's funeral is expected to take place at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills. Known as the Cemetery of the Stars, it is also the resting place of Bette Davis, Lucille Ball and Liberace. Media trucks have been gathering outside the cemetery and despite the pleas of the family for privacy, thousands of fans are expected to flock there to pay their respects.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles was bracing for huge crowds around the site of the memorial service at the Staples Centre. About 1.6 million people entered the online lottery for the 17,500 tickets made available for the tribute. Authorities are cordoning off a wide area around the venue and have pleaded for fans without tickets to stay away. However, as many as 700,000 fans are predicted to flood the area and attempt to reach the arena.

The winners of the ticket lottery were announced Sunday evening and started lining up to collect their tickets early Monday morning. "I feel very lucky," said Bob Lewis from Palm Springs. "I grew up on Michael Jackson and I learned to dance watching Michael Jackson. I feel like I won the lottery."

Organizers said their distribution system was designed to thwart ticket touts. But in the hours after the results of the ticket lottery were announced, several went up for sale on eBay, with some sellers asking for over 5,000 dollars for a pair of tickets.(dpa)