Michael Jackson’s memorial will cost $25 for the average person to attend. I’ll be free for Jackson family, friends, and VIPs. From Celebitchy’s earlier article it doesn’t sound like the family is charging money to profit off the memorial, but simply to defray the enormous costs associated with it.

Fans who wish to attend Michael Jackson’s star-studded memorial service at Staples Center will have to shell out $25 to sit in the stands, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

Family, friends and VIPS will have seats on the main floor for The Tuesday, July 7th Staples service, first reported by RadarOnline.com, while the general public will be plucking down $25 to sit in the stands.

The memorial service will feel like a concert production featuring guest speakers, a lot of music and video screens inside and outside of Staples, a source close to the planning tells RadarOnline.com.

Michael Jackson’s close friend Elizabeth Taylor is expected to attend, along with Diana Ross.

T-shirts that were going to be sold on Michael’s upcoming “This Is It” tour will not go to waste… They will be sold outside Staples to people entering the service.

The service will be held between 10am PST and Noon PST… with the scheduled Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus on standby, literally.

The parade of elephants, held as circus performers arrive in town is scheduled to take place immediately following the service.

[From Radar]

The thing with the Ringling Brothers’ elephants might sound random and strange, but they were scheduled to begin their traditional “parade of the elephants” through downtown L.A., where the elephants walk tail to trunk to the circus venue – in this case, the Staples Center. That’s still happening, but the timing will be tight, and it sounds like it’s quite likely this will literally turn into a circus.

It sounds like Jackson’s memorial will be a very fitting one in keeping with the lifestyle he lived. I’m sure there will be a lot of pomp and whatnot – Radar also has photos of his funeral carriage – and it’s literally a carriage - the kind with horses. No word yet on whether Jackson’s children will be in attendance. It seems like they might be, since he was their father – however he was notoriously protective of their privacy, so it might be more in keeping with his wishes that they only attend the private family memorial.