(Writing and Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic)

The number of fans hungering to say goodbye to the King of Pop more than doubled on Saturday, days before a special memorial service is due to be held in Michael Jackson’s honor.

A firm involved with organizing the event said on Saturday that 1.6 million people had registered for free tickets by late evening, up from half a million registrants for the lottery a day earlier.

The problem: there are only 17,500 tickets to go around.

The city of Los Angeles is bracing for an onslaught of fans and has plans to seal off the area around the Staples Center, where the event will take place on Tuesday. Jackson died of sudden cardiac arrest last month.

Only 11,000 lucky fans will get tickets to the Staples Center, with 6,500 fans getting tickets to watch the show on a big screen at the nearby Nokia Theater.

The tickets will be distributed through an online lottery system with winners expected to be notified on Sunday. People can register at www.staplescenter.com.

Meanwhile, details of the Jackson family’s private funeral arrangements remain unclear.