too little too L-8

i was flicking through people magazine last night, reading their coverage on the G-8 concerts.

a couple things struck me.

why are the stars who participated in the concerts suddenly being hailed as benevolent humanitarians? giving a day of your life to be photographed schmoozing with fellow stars i don't see as such a big deal. they got press coverage and an improved image (did anyone say mariah carey?) out of their appearance. could even promote their new albums.

when they are requesting plebians like me get involved by donating or contacting our prime minister (because he'll take my call...my red bat phone has a direct connection), can i turn around and ask .... so how much did you donate?

i know the purpose of the concerts were different: this one was directed to get action from the L-8 leaders instead of fundraising for poverty, but still - if they were truly serious in making a difference in the lives of the poverty stricken, you would have thought the dips in their pocketbooks would match the dips in their butt and chest cleavage.

back in the 1980's, i was glued to my television for the live-aid concerts. i watched phil collins open the UK concert, and appear hours later in philly(?) to close the american one. lots of money was raised. but let's not discuss how it was spent.

this time round...i'm kind of interested in knowing how much money the stars donated. personally.

i can hear the defensive cries that i gave to my parents back in 1985 when they asked me the same question.. "but giving their time and talent free of charge will do so much more good than just writing a cheque!"

why don't you ask the starving in africa if they feel the same way, frugal blake retorted.

if celebs cared as passionately as they indicated they did when railing against the injustices of poverty and how forgiveness of debts can give these innocents a chance at life....if each performer donated one million dollars (as well as waiving their concert fee, nice try circa 1985 tess), that would be a strong message that they were committed to fighting poverty. and probably would make a difference.

maybe there were huge celeb donations, and if so, rock on folks. good job.

on another note: WHO and their monkey came up with the figure that 5.5 billion people tuned in to the concerts? seriously? no one in hong kong watched, very few people in canada that i know watched for more than 30 minutes. none of my american friends have mentioned it. where did you pull 5.5 billion out of the air? possibly the entire populations of china, india, the philippines, somalia, ethiopa, the sudan, rwanda and the congo watched? because you know, even though many of them don't have roofs over their heads or food in their bellies, each person has their own flat screen television. if so, excellent...i bet they're thrilled knowing that with all the glitz and glam the concerts provided, their lives won't change at all.

Comments

[joeinvegas]

You mean they did't pay to be in those concerts?
And where would the money go anyway? What happened to the Live Aid stuff? And if it worked why are they back? If it didn't work, why are they back?

[bp]

Precisely.

i would love to have your questions answered.

[Figlet]

There was an excellent opinion piece on this subject in last Friday's New York Times by Jean-Claude Shanda Tonme, a Cameroonian columnist. Here's an excerpt: "Don't insult Africa, this continent so rich yet so badly led. Instead, insult its leaders, who have ruined everything. Our anger is all the greater because despite all the presidents for life, despite all the evidence of genocide, we didn't hear anyone at Live 8 raise a cry for democracy in Africa"

and a link to the editorial (registration required and only accesible til Friday)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/opinion/15tonme.html?oref=login

[maia]

Interesting post. You are so right, if each and every celebrity that performed in each of the shows donated 1 million (peanuts) each what a difference that could have been made. And for them to designate someone to distribute the money fairly.
What a difference that would have made. But still, perhaps their intentions were true?

My husband is a firefighter, I work part time with the disabled. Every month I send a paltry $35 to the Christian Childrens Fund of Canada to help support a little boy in Indonesia and his family. I hate to sound like an advertisement or anything but if I can help make a difference surely we all can!?

I encourage all your readers to seek out similar projects and help the needy one family at a time. Let the celebrities do what they will; lets all do what WE can!

[Lioness]

Good God, I keep bumping into Joe at the most extraordinary places, how did you find Tess??

*Concentrating*

Standing ovation, Tess, it annoyed me as well. We once organised an Amnesty concert to raise money for Tibet. There was this performer who was exiled in France and could barely scrape enough food to eat. The other performer was a high-profile Portie singer, who was thanked by someone for his extreme generosity and concern for Human Rights. Fee? More or less $30.000 US, 37.000 CAN. Such a benemerit sould indeed. I can't listen to him anymore, him and that demented Cat Stevens.

(Do you mean to seriously tell me that the G8 artists were paid?? You cannot be serious!)

[knobody]

re: registration required. try bugmenot.com

[Maggs]

I didn't watch it. I have a toddler, who has time to watch tv other than the wiggles?