USA: "Live Earth" concerts features headlining stars who'll take the stage to help save the Earth

Environmental activists led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore announced plans on Thursday(February 15, 2007) for a worldwide string of pop concerts in July featuring Sheryl Crow, Red Hot Chili Peppers and scores of others to mobilize action to stop global warming. The Live Earth concerts on July 7 will take place in Shanghai, Sydney, Johannesburg, London and cities to be decided in Brazil, Japan and the United States. There also will be a live performance in Antarctica. The shows will feature more than 100 of the world's top musical acts, organizers said. In addition to Crow and the Chili Peppers, U.S. artists who have signed up include Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and rapper Snoop Dogg. Organizers of the concerts and the new campaign Save Our Selves (SOS) hope to reach a global audience of some 2 billion people through concert attendance, radio, television and Internet broadcasts. "This is what it is all about, getting the message, getting people's attention and then asking them to answer the call, S-O-S, answer the call to save ourselves and then giving the solutions for communities, families and for nations," Gore said. Gore, who lost his bid for U.S. president in 2000, has since become one of the most visible activists on global warming. His "An Inconvenient Truth" documentary has been nominated for an Oscar at the February 25 Academy Awards. Kevin Wall, executive producer for Live8, said he got the idea of Live Earth after seeing "An Inconvenient Truth" last year. "Each show will run from 4 to 8 hours. It will be major bands with messages behind them, with major people like Cameron Diaz introducing the artist between the acts. We've also commissioned 60 new short films by major film directors that will be shown in and around the project itself. As we go around the world over 24 hours, 2 to 3 shows will be going on at the same time as part of a global broadcast," Wall said at a news conference. The Live Earth concerts follow the model of the 1985 Live Aid and 2005 Live8 international concerts organized by Irish rock star Bob Geldof. Live Aid raised money for African famine relief and Live8 sought to pressure world leaders to eradicate the debts of the world's poorest nations.

ITN Source | February 22, 2007

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