'Haiti we can see your halo' – stars come out for quake aid

Published on Saturday 23 January 2010 19:45

A HOST of stars and A-list celebrities including George Clooney, Nicole Kidman and Tom Hanks came out last night for a "Hope For Haiti Now" telethon in which they hoped to raise $1 billion for the survivors of the disaster and their families. Already more than $300 million has been raised from the event.

Coldplay's Chris Martin joined fellow rock and pop royalty Bono, Jay-Z and Beyonce in London for the broadcast, with dozens of other celebrities, including Madonna and Justin Timberlake, pleading for donations in the US.

Ex-Police frontman Sting sang in New York and comedian Russell Brand helped man the phone lines in Los Angeles alongside Hollywood actors Jennifer Aniston, Mel Gibson and Jack Nicholson.

The celebrity phone bank appeared to be continuously busy with donation calls during the show, and it is hoped hundreds of millions of pounds will be raised for the aid effort.

R&B singer Alicia Keys kicked off the two-hour broadcast with a performance of her song Prelude To A Kiss. Setting a sombre tone for the evening, she sang: "Can you send me an angel to guide me?"

George Clooney, who helped organise the two-hour telecast, told viewers: "The Haitian people need our help. They need to know that they are not alone. They need to know that we still care."

Then, after an impassioned plea from actress Halle Berry, rocker Bruce Springsteen dedicated a song for the impoverished Caribbean state – We Shall Overcome.

In London, Martin backed Beyonce on piano as she revised her hit Halo with new lyrics: "Haiti we can see your halo, we pray you won't fade away."

Jay-Z, Rihanna and U2's Bono and The Edge also debuted a new song, Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour), as Jay-Z rapped: "When the sky falls, and the earth quakes, we can gon' this back together, we won't break."

The telethon – which was also broadcast in Haiti – was featured on all the major US networks and channels. It was also streamed live on YouTube and MySpace, and Haitians were able to listen on Radio One Haiti.

The event ended with a call for Haiti's revival by native son, former Fugee Wyclef Jean. With a Haitian flag wrapped around his neck, he shouted: "Enough of this moping man, let's rebuild Haiti, let's show 'em how we do it where we come from!"

Leonardo DiCaprio was among those celebrities who urged viewers to donate; on Thursday, he joined the list of previous celebrity donors with a $1m gift to The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, one of several organisations that will benefit from the telethon.

The $300m (186m) raised compares with more than 20m raised by the 2009 Children in Need broadcast by the BBC, and the Live Aid telethon in 1985 which raised an estimated 40m-50m. The Canadian portion of the Help for Haiti event is confirmed to have raised $16m.

"Hey Steven Spielberg, it's really cool to talk to you," one woman said to the Academy Award-winning filmmaker.

Scots actors Ewan McGregor and Gerard Butler joined celebrity telephone bank operators such as Robert De Niro, Stevie Wonder, Mel Gibson and Tom Hanks to take donations from the public during the broadcast from New York, London, Los Angeles and Haiti.

Although the all-star telethon was titled "Hope for Haiti Now", for most of its two hours it was filled with tear-jerking, depressing moments, from mournful songs and grim-faced pleas from celebrities to the suffering faces of the quake-battered victims themselves.

But not everyone was caught up in the surge of optimism that the money raised would benefit quake survivors.

Patrick Alexis, the owner of Break Time restaurant in Port-au-Prince, said he enjoyed seeing the celebrities but was sceptical the money would get to people who need it. "It's easy to do a telethon on behalf of the Haitian people, but who will really get the money?"