UPDATE: How Much Did the Telethon Raise, and Where Is The Telethon Money Going?
Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Telethon for Earthquake Relief was an emotional 2-hour event that featured extraordinary musical performances.
The live and taped reports from Haiti drove home the magnitude of the destruction and kept in sharp focus the point of the evening: to raise money for the Haitian people.
Read the first hour recap. | Here is a recap of the evening’s second hour:
* Robert Pattinson told of technology’s role in the rescue and relief efforts
* Performance by Sting & The Roots, “Driven to Tears”
* Clint Eastwood and Matt Damon remind viewers of the peacekeepers and aid workers in Haiti at the time of he quake. “Let’s make sure their sacrifice was not in vain.”
* Performance by Beyoncé and Chris Martin, “I Can See Your Halo”
* Live donor call with Steven Spielberg
* Morgan Freeman spoke of the beauty of Haiti, and read from the Kalamu ya Salaam poem, Tomorrow’s Toussaints: “There is beauty here…we will survive, we will live on.”
* Performance by Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Keith Urban, “Lean On Me”
* Anderson Cooper (live from Port-Au-Prince) introduced a young girl named Bea, whose rescue was shown earlier in the broadcast. “We just finally tracked her down yesterday…She’s lost 10 members of her family.” Bea looked remarkably healthy, although Cooper reiterated that there isn’t sufficient food, water or shelter for even the fortunate survivors like Bea.
* Bill Clinton spoke of how he has been captivated by Haiti’s rich history, culture, and people. As Special Envoy to Haiti, he believes that Haiti has been making great progress to overcome “200 years of poverty and oppression,” looking toward a future with better schools, improved healthcare, a more diversified economy, and clean energy. However, he said that now, “our focus must remain on saving as many lives as possible, tonight and in the months and years to come.”
* Performance by Madonna, “Like a Prayer”
* Ben Stiller spoke of the importance of rebuilding schools, even though the work may not start for many months.
* Sanjay Gupta, in a previously taped report from Haiti, provides medical care to a newborn. He told of the currently desperate state of the medical aid: “This is jungle medicine.” Gupta joined Anderson Cooper live in Haiti and told of the urgent need for antibiotics in Haiti.
* Catherine Porter, a woman in the process of adopting a little girl from Haiti, told the emotional story of her separation from her daughter, about whom she has heard no news since Sunday.
* Performance by Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris, “Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen)
* Live donor call with Taylor Swift
* Chris Rock and Muhammed Ali appeared together, and Rock read the ailing Ali’s words, written for the evening: “There are .. many names for the charity that resides in the hearts of all human beings. In my faith, charity is called Zakat...By any name, charity can bring the people of our planet together…Charity begins at home, but it cannot end there.”
* Performance by Jennifer Hudson, “Let It Be”
* Anderson Cooper introduces Manli, the 5-year-old about whom Halle Berry spoke at the beginning of the telethon. Manli’s parents will killed in the earthquake, yet he was found alive in the rubble on Wednesday after 8 days alone. Gabriella, the nurse who helped save him said that he was doing well. He did, indeed, look incredibly healthy for having survived such an unfathomable ordeal.
*Brad Pitt spoke of a musician who played his guitar outside and for the city on the night following the earthquake. He then introduces Haitian musician Emeline Michel..
* Performance by Emeline Michel, “Many Rivers to Cross”
* Tom Hanks told of man who found his way to his family in the days following the quake. His brother cared for his badly injured sister as the man spent 3 hours digging through rubble with his bare hands to pull their mother to safety.
* Performance by Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bono, and The Edge, "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)"
* Live donor call with Stevie Wonder
* Julia Roberts told the story of a woman who dug and watched for 50 hours as aid workers rescued her 2 year old. “In the middle of that darkness, they pulled him out alive.” He was dazed and unfocused until he saw his mother, and the two embraced.
* Performance by Dave Matthews and Neil Young, “Alone and Forsaken”
* Denzel Washington evoked the words of Martin Luther King: “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving.” Denzel continued: “It will take years to build back something better…Not for, but with, the Haitian people…In spite of it all, Haiti refuses to break.”
* Performance by Wyclef Jean and Melky Jean, “By The Rivers of Babylon” / “Yéle” / Racine music
Wyclef Jean and his band began by singing “By The Rivers of Babylon” with additional lyrics in Creole. After a few minutes, Wyclef called out: “Enough with the moping, man. Let’s rebuild Haiti. Let’s show ‘em how we do it where we come from!” Wyclef and his sister Melky broke into an energetic Racine song.
Among shout-outs to Anderson Cooper in Haiti, Jean closed the telethon with a message of hope:
“Earthquake /We seen the earth shake / But the soul of the Haitian people/ It will never break.”
Christine E. Taylor - Christine E. Taylor is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Christine is currently writing a series of articles ...
