Live 8 and The Long Walk to Justice, the global call to end extreme poverty, is a week of action across the world, calling on the leaders of the world's eight richest countries to act when they meet for the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland on 6-8 July. Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, MBC, was awarded the exclusive rights to broadcast the international event Live8, to be held on 2nd July 2005 in five cities around the world.
The cream of the global rock and pop artists will stage eight free concerts in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Johannesburg, Tokyo and Toronto while on July 6 another concert of celebration will be staged in Edinburgh.
It was twenty years ago that the media said Live Aid was the greatest show on earth, they were right then, but wrong now. It was announced today that over 140 television networks will broadcast Live 8 making it The Greatest, Greatest Show on Earth. In addition, millions of personal computer users will also be able to view Live 8 online and log into whichever concert they wish and effectively create there own Live 8 show. It is estimated that over 5.5 billion people can see the live broadcast on Saturday July 2, 2005.
Live 8 does not aim at raising funds, but rather to push the governments of the United States and Europe to draw a historic plan in tandem with African leaders in order to combat AIDS, extreme poverty, and corruption. Africa, being the main focus, will be discussed on July 8th during G8 summit that will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland. Tony Blair and George Bush are among eight other leaders of the richest countries in the world to attend the summit.
The summit was behind Bob Geldoff’s idea of the Live 8 open show in each capital city of the G8 countries. July 2nd will see Elton John, Madonna, Mariah
Carey, Pink Floyd, Robby Wiliams, Scissor Sisters, Sting, Cold Play, Muse and Any Lucas, Razorlight, Joss Stone among others sing in the famous Hyde Park in London.
Meanwhile, in the USA, the show will be held at the stairs of the renowned Philadelphia Arts Museum, where the Live Aid campaign took place twenty years ago. Pop starts in the caliber of Will Smith, Destiny’s Child, Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, and Maroon 5, and Kaiser Chiefs will sing at the concert. In Europe, Bryan Wilson, Green Day, Die Toten Hosen, Lauryn Hill, Peter Maffay, and Crosby will sing from the famous Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. From Paris’ Arch of Triumph, Johnny Holiday, Andrea Bocelli, and Manu Chao, Graig David, Axelle Red, and Youssou N’Dour will present a live concert. From Rome will sing Duran Duran, Faith Hill, Irene Grandi, Laura Paussini, and Vasco Rossi.
The eight concerts will start simultaneously to send a strong message to the leaders of the G8. The key message is: ‘eight men can save millions of people’.
These concerts will constitute a precedent in the world being the largest one. It will be a legendary mix of hip hop, country, and other genres, and will be watched by over a billion people worldwide through TV channels and internet. MBC4 will strive to make sure that huge numbers of viewers in the Middle East are among that number.
MBC4 will exclusively broadcast the eleven hour mega-event to Middle East viewers from 1:00 p.m. to 23:00 p.m. GMT. Main highlights of the show will be discussed the next day from 7:00 p.m. till 10:00 p.m. GMT.
MBC4 broadcasts the latest and the best in top rated western entertainment, offering proven hits in comedy, drama, talk shows and reality TV. MBC4 teams its award winning entertainment shows with the best in American news and news programs, bringing the all time most successful western shows to the Arab world.
A part of the MBC Group, MBC4 is the Arab world's window to the western media, offering a view into the west's most current TV trends and genres. This approach complements the Group's overall endeavour to offer “the world through Arab eyes”.
MBC4 is free-to-air like the rest of the MBC Group, which is the unrivaled and undisputed broadcast network leader in the Middle East.
