NEW YORK – More than 100 top artists are teaming up to support the two-hour Hope for Haiti Now telethon, which will air Jan. 22 commercial-free on all major TV networks and appear on cable channels including CNN, HBO, MTV, TNT, BET, Showtime and others, along with live streaming and other support from Web sites such as YouTube, Myspace, Facebook and Twitter. The show, set to begin in the U.S. at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, is expected to be the most widely distributed telethon in history. Broadcast live from New York, Los Angeles, London, and Haiti, the telethon will be produced by Joel Gallen and Tenth Planet Productions, in collaboration with Viacom's MTV Networks and George Clooney.
The artists performing will include Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, and Sting in New York; Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift and a group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles; and Coldplay, and a group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna in London.
The technical team in New York will include Tom Kenny, LD, and Star Kahn, production designer, working from Kaufman Astoria Studios. Tim Rutledge will serve as LD in London. Production Designer John Calkins and LD Allen Branton are handling the Los Angeles production at CBS Studio 26. PRG is helping this effort by supplying the lighting gear and crew for the Los Angeles portion of the broadcast.
Starting Jan. 23, iTunes will sell downloaded songs from the telethon for 99 cents and all proceeds will go to charity, with the list of relief organizations including the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, United Nations World Food Program, Oxfam America, Red Cross, Unicef and the Yele Haiti Foundation.
