Celebrities unite to raise tsunami aid funds
AGENCIES
Veteran pop star Sir Cliff Richard, flamboyant singer Boy George and other British musicians plan to release a song to raise money for victims of the devastating Asian tsunami, the tune's composer said. Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees and opera singer Russell Watson were also taking part.Radio DJ Mike Read wrote the song Grief Never Grows Old before the December 26 disaster, but said he was now getting stars on board to release it within weeks. Charity singles have proved hugely popular fundraisers in Britain, where the reworked Band Aid 20 charity single Do They Know It's Christmas, featuring Dido, Jamelia and other stars, recently spent several weeks at the top of the charts. Separately, managers at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales--the largest indoor arena in Europe--said they were planning a charity concert at the 74,500-seat venue on January 22-23, and hoped to raise more than 1 million pounds ($1.92 million) for tsunami-stricken Asian countries. Britons, haunted by images of the disaster, have donated up to 1 million pounds an hour in the country's fastest ever charity appeal. The government's donation of 50 million pounds has been dwarfed by the 60 million pounds given by the public. Hollywood opened its wallet to survivors of the tsunami disaster as movie stars Sandra Bullock and Leonardo DiCaprio donated big sums to relief agencies and NBC planned a celebrity-studded TV benefit. The American Red Cross said it received a $1 million donation from Bullock for tsunami relief in South Asia and East Africa. The star of Miss Congeniality and Speed previously donated $1 million to the Red Cross in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. DiCaprio pledged a "sizable" contribution to UNICEF, targeted for aid to devastated areas of Thailand, where his 2000 film The Beach was filmed. NBC and its sister cable networks--USA, Bravo, Trio, Sci-Fi, MSNBC and CNBC--plan to simulcast a benefit special on January 15 featuring celebrities and musical performances. Meanwhile, a benefit concert to raise funds will be held in Prague on January 9. The concert at Lucerna music hall will feature many of the country's top rock and pop stars, all of whom will perform free of charge. All profits will be sent to the Indonesian embassy in Prague, Czech news agency CTK reported. The Czech public has so far donated almost 15 million koruna (495,000 euros, 675,000 dollars) for the disaster-hit region.
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