Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Live 8 shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Live 8 offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Live 8 at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Live 8? Wrong! If the Live 8 is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Live 8 then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Live 8? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Live 8 and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Live 8 wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Live 8 then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Live 8 site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Live 8, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Live 8, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.





Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July, 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and 31st G8 summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from July 6-July 8 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Run in support of the aims of the UK's Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty, the shows planned to pressure world leaders to drop the debt of the world's poorest nations, increase and improve aid, and negotiate fair trade rules in the interest of poorer countries. Ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July. On 7 July the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to poor nations from US$25 to US$50 billion by the year 2010. Half of the money was to go to Africa.

, LondonMore than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.

Live Aid and Band Aid (band) organiser Bob Geldof announced the event on 31 May Many former Live Aid acts offered their services to the cause. Prior to the official announcement of the event many news sources (see e.g. ) referred to the event as Live Aid 2. However Geldof and co-organiser Midge Ure have since explicitly said they don't think of the event as the same as Live Aid. Geldof said "This is not Live Aid 2. These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison." . Many of the Live 8 backers were also involved in the largely forgotten NetAid concerts.

Organizers of Live 8 presented the "Live 8 List" to the world leaders at the G8 summit. This is a list of names compiled from around the world of people who have voiced support of the Live 8 call that politicians take action to "Make Poverty History" www.live8list.com. Names from the list also appeared on the Jumbotrons at each concert during the broadcast.

, Berlin. On stage is a-ha

Some ticket holders placed their tickets on the auction site eBay, creating an uproar which included Geldof demanding that the company remove the auctions, even encouraging hackers to attack eBay. eBay later removed the tickets, after some controversy.

Other critics say that millionaire rock stars would make greater contribution by donating parts of their personal fortunes. Indeed, as some of the performers involved had been out of the public eye, some may have perceived the concert as a way of getting back "into the spotlight". However, it is important to note that Live 8, unlike Live Aid, wasn't intended to raise money, but awareness and political pressure.

An official Live 8 DVD set was released on 7 November 2005 internationally, 8 November 2005 in the United States. It was released almost a year to the day after the release of the DVD of Live Aid on 8 November 2004.

Concerts . On stage is Keith Urban

There were ten concerts held on 2 July 2005, most of them simultaneously. The first to begin was held at the Makuhari Messe in Japan, with Rize (band) being the first of all the Live 8 performers. During the opening of the Philadelphia concert, Will Smith led the combined audiences of London, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Barrie, Ontario (outside Toronto) in a synchronised finger click. This was to represent the death of a child every three seconds, due to poverty. The film featuring global celebrities was by produced by Kit Hawkins.

Bob Geldof was at the event at Hyde Park, London in London, England and made numerous appearances on stage, including a performance of "I Don't Like Mondays (song)". Some of these were also shown to other venues. Special guests appeared throughout the concerts, with Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Bill Gates making a speech at the London show and Nelson Mandela appearing in the South African venue. Guest presenters, ranging from sports stars to comedians, also introduced acts.

Included in the line-up were Pink Floyd, reunited with former bassist/lyricist Roger Waters for the first time in over 24 years. The complete foursome had not performed together since a show at Earls Court in London on 17 June 1981.

The final event was held in Edinburgh on 6 July 2005 and went by the name Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push. It featured further performances from some of the artists from the other concerts, and was the closest of the eleven to the actual location of the G8 summit.

Key events





















































Live 8 list , Italy

The Live Aid concert, held in 1985, was a massive fundraising effort which accumulated approximately £79 million, which was sent to the world's poorest countries in aid.

The Live 8 concert was not a fundraising event of any kind; rather, the organisers were hoping that it would spur people's political interest. The event coincided with the 2005 G8 summit at the Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, Scotland, and the idea behind it was to overwhelm the eight politicians attending with the amount of public support for the principles of the Make Poverty History campaign.

An enormous petition with (presently) over 38 million names is available to be signed on the Internet. Named the "Live 8 List", this can be reached via the Live8 List page. Millions of paper petitions and emails have already been submitted.

Tickets Although the concerts were free, 66,500 pairs of tickets for the Hyde Park concert were allocated from the 13 June 2005 to 15 June 2005, to winners of a mobile phone Short message service competition that began on Monday, June 6 2005. Entry involved sending the answer to a multiple choice question via a text message costing £1.50. Winners were drawn at random from those correctly answering the question. Over two million messages were sent during the competition, raising £3 million. Thus entrants had a roughly one-in-28 chance of winning a pair of tickets. The first £1.6m raised is to be given to the Prince's Trust, who in turn will donate to the Help A London Child charity. The Prince's Trust usually host the Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park in July. This event was cancelled in 2005 to make way for Live 8. The £1.6m donation will act as a quid pro quo. Funds raised beyond the £1.6m "will go to pay for the costs of Live 8, as it is a free event", according to the Live 8 website.

Some ticket-winners immediately placed their tickets for sale on the Internet auction site eBay, with the intention of making a profit. This was heavily criticised by the organisers of the event, including Bob Geldof. Initially, eBay defended their decision to allow the auctions to go ahead, stating that there were no laws against their sale. They also promised to make a donation to Live 8 that would be "at least equal to any fees" they would be making for such sales. Many people, angered by others seemingly using Live 8 to make money, placed fake bids for millions of pounds for such auctions in an attempt to force the sellers to take them off sale. It was later announced that eBay, under pressure from the British government, the public, as well as Geldof himself, would withdraw all auctions of the tickets. Others have argued, though, that selling the tickets would not have done any harm to the people Live 8 is supposed to be helping and it would have allowed those who missed the random selection a chance to go to the concert.

Similar touting situations arose for the Edinburgh and Canadian shows, and eBay halted sales of those tickets as well. In fact, the 35,000 free tickets for the Canadian show were all distributed in just 20 minutes on 23 June 2005, Ticketmaster reported.

Memorable moments from the concerts Hyde Park, London















Rally and protest in Edinburgh On 2 July, the same day as the Live 8 concerts, a rally and protest march was held in central Edinburgh, near the Gleneagles venue for the G8 conference later that week. This protest was organised by the Make Poverty History coalition as part of a series of events ahead of the G8 conference, and had been planned for months before the announcement of Live 8.

An estimated total of 225,000 people took part, making it the largest ever protest in Scotland and the largest ever anti-poverty protest in the UK.

The marchers had been asked to wear white to make a symbolic ring of white through the city, matching the Make Poverty History white wristband. Marchers were addressed by coalition and other activists, celebrities and religious leaders who support the campaign for political action on world poverty.

"I want to pay tribute to the crowd of 225,000 who came and cooperated with the police to make this a successful and memorable occasion. I also want to pay tribute to the organizers of the march who have achieved their objectives through meticulous planning and cooperation." :Chief Constable Ian Dickenson

Criticisms A lack of black presence Damon Albarn iterated this criticism, saying that "This country UK is incredibly diverse," he said. "More than ever, black culture is an integral part of society. So why is the bill so damn Anglo-Saxon?". Stevie Wonder, Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z and Kanye West also turned up at Philadelphia to perform while Will Smith, Don Cheadle, Black Ice (poet), Takalani Sesame, and Chris Tucker made appearances as presenters. Albarn reportedly eventually became happy about Live 8, feeling that his criticisms had been addressed. He told a reporter on 21 June:"I have said certain things in relation to the density of African performers... In some way that's been addressed and that's really good... Live 8 will make a difference – it's already created a debate that we're all involved in."

, one of only two African-born performers, with Dido (singer) in Hyde Park, LondonA Live 8 spokesman said that a number of black performers had been approached to participate and that the event would feature a "large urban element", and pointed to the number of artists of African descent like Ms. Dynamite. However, Youssou N'Dour (Senegal) and Dave Matthews (South Africa) of Dave Matthews Band, remained the only African-born artists signed to perform at the main concerts. Bob Geldof originally said that this was because he had aimed for the biggest-selling, most popular artists to ensure a large television audience; but critics noted that even if this was acceptable as the sole criterion for inclusion, some of the minor white artists signed up were substantially less well-known than some major African artists. Bob Geldof has been accused of compounding the original error by announcing an entirely African line-up ("Africa Calling") at a concert to be held at the Eden Project in Cornwall on the same day as the main Live 8 concerts.

Artists' careers As with many charity events before it, Live 8 has come in for some criticism in the media. Some of these criticisms are not specific to Live 8 but representative of a particular point of view concerning western attitudes towards Africa. However, some critics such as TV and radio presenter Andy Kershaw directed criticisms at Geldof himself and the motives for Live 8:

"I am coming, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Live 8 is as much to do with Geldof showing off his ability to push around presidents and prime ministers as with pointing out the potential of Africa. Indeed, Geldof appears not to be interested in Africa's strengths, only in an Africa on its knees."

Geldof is criticised for using Africa as "a catwalk" which is more about reviving the careers of aging rock stars than about helping the poor in Africa. For example, some fans and music critics feel that some of the lineups, such as that in Barrie, Ontario, are not only largely ethnically homogeneous but not likely to connect with, or speak to, younger fans ( "Live 8 organizer dismisses criticism..." Globe and Mail article).

Many believed that it was hypocrisy that many of the performing artists had tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars of "spare cash" lying in their bank accounts while wanting to "Make Poverty History". Counter-critics, however, point out that these celebrities are still not rich enough to be able to cancel the debts of nations. Damon Albarn also suggested that the performers' record labels should pay "a tariff" as the accompanying publicity would increase future record sales and hence their profits. Live 8, it is important to note, is not a charity event. Indeed, public figures and media have since called on the artists and their record labels to donate the profits of increased sales that followed appearance at the event (see "...Live 8 profits plea" BBC article, for example). Certain artists have undertaken such action on their own initiative: David Gilmour, for example, announced that he would donate the profits of increased sales in Pink Floyd's Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd album to charity, stating:

More criticism has been leveled at some of the performers based on what they took home for participating in the Philadelphia concert. While they received no monetary compensation, some were given gift bags containing lavish gifts and designer goodies - including Gibson guitars and Hugo Boss suits - valued at approximately $3000 (see "Fancy gifts at odds with cause?" The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Swearing and censorship Despite the show being broadcast before the watershed (television) in many countries, there was no attempt at censorship. The BBC later apologized for not censoring performances such as Madonna (entertainer), where she asked the audience "are you fucking ready, London?", and Snoop Dogg's performance, which contained a lot of swearing. Madonna also swore repeatedly during her following song, "Music (Madonna song)", where she said "Come on, I want to see all you fuckers dancing". Razorlight and Robbie Williams also swore during their performances, although Williams' was after the watershed.

In the official DVD release of the concerts, Madonna (entertainer)'s pre-song cursing was not included while her in-song cursing was. On the other hand, almost half of Snoop Dogg's performance was not made available. Robbie Williams' "Hyde Park, you look fucking beautiful tonight" as well as Midge Ure's "I find it amazing, that Bob can do his fantastic thing and then fucking turn this on for me" remain from the Edinburgh concert.In the United States, MTV censored swear words from the performances it broadcast, except for the word "bullshit" as part of the lyrics to Pink Floyd's "Money (song)". American Broadcasting Company drew criticism when they aired a highlights special of The Who's performance of "Who Are You (song)" without censorship of the lyric "who the fuck are you?"; however, the song "has been aired countless times in its unedited form on radio stations across the nation since its release in 1978." FMQB

Other Although the concerts in London and Philadelphia had the biggest stars lining up, both concerts are currently not available in their original, full version. Several artists' performances were cut to one or two songs, including Bon Jovi and Dido (singer).

Criticism was drawn from viewers of MTV, VH1 (and possibly other networks), in which the broadcaster cut to commercials while bands were still performing, specifically Pink Floyd (during the guitar solo for "Comfortably Numb") and The Who right before Roger Daltrey's famous scream in "Won't Get Fooled Again". Criticism was also aimed at MTV and VH1 for focusing too much on ill-informed VJs and not enough on the music. VJs were frequently talking over the music, discussing how great it was to be hearing a particular song or seeing a particular band, rather than letting the performances speak for themselves. In some instances, VJs referred to the event as "Live 8 2005" or even "Live Aid 8" proving that they had little or no knowledge of the cause going into the event. Though, MTV compensated a week later by re-broadcasting uninterrupted previously unaired or full-length footage.

Very few of Live 8's songs were played in full by MTV and almost none of them were broadcast live, leading some to say that MTV may have covered the event but they did not broadcast it. The following weekend, MTV and VH1 broadcast six hours of a commercial-free special devoted to Live 8 showing full performances in response to the heavy criticism. Still, this broadcast was a mere snippit compared to the extensive BBC coverage.

Another criticism was at the London round, alcohol was barely available to concertgoers, while being made available to the VIPs.

In the weeks leading up to Live 8, The Daily Mirror began a petition, garnering support for British rock legends Status Quo. Originally offered a 6pm slot, the Quo already had commitments in Ireland and therefore they requested an earlier slot. The Daily Mirror's petition, titled "No Quo, No Show", was backed by thousands though eventually nothing came of it. One proposed rationale behind this was a rumour that Geldof was angered at Quo's reference to there being "a lot of drugs" at Live Aid in 1985.

Green Day received some minor criticism for the politically charged lyrics used in the song "Holiday". Some viewers felt that the word choice caused unnecessary division in the audience and did too much to shift the focus off of ending poverty.

Legacy On 2 July, 2006, BBC 1, CTV Television Network and MTV broadcast Live 8: What a Difference a Day Makes. In the UK, the special was 60 minutes as compared in the U.S. version on MTV running at 90 minutes. The special was aired on MTV at 7:30 a.m. eastern time, giving nearly no chance for those to be made aware of the broadcast. Instead of airing the special late at night, MTV aired their normal broadcasting schedule for Sundays, again adding to the criticism of MTV's lack of care for Live 8.

In a report issued in June 2006 the G8 have reportedly not lived up to their promises set in 2005. According to DATA, the U.S. has increased its development-assistance pledges but is increasingly off-track in meeting them and, in general, the G8 is moving slowly in the effort to meet its promises.

Some consider Live 8 to be a success, including Bob Geldof himself. However, others believe it was a publicity stunt and a failure as the G8 have already forgotten their pledges. Geldof also believes that public attention was quickly diverted by the 7 July 2005 London bombings on 7 July, the day after Live 8 Edinburgh which was the final concert in the series.

On July 7, 2007, the Live Earth event—a benefit to help combat global warming—staged concerts on all seven of the world's continents, and was partly inspired by Live 8 (hence the title Live Earth).

See also

Cultural references On the American TV show House (TV series), Hugh Laurie's character, Dr. Gregory House references the concert in the episode TB or not TB when talking to an African Tuberculosis expert that he "Saw the concert on TV."

References

Further reading {{wikinewshas|news coverage of Live 8| -->





Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July, 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and 31st G8 summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from July 6-July 8 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Run in support of the aims of the UK's Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty, the shows planned to pressure world leaders to drop the debt of the world's poorest nations, increase and improve aid, and negotiate fair trade rules in the interest of poorer countries. Ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July. On 7 July the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to poor nations from US$25 to US$50 billion by the year 2010. Half of the money was to go to Africa.

, LondonMore than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.

Live Aid and Band Aid (band) organiser Bob Geldof announced the event on 31 May Many former Live Aid acts offered their services to the cause. Prior to the official announcement of the event many news sources (see e.g. ) referred to the event as Live Aid 2. However Geldof and co-organiser Midge Ure have since explicitly said they don't think of the event as the same as Live Aid. Geldof said "This is not Live Aid 2. These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison." . Many of the Live 8 backers were also involved in the largely forgotten NetAid concerts.

Organizers of Live 8 presented the "Live 8 List" to the world leaders at the G8 summit. This is a list of names compiled from around the world of people who have voiced support of the Live 8 call that politicians take action to "Make Poverty History" www.live8list.com. Names from the list also appeared on the Jumbotrons at each concert during the broadcast.

, Berlin. On stage is a-ha

Some ticket holders placed their tickets on the auction site eBay, creating an uproar which included Geldof demanding that the company remove the auctions, even encouraging hackers to attack eBay. eBay later removed the tickets, after some controversy.

Other critics say that millionaire rock stars would make greater contribution by donating parts of their personal fortunes. Indeed, as some of the performers involved had been out of the public eye, some may have perceived the concert as a way of getting back "into the spotlight". However, it is important to note that Live 8, unlike Live Aid, wasn't intended to raise money, but awareness and political pressure.

An official Live 8 DVD set was released on 7 November 2005 internationally, 8 November 2005 in the United States. It was released almost a year to the day after the release of the DVD of Live Aid on 8 November 2004.

Concerts . On stage is Keith Urban

There were ten concerts held on 2 July 2005, most of them simultaneously. The first to begin was held at the Makuhari Messe in Japan, with Rize (band) being the first of all the Live 8 performers. During the opening of the Philadelphia concert, Will Smith led the combined audiences of London, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Barrie, Ontario (outside Toronto) in a synchronised finger click. This was to represent the death of a child every three seconds, due to poverty. The film featuring global celebrities was by produced by Kit Hawkins.

Bob Geldof was at the event at Hyde Park, London in London, England and made numerous appearances on stage, including a performance of "I Don't Like Mondays (song)". Some of these were also shown to other venues. Special guests appeared throughout the concerts, with Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Bill Gates making a speech at the London show and Nelson Mandela appearing in the South African venue. Guest presenters, ranging from sports stars to comedians, also introduced acts.

Included in the line-up were Pink Floyd, reunited with former bassist/lyricist Roger Waters for the first time in over 24 years. The complete foursome had not performed together since a show at Earls Court in London on 17 June 1981.

The final event was held in Edinburgh on 6 July 2005 and went by the name Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push. It featured further performances from some of the artists from the other concerts, and was the closest of the eleven to the actual location of the G8 summit.

Key events





















































Live 8 list , Italy

The Live Aid concert, held in 1985, was a massive fundraising effort which accumulated approximately £79 million, which was sent to the world's poorest countries in aid.

The Live 8 concert was not a fundraising event of any kind; rather, the organisers were hoping that it would spur people's political interest. The event coincided with the 2005 G8 summit at the Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, Scotland, and the idea behind it was to overwhelm the eight politicians attending with the amount of public support for the principles of the Make Poverty History campaign.

An enormous petition with (presently) over 38 million names is available to be signed on the Internet. Named the "Live 8 List", this can be reached via the Live8 List page. Millions of paper petitions and emails have already been submitted.

Tickets Although the concerts were free, 66,500 pairs of tickets for the Hyde Park concert were allocated from the 13 June 2005 to 15 June 2005, to winners of a mobile phone Short message service competition that began on Monday, June 6 2005. Entry involved sending the answer to a multiple choice question via a text message costing £1.50. Winners were drawn at random from those correctly answering the question. Over two million messages were sent during the competition, raising £3 million. Thus entrants had a roughly one-in-28 chance of winning a pair of tickets. The first £1.6m raised is to be given to the Prince's Trust, who in turn will donate to the Help A London Child charity. The Prince's Trust usually host the Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park in July. This event was cancelled in 2005 to make way for Live 8. The £1.6m donation will act as a quid pro quo. Funds raised beyond the £1.6m "will go to pay for the costs of Live 8, as it is a free event", according to the Live 8 website.

Some ticket-winners immediately placed their tickets for sale on the Internet auction site eBay, with the intention of making a profit. This was heavily criticised by the organisers of the event, including Bob Geldof. Initially, eBay defended their decision to allow the auctions to go ahead, stating that there were no laws against their sale. They also promised to make a donation to Live 8 that would be "at least equal to any fees" they would be making for such sales. Many people, angered by others seemingly using Live 8 to make money, placed fake bids for millions of pounds for such auctions in an attempt to force the sellers to take them off sale. It was later announced that eBay, under pressure from the British government, the public, as well as Geldof himself, would withdraw all auctions of the tickets. Others have argued, though, that selling the tickets would not have done any harm to the people Live 8 is supposed to be helping and it would have allowed those who missed the random selection a chance to go to the concert.

Similar touting situations arose for the Edinburgh and Canadian shows, and eBay halted sales of those tickets as well. In fact, the 35,000 free tickets for the Canadian show were all distributed in just 20 minutes on 23 June 2005, Ticketmaster reported.

Memorable moments from the concerts Hyde Park, London















Rally and protest in Edinburgh On 2 July, the same day as the Live 8 concerts, a rally and protest march was held in central Edinburgh, near the Gleneagles venue for the G8 conference later that week. This protest was organised by the Make Poverty History coalition as part of a series of events ahead of the G8 conference, and had been planned for months before the announcement of Live 8.

An estimated total of 225,000 people took part, making it the largest ever protest in Scotland and the largest ever anti-poverty protest in the UK.

The marchers had been asked to wear white to make a symbolic ring of white through the city, matching the Make Poverty History white wristband. Marchers were addressed by coalition and other activists, celebrities and religious leaders who support the campaign for political action on world poverty.

"I want to pay tribute to the crowd of 225,000 who came and cooperated with the police to make this a successful and memorable occasion. I also want to pay tribute to the organizers of the march who have achieved their objectives through meticulous planning and cooperation." :Chief Constable Ian Dickenson

Criticisms A lack of black presence Damon Albarn iterated this criticism, saying that "This country UK is incredibly diverse," he said. "More than ever, black culture is an integral part of society. So why is the bill so damn Anglo-Saxon?". Stevie Wonder, Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z and Kanye West also turned up at Philadelphia to perform while Will Smith, Don Cheadle, Black Ice (poet), Takalani Sesame, and Chris Tucker made appearances as presenters. Albarn reportedly eventually became happy about Live 8, feeling that his criticisms had been addressed. He told a reporter on 21 June:"I have said certain things in relation to the density of African performers... In some way that's been addressed and that's really good... Live 8 will make a difference – it's already created a debate that we're all involved in."

, one of only two African-born performers, with Dido (singer) in Hyde Park, LondonA Live 8 spokesman said that a number of black performers had been approached to participate and that the event would feature a "large urban element", and pointed to the number of artists of African descent like Ms. Dynamite. However, Youssou N'Dour (Senegal) and Dave Matthews (South Africa) of Dave Matthews Band, remained the only African-born artists signed to perform at the main concerts. Bob Geldof originally said that this was because he had aimed for the biggest-selling, most popular artists to ensure a large television audience; but critics noted that even if this was acceptable as the sole criterion for inclusion, some of the minor white artists signed up were substantially less well-known than some major African artists. Bob Geldof has been accused of compounding the original error by announcing an entirely African line-up ("Africa Calling") at a concert to be held at the Eden Project in Cornwall on the same day as the main Live 8 concerts.

Artists' careers As with many charity events before it, Live 8 has come in for some criticism in the media. Some of these criticisms are not specific to Live 8 but representative of a particular point of view concerning western attitudes towards Africa. However, some critics such as TV and radio presenter Andy Kershaw directed criticisms at Geldof himself and the motives for Live 8:

"I am coming, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Live 8 is as much to do with Geldof showing off his ability to push around presidents and prime ministers as with pointing out the potential of Africa. Indeed, Geldof appears not to be interested in Africa's strengths, only in an Africa on its knees."

Geldof is criticised for using Africa as "a catwalk" which is more about reviving the careers of aging rock stars than about helping the poor in Africa. For example, some fans and music critics feel that some of the lineups, such as that in Barrie, Ontario, are not only largely ethnically homogeneous but not likely to connect with, or speak to, younger fans ( "Live 8 organizer dismisses criticism..." Globe and Mail article).

Many believed that it was hypocrisy that many of the performing artists had tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars of "spare cash" lying in their bank accounts while wanting to "Make Poverty History". Counter-critics, however, point out that these celebrities are still not rich enough to be able to cancel the debts of nations. Damon Albarn also suggested that the performers' record labels should pay "a tariff" as the accompanying publicity would increase future record sales and hence their profits. Live 8, it is important to note, is not a charity event. Indeed, public figures and media have since called on the artists and their record labels to donate the profits of increased sales that followed appearance at the event (see "...Live 8 profits plea" BBC article, for example). Certain artists have undertaken such action on their own initiative: David Gilmour, for example, announced that he would donate the profits of increased sales in Pink Floyd's Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd album to charity, stating:

More criticism has been leveled at some of the performers based on what they took home for participating in the Philadelphia concert. While they received no monetary compensation, some were given gift bags containing lavish gifts and designer goodies - including Gibson guitars and Hugo Boss suits - valued at approximately $3000 (see "Fancy gifts at odds with cause?" The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Swearing and censorship Despite the show being broadcast before the watershed (television) in many countries, there was no attempt at censorship. The BBC later apologized for not censoring performances such as Madonna (entertainer), where she asked the audience "are you fucking ready, London?", and Snoop Dogg's performance, which contained a lot of swearing. Madonna also swore repeatedly during her following song, "Music (Madonna song)", where she said "Come on, I want to see all you fuckers dancing". Razorlight and Robbie Williams also swore during their performances, although Williams' was after the watershed.

In the official DVD release of the concerts, Madonna (entertainer)'s pre-song cursing was not included while her in-song cursing was. On the other hand, almost half of Snoop Dogg's performance was not made available. Robbie Williams' "Hyde Park, you look fucking beautiful tonight" as well as Midge Ure's "I find it amazing, that Bob can do his fantastic thing and then fucking turn this on for me" remain from the Edinburgh concert.In the United States, MTV censored swear words from the performances it broadcast, except for the word "bullshit" as part of the lyrics to Pink Floyd's "Money (song)". American Broadcasting Company drew criticism when they aired a highlights special of The Who's performance of "Who Are You (song)" without censorship of the lyric "who the fuck are you?"; however, the song "has been aired countless times in its unedited form on radio stations across the nation since its release in 1978." FMQB

Other Although the concerts in London and Philadelphia had the biggest stars lining up, both concerts are currently not available in their original, full version. Several artists' performances were cut to one or two songs, including Bon Jovi and Dido (singer).

Criticism was drawn from viewers of MTV, VH1 (and possibly other networks), in which the broadcaster cut to commercials while bands were still performing, specifically Pink Floyd (during the guitar solo for "Comfortably Numb") and The Who right before Roger Daltrey's famous scream in "Won't Get Fooled Again". Criticism was also aimed at MTV and VH1 for focusing too much on ill-informed VJs and not enough on the music. VJs were frequently talking over the music, discussing how great it was to be hearing a particular song or seeing a particular band, rather than letting the performances speak for themselves. In some instances, VJs referred to the event as "Live 8 2005" or even "Live Aid 8" proving that they had little or no knowledge of the cause going into the event. Though, MTV compensated a week later by re-broadcasting uninterrupted previously unaired or full-length footage.

Very few of Live 8's songs were played in full by MTV and almost none of them were broadcast live, leading some to say that MTV may have covered the event but they did not broadcast it. The following weekend, MTV and VH1 broadcast six hours of a commercial-free special devoted to Live 8 showing full performances in response to the heavy criticism. Still, this broadcast was a mere snippit compared to the extensive BBC coverage.

Another criticism was at the London round, alcohol was barely available to concertgoers, while being made available to the VIPs.

In the weeks leading up to Live 8, The Daily Mirror began a petition, garnering support for British rock legends Status Quo. Originally offered a 6pm slot, the Quo already had commitments in Ireland and therefore they requested an earlier slot. The Daily Mirror's petition, titled "No Quo, No Show", was backed by thousands though eventually nothing came of it. One proposed rationale behind this was a rumour that Geldof was angered at Quo's reference to there being "a lot of drugs" at Live Aid in 1985.

Green Day received some minor criticism for the politically charged lyrics used in the song "Holiday". Some viewers felt that the word choice caused unnecessary division in the audience and did too much to shift the focus off of ending poverty.

Legacy On 2 July, 2006, BBC 1, CTV Television Network and MTV broadcast Live 8: What a Difference a Day Makes. In the UK, the special was 60 minutes as compared in the U.S. version on MTV running at 90 minutes. The special was aired on MTV at 7:30 a.m. eastern time, giving nearly no chance for those to be made aware of the broadcast. Instead of airing the special late at night, MTV aired their normal broadcasting schedule for Sundays, again adding to the criticism of MTV's lack of care for Live 8.

In a report issued in June 2006 the G8 have reportedly not lived up to their promises set in 2005. According to DATA, the U.S. has increased its development-assistance pledges but is increasingly off-track in meeting them and, in general, the G8 is moving slowly in the effort to meet its promises.

Some consider Live 8 to be a success, including Bob Geldof himself. However, others believe it was a publicity stunt and a failure as the G8 have already forgotten their pledges. Geldof also believes that public attention was quickly diverted by the 7 July 2005 London bombings on 7 July, the day after Live 8 Edinburgh which was the final concert in the series.

On July 7, 2007, the Live Earth event—a benefit to help combat global warming—staged concerts on all seven of the world's continents, and was partly inspired by Live 8 (hence the title Live Earth).

See also

Cultural references On the American TV show House (TV series), Hugh Laurie's character, Dr. Gregory House references the concert in the episode TB or not TB when talking to an African Tuberculosis expert that he "Saw the concert on TV."

References

Further reading {{wikinewshas|news coverage of Live 8| -->



BBC - The Live 8 Event
Coverage of the Live 8 events on 2 Jult 2005 on the BBC ... Digital Music Awards. This site won a Digital Music Award in the Best Event or Performance category.

LIVE 8 – The Long Walk to Justice
Chancellor Angela Merkel promises to put poverty in Africa on the G8 agenda when she hosts the meeting in Germany in 2007 Click here to read more.

Live 8 Online Store
Description: This four DVD set cherry-picks 120 performances from a range of internationally known acts and adds unseen backstage footage, messages, documentaries and much more.

LIVE 8 Concerts – Live 8
A DAY THAT ROCKED THE WORLD! An estimated 3 BILLION PEOPLE watched LIVE 8 the greatest, greatest show on Earth.

BBC - The Live 8 Event - News
The latest news about Live 8 and a diary of stories so far ... News Diary: All the news around Live 8. This is the place to read the news stories that were been after the concerts ...

Live 8 Online Store
Live 8 Limited Edition Peter Blake Skinny Tee (White) £20.00

LIVE 8 DVD::::
The official Live 8 DVD Website

Amazon.co.uk: Live 8 [2005]: U2, Stereophonics, Dido, Keane, Paul ...
Amazon.co.uk: Live 8 [2005]: U2, Stereophonics, Dido, Keane, Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, The Who, Alicia Keys, Def Leppard, Sting, Josh Stone, Coldplay, Will Smith, Madonna ...

Live 8
The 34 metre long LED banner display above the stage at Live 8 in Hyde Park on 2nd July 2005 was controlled by Technographic's ACTIV-Banner system.

Gorgeous Live 8
www.makepovertyhistory.org

 

Live 8



 
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