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| Celebs, led by Clooney, together |
| Celebs, led by Clooney, together for Haiti
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 24-January-2010
0:53:48 AM |
| George Clooney is the un-Jerry Lewis of celebrity telethons. The star-studded fundraiser on Friday that he organized for victims of the Haiti earthquake was a study in carefully muted star power. More than 100 of the most famous actors and music stars in the world went on stage pretending to be nobody.
Hollywood telethons tap into the best and worst in people: unstinting generosity, and an obsessive fascination with celebrities. Viewers are drawn to famous faces but at the same time turned off by too much piety and self-congratulation. Especially when the tragedy is as dire as Haiti's, success is measured not just in the many millions of dollars raised, but by the degree of restraint. Friday night's event, shown on dozens of networks and streamed across hundreds of Web sites, was a case study in giving it all while holding back.
Clooney, who has put together these kinds of gala charity drives before, notably the telethon for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, explained to viewers that this was their opportunity to help neighbors in desperate need with "swiftness and expertise."
It was expertly swift and deliberately unglamorous - stars wore varying shades of brown and black and studiously avoided the "I" word. Beyonce, Madonna and Sting, sang without being identified; stars like Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio (who have each already donated $1 million) were not introduced. Mostly, they told vignettes about people in Haiti - brave survivors and rescue workers. The most showbiz-y of all was the CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who chimed in live from Haiti, describing the misery there framed by images of desperation, sometimes with a little too much bathos for a newsman.
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