Springsteen, Bon Jovi highlight NBC telethon to aid Sandy's victims

In this photo provided by NBC, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform during "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together" Friday, Nov. 2, 2012, in New York. Hosted by Matt Lauer, the event is heavy on stars identified with New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area, which took the brunt of this week's deadly storm. / AP Photo/NBC, Heidi Gutman

Standing alone on a darkened stage, "The Voice" mentor Christina Aguilera opened the NBC telethon, "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together," by singing "Beautiful" Friday night in New York.

Like Aguilera, who was born in Staten Island, many of those taking part had ties to the hard-hit region. The bill includes New Jersey rockers Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi , Long Island singer-songwriter Billy Joel and Aerosmith, whose frontman Steven Tyler grew up in Westchester. Musicians Sting and Mary J. Blige, actors James Gandolfini and Tina Fey and comedians Jimmy Fallon and Jon Stewart also are taking part.

10 Photos

Superstorm Sandy Benefit Concert

"All it took was just one phone call for many of these people," "Today" host Matt Lauer told "Entertainment Tonight" before the telethon.

Bon Jovi sang "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Who says You Can't Go Home" while Aerosmith did a toned-down version of "Dream On." Joel changed some of the lyrics to "Miami 2017" to reflect the storm's damage. Blige also changed the lyrics when she sang "The Living Proof."

Tyler, Springsteen, Joel and Fallon joined together in a version of "Under the Boardwalk" that prompted Stewart to later joke, "Jimmy Fallon is a bold man to take the lead vocals from Steven Tyler, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel."

Actor Kevin Bacon urged TV viewers to "keep the conversation going on Twitter" as he demonstrated how to text a donation.

Sting sang "Message in a Bottle" and Springsteen and his E Street Band closed out the hour of music with "Land of Hope and Dreams" and "This Train. "

NBC news anchor Brian Williams and Stewart made a final appeal in which Williams observed, "It doesn't look like our Jersey Shore any more,"

NBC isn't alone in coming to the aid of storm victims. Kirstie Alley, Drew Carey, Gary Sinise and Wayne Brady are among the stars who have been recruited by "Entertainment Tonight" to make public service announcements encouraging TV viewers to donate to the American Red Cross. One of the first of these appeared Thursday night on "The Big Bang Theory" on CBS.

25 Photos

Seaside Heights: Now and then

CBS also is making a $1 million donation to the Red Cross and matching employee contributions. Earlier this week, Disney, the parent company of ABC, announced a $2 million Red Cross donation and media giant Viacom said it was donating $1 million. News Corp, parent of the Fox network, also is reportedly donating $1million.

ABC also is devoting part of its Monday programming to encourage donations to storm relief efforts.

You can donate to the Red Cross by clicking on this link or texting REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

[jackbrooklynny]

HEY LIBERALS!

THE ALWAYS PROGRESSIVE/LIBERAL

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

ENDORSED MITT ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT.

They figured out Obama is all talk, lies and B.S.

[jackbrooklynny]

Hey Springsteen and Bon Jovi...ARE YOU HAVING FUN AT THAT CONCERT?

TRUST ME: BARACK OBAMA DOES NOT GIVE A CRAP ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES! Obama is 100% Politician. Obama knows that N.Y and N.J. will always Vote Democrat... so... Obama took a few Photos on the Jersey Shore, had a helicopter ride and OBAMA FLEW TO LAS VEGAS ON THE SAME DAY! During the last 2 years Obama had done nothing but campaign for re-election.

NY and NJ have NO GAS, NO WATER, NO HEAT, NO FOOD...and Obama went to a $2,500 Fund Raising Dinner with Beyonce and JayZ...In case you were wondering Obama slept very well in the Presidential Suite at the Ritz- Carlton... While you are waiting 8 hours for a few gallons of gas...Obama burnt 32,0000 Gallons of Fuel in Air Force One.. MEANWHILE....NEW YORKERS WILL DRINK SEWER WATER AND EAT OUT OF DUMPSTERS

FLASH! The National Media is NOT airing any of the despair or misery that is happening . Obama Transparency? There is a TOTAL MEDIA BLACKOUT The National Media does not want to show anything that will hurt Obama's chances for re-election.

There is widespread looting, shooting and stabbings in all five boroughs of NYC. People are freezing, drinking contaminated water and scavenging from dumpsters. I guarantee you will not see what is really happening. FEMA says "everything is great". Truth: Government response is poor, ridiculos delays, completely not prepared. We are suffering, Obama is smiling and saying he is responsible. Obama says vote for Revenge. I will, screw you Obama. Jack from Brooklyn, New York. Lifelong Democrat

[auburnannie]

Oh fer cryin' out loud- it was a thrown together benefit concert, not a PBS concert for the ages and the need is NOW. Yes, there are indeed high earners in NY/NJ/CT - and millions of low paid service workers, small business owners (think bodega not hedge funds) and, yes, first responders. Firefighters, police officers, EMTs, nurses etc. do indeed have higher salaries than someone from, say, South-of-Nowhere USA, but it's because they have a higher cost of living, okay? A lot of these folks have NO HOUSE LEFT, it's not just a temporary power outage. For those who still have a structure standing there's raw sewage, gasoline, debris filling their basements. It's going to take months (and for some longer) to clear out the mess safely and provided even temporary shelter for tens of thousands. So a few native New Yorkers and Jersey natives got together for a concert to raise cash to help the Red Cross help their neighbors. Hang up your critics' pencils and text RED CROSS to 90999, or give blood. There but for the grace of whatever deity you choose go you or I.

[RealiteBites]

4. No house left - the difference between the people affected in the tri-state area and the Gulf region is that those people probably have insurance. Which covers displacement costs.

I'm not saying that people haven't been adversely affected - I'm just saying that I have yet to hear an explanation for why there's a need for donated money for the people affected ... over those who are homeless and without the most basic resources ALL THE TIME.

I guess what I'm saying is that while I'm sure the fallout from hurricane Sandy has been an inconvenience for many, and upending for some - at least it's TEMPORARY.

And nobody's yet explained how money will help make this easier.

Or why THESE people deserve money over somebody else who might be even MORE needy.


Like while I do have compassion for the people affected ... nevertheless I have to say that on the grand scale of hardship the country/world over - it seems like such a 1st World problem to be holding a telethon for the upper-middle (working) class ...

[julesarcher1]

REALITEBITES replies:

Like while I do have compassion for the people affected ...

______

No you don't. It's obvious you have no clue about compassion for others. Even still, someday you'll find yourself in need of help and somebody will reach out their hand to help you. It's not a matter of deserving help, it's a matter of needing help.

[RealiteBites]

This is super un-pc, and Cydygitt is guaranteed to post some sort of disgusting vitriol in response ...

BUT - NYC/NJ is very high income for the most part ... the arguments the telethon used to make appeals for donations consisted of:

1. Saying that people without power were in need - I mean like yeah, but that's including people like Chelsea Clinton with her $4mil apartment ... clearly if somebody with endless amounts of power and connections can't get the electricity going again, then it's an infrastructure issue (PS I really like Chelsea by the way - that wasn't intended in any way as a dig at her ... I think she's GREAT!)

2. Saying that people are without gas were in need - again, infrastructure problem

3. Saying that first responders were hard hit - well, they make a relatively high income compared to the average person ... much more than the people who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.


I think you really have to pick and choose your charities, and there's teachers on websites like Donor's Choose who are asking for money to be able to buy the most basic supplies like crayons for kids in the inner city where budget cuts have hit art and music programs hard.

If I thought money was the issue with the NYC/NJ problems, I think I'd be more open to donating - but it just sounds like the system isn't really in place to deal with the aftermath of hurricanes since they're relatively rare in this area. If they're short of $, the remedy's probably to not re-elect Chris Christie ... jmo

[RealiteBites]

PS Oh and this is going to REALLY get cydygitt2 wound up, but the coverage on the news seems so over-the-top to what a natural disaster of this extent (not as dramatic as Katrina) would normally get - just because all the news headquarters are in NYC.

What's happening with the election? I think it's a little irresponsible for them to be reporting on something so in-the-moment when the leader of the free world is about to be picked in a couple of days ... I wish they'd do a better job if keeping things in perspective about what REALLY matters to the most number of people in the big picture in the long-run ...

[democracy8]

RealiteBites: You have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about--NONE!

[matt6052]

They should have waited a few weeks to better prepare. Springsteen has appeared at rallies for both Obama this year and Kerry in the closing day so of 2004, so his presence right now is not entirely a-political. I didn't see the event, but I'd guess with that line-up it would be very difficult to make it through the evening without partisanship.

I did see a Red Cross PSA with Barack Obama yesterday too, which is unusual. It's more common for a President to ask a pair of former Presidents to team together on appeals for aid.

[lovesapplepie]

Agreed.. people don't really know how dire it still is..

The MSM has not fully reported how bad it is here in Hoboken because they don't want Obama to look bad before the election.

Obama came here and took a walk along the shore.. Did NJ get serious cash for it? Because FEMA and the Red Cross has fallen through..

[pedalit]

early on i caught "under the boardwalk" sung by steven tyler and jimmy fallon, and their mic was dead, and when it came back on it sounded like bad karaoke..well even worse. the band and billy joel were totally out of tune too! i was thinking did they even do a sound check? monitors not working? threw this all together 5 minutes before air? had to surf away...but when i came back later, the boss had things very much back on track

[pedalit]

cydygitt2
i'm sorry, i can't quite make out your complete post due to that halo glow around your head blinding me. i hope your pride and assumption made you feel better. Obviously, you needed it.

[democracy8]

pedalit: cydygitt2 obviously has concern for her fellow Americans and some perspective on the bigger picture while it's rather obvious that you don't.