Tag Archives: Hope For Haiti Now

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Song of the Day #614: ‘Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour) (Live)’ – Jay Z, Rihanna, Bono & The Edge

So far as I know, the only song performed at the Hope For Haiti Now telethon that was written specifically for the event was ‘Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour).’ It also boasted the star-studded night’s star-studdiest lineup, with Jay-Z joined by Rihanna and U2’s Bono and The Edge.

Now there’s a collection of people I never would have guessed I’d see on the same stage. Rihanna and Jay-Z have been frequent collaborators, of course, but U2 has never been mistaken for a rap act (despite The Edge’s spoken-word vocal performance of ‘Numb‘).

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Song of the Day #613: ‘Lift Me Up (Live)’ – Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera’s appearance at the Hope For Haiti Now telethon may well be my favorite of all. It’s a lovely song (from her upcoming album, I believe) and one of the most breathtaking vocal performances of the night.

I’ve always been impressed with Aguilera as a vocalist. She pretty much blows all of her peers away and does it seemingly without trying. It’s hard to believe such a big voice belongs to a skinny white girl.

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Song of the Day #612: ‘Hallelujah (Live)’ – Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris

The most unexpectedly great performance at the Hope For Haiti Now telethon came courtesy of Justin Timberlake. It’s not that I don’t expect a good performance by Timberlake — on the contrary, he’s very talented — but I’ve never seen him like this.

Here’s a guy whose biggest musical splash came on SNL with ‘Dick in a Box’ and ‘Motherlover.’ And when he’s not cracking jokes, his most enduring compositions are dance pop hits like ‘Cry Me a River’ and ‘SexyBack.’ All entertaining and well-crafted songs, but they ain’t ‘Hallelujah.’

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Song of the Day #611: ‘Hard Times (Live)’ – Mary J. Blige

My wife is a big Mary J. Blige fan but I’ve never really given her much thought (Blige, that is, not my wife). She strikes me as a run-of-the-mill R&B singer… and I readily admit that impression is based on my complete ignorance of her body of work.

But Blige really stood out for me at the Hope For Haiti Now telethon, performing the 19th century Stephen Foster classic ‘Hard Times’ (also known as ‘Hard Times Come Again No More’). This was no doubt the oldest song performed on a night when most artists reached into their own catalogs and Blige’s soulful rendition imbued it with the depth it has earned over a century and a half of sorrows.

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Song of the Day #610: ‘Driven to Tears (Live)’ – Sting

Back in January, George Clooney organized Hope For Haiti Now, a powerful telethon aimed at raising money for the impoverished country so devastated by the recent earthquake.

In order to do my small part in keeping this tragedy from being forgotten — and also to play some good music — this week I’ll highlight my five favorite performances from that night. And if you’d like to donate, the link above is still active.

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