Big stars will come together to help an even bigger cause tonight. The “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief” telethon that will air at 8 p.m. ET/PT on 30 networks worldwide including all the major American broadcast networks. (We’ll also be streaming it here on the AfterEllen.com blog.)
The two-hour telethon will raise funds to help the people of Haiti who were devastated by the earthquake last week. Superstar George Clooney has brought together more than 100 stars to be part of the show from the worlds of movies, TV, music, sports, politics and more including Bill Clinton, Madonna, Meryl Streep, Muhammad Ali and Anderson Cooper.
Other actors taking part include like Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Will Smith, Jon Stewart, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Robert Pattinson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Stiller and Chris Rock.
Top artists will also perform live for the event from New York , Los Angeles and London . Performing in New York will be Madonna, Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira and Sting. Los Angeles will host Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift and a group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. And London will feature Beyoncé, Coldplay, and a group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna.
Whoa, that’s like a Grammy Award show on steroids and human growth hormones.
The show and performances from “Hope for Haiti Now” will be available for pre-order on iTunes beginning today. AmazonMP3 and Rhapsody will also sell the music. All proceeds will go to the telethon charities.
The telethon will begin airing at 8 p.m. EST/PST on MTV, VH1, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, the CW, HBO, CMT, PBS, TNT, Showtime, Comedy Central, Bravo, E! Entertainment Network, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, Centric, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, Epix, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health, Planet Green. Canada ‘s CTV, CBC Television, Global Television, MuchMusic, BET International, CNN International, National Geographic and MTV Networks International.
Don’t get any of those channels? Watch it online right here at AfterEllen.com or on YouTube, Hulu, MySpace, Fancast, AOL, MSN.com, Yahoo, Bing.com, BET.com, CNN.com, MTV.com, VH1.com, and Rhapsody and on mobile via Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and FloTV. Or listen to it on SIRIUS XM Radio, MTV Radio Network and Westwood One.
All donations will benefit Oxfam America , Partners in Health, Red Cross, UNICEF, Yele Haiti , the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and United Nations World Food Programme.
This is Clooney’s second foray into telthons. He also organized the “America: A Tribute to Heroes” telethon which raised some $30 million for the United Way ‘s September 11 relief efforts. So, will you be watching. And, more important, do you think this can really help Haiti?
