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Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder will be among the performers on the bill for the two-hour “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon tonight. The event will benefit victims of the Haiti earthquake by raising funds for a number of organisations, including Oxfam America, the Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Program, Partners in Health, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, and Yele Haiti.

The two-hour telethon, which will be hosted by George Clooney, will be shown on all the major US television networks and also on YouTube, M Hulu, MySpace, Fancast, AOL, MSN, Yahoo!, Bing.com, BET.com, MTV.com, CNN.com, VH1.com and Rhapsody.

Other artists due to appear include Madonna, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Beyonce, Kid Rock, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Coldplay, Bono, Jay-Z and Rihanna. There will also be appearances from Hollywood stars such as Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks and Will Smith.

The event is due to start at 8.00pm. Check the live stream at:
http://www.youtube.com/hopeforhaitinow

Donate to UNICEF’s Haiti Earthquake Children’s Appeal at:
http://www.unicef.org.uk/give/index.asp?page=32

If you haven’t been listening to the Motown 50 Podcast series, it’s well worth checking out. The series, which celebrates Motown’s 50th anniversary, features interviews with Motown producers, songwriters and singers, including Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, the Commodores and more.

You will hear fascinating stories and exclusive insights about the label and some of its finest songs and artists.

Those with iTunes can subscribe to the series by clicking here.

Head over to our Motown video section to watch some of the all time Motown greats perform, including The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

The concert will be broadcast the following day on the PBS network as part of the Performance At The White House series.

Wonder has previous connections to Obama as the singer’s songs “Higher Ground” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” became mainstays during the Democrat’s presidential campaign.  He also performed at Obama’s inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial last month.

Source: UPI News