Hogzilla

It went whole hog (so to speak) with a Hogzilla theme for its fall festival, including a parade featuring a Hogzilla princess, children in pink pig outfits and a float carrying a Hogzilla replica. From Argentina to Malaysia to The United States, broadcasters around the world capitalized on the big event (see Live 8 broadcasters). Alapaha, however, has accepted the legend of this odd hog into its community. ABC drew criticism when they broadcast The Who's performance of "Who Are You?" when they did not censor the lyric "who the fuck are you?" when they aired a highlights special in the evening of 2 July 2005 after Live 8 had ended. Since the discovery of Hogzilla, the small town of Alapaha, Georgia, which lies about 180 miles south of Atlanta, has seen an insurgence of pop culture interest in their town that might be compared to the hype created by other purported anomalies of nature such as Bigfoot. The following weekend, MTV broadcast six hours of a commercial-free special devoted to Live 8 in response to the heavy criticism. Nancy Donnelly, the producer of the National Geographic documentary, stated that the scientists who made the measurements had already accounted for "shrinkage" when they stated their estimates. In fact, very few of Live 8's songs were played in full by MTV and almost none of them were broadcast live, leading some to conclude that MTV may have covered the event but they did not broadcast it.

“Have you ever seen a raisin after it was a grape?”. Criticism was also aimed at MTV for focusing too much on ill-informed VJs and not enough on the music. "As with any organic being after death, tissues will decompose and the body will atrophy, making actual measurements change over time,” Holyoak said. Criticism was also drawn from viewers of MTV (and possibly other networks), in which the broadcaster cut to commercials while bands were still performing, specifically Pink Floyd and The Who. Holyoak said that Hogzilla weighed 1,000 pounds (400kg) when he weighed it on his farm scales, and that he personally measured the hog's length at 12 feet (4 meters) while it dangled by the straps from a backhoe. In the United States, MTV censored swear words from the performances it broadcast, except for the word "bullshit" as part of the lyrics to Pink Floyd's "Money". Ken Holyoak, the man upon whose farm the boar was shot and killed, has disputed the findings made by the National Geographic documentary. When Green Day's performance in Berlin was broadcast to the other venues, it was aired uncensored.

National Geographic theorized that he had been stealing protein-rich fishfood from a nearby fish farm, which may explain his immense size. Several artists got their performances cut to one or two songs, including Bon Jovi and Dido. Hogzilla was half domestic and half wild, probably born from a wild boar father and domestic pig mother. Although the concerts in London and Philadelphia had the biggest stars lining up, both concerts are currently not available in their original, full version. Imre and Count Nicholaus Zrínyi Jr., are recorded to have been killed by giant boars, although many historians believe that assassination was a more likely explanation for their deaths. Midge Ure's "I find it amazing, that Bob can do his fantastic thing and then fucking turn this on for me" also remains from the Edinburgh concert. Two medieval Hungarian aristocrats, Prince St. Robbie Williams' "Hyde Park, you look fucking beautiful tonight" remains.

Literally bear-sized specimens have been filmed and hunted in some places in Eastern Europe, especially Transylvania and Hungary. In the official DVD release of the concerts, Madonna's cursing was not included and only half of Snoop Dogg's performance was made available. Wild boars sometimes do grow gigantic as they age. Robbie Williams and Razorlight also swore during their performances, but Williams' was after the watershed. . The BBC apologised [17] for an instance when Madonna asked the audience "are you fucking ready, London?", and for Snoop Dogg's perfomance which contained the use of swear words without censorship. According to the examiners, Hogzilla's tusks measured nearly 46 cm (18 inches), and nearly 41 cm (16 inches), which was a new record for North America. Despite the show being broadcast before the watershed in many countries, there was no attempt at censorship.

Hogzilla was part domestic and part wild boar. The Daily Mail commented on the event for running two hours late, with a frontpage headline reading 'Live L8'. In March 2005, these scientists confirmed that Hogzilla actually weighed 800 pounds (360 kg) and was between 7.5 and 8 feet (2.25 and 2.4 meters) long, diminishing the validity of the previous claim. The "Hey Jude" finale ended up finishing at around midnight after George Michael dueted with Paul McCartney. Its remains were exhumed in early 2005 and studied by scientists from the National Geographic for a documentary. The early ending would have meant fans missing out on bands including The Who and Pink Floyd. It was alleged to be 12 feet (3.6 meters) long and to weigh 1,000 pounds (450 kg). This panic was due to the chance of London being gridlocked if people missed their train.

Hogzilla is a wild hog shot in Alapaha, Georgia on 17 June 2004 by Chris Griffin on Ken Holyoak's farm and hunting reserve. She then held a meeting and it was decided that the show would go on. Backstage crew had to run into the Golden Circle to find the minister for outdoor events. There was a large panic backstage, as revealed on the BBC 1 documentary. The show ran much later after Bob Geldof performed and many of the acts decided to give speeches.

Due to the need to send them a few weeks early, the tickets had the original 8pm finishing time printed on them. The show was originaly scheduled to end at around 8:00pm, but due to new artists being added, the planned finishing time was extended to 9:30pm. One of Quo's reasons for wanting to appear stemmed from their inability to remember the first gig due to drink and drugs. Quo's response was that there wasn't a lot of drugs, there were "fucking shed-loads".

There was also the rumour that the reason space on the show wasn't made was partially down to Geldof's anger at Quo's reference to there being "a lot of drugs" at Live Aid in 1985. Quo had reportedly asked for "four fucking minutes". Naming their petition "No Quo, No Show", it became an unsuccessful success. The Daily Mirror's petition was backed by thousands though eventually nothing came about.

This was not granted, sparking a fury amongst Quo fans who had seen the band open Live Aid explosively (with the aptly titled "Rockin' All Over The World") 20 years ago. Originally offered a 6pm slot, the Quo had long since organized commitments in Ireland, therefore they requested an earlier slot. In the weeks leading up to the extravaganza, The Daily Mirror began a petition, garnering support for British rock legends Status Quo. None of the items appeared to have been fairly-traded, sweatshop-free or environmentally friendly.

While they received no monetary compensation, some were given gift bags containing lavish gifts and designer goodies - including Gibson guitars and Hugo Boss suits - valued at approximately $3000 (see "Fancy gifts at odds with cause?" The Philadelphia Inquirer). More criticism has been leveled at some of the performers based on what they took home for participating in the Philadelphia concert. Indeed, public figures and media have since called on the artists and their record labels to donate the profits of increased sales that followed appearance at the event (see "...Live 8 profits plea" BBC article, for example). Live 8, it is important to note, is not a charity event.

Damon Albarn also suggested that the performers' record labels should pay "a tariff" as the accompanying publicity would increase future record sales and hence their profits. Counter-critics, however, point out that these celebrities are still not rich enough to be able to cancel the debts of nations. Many believed that it was hypocrisy that many of the performing artists had tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars of "spare cash" lying in their bank accounts whilst wanting to "Make Poverty History". For example, some fans and music critics feel that some of the lineups, such as that in Barrie, are not only largely ethnically homogeneous but not likely to connect with, or speak to, younger fans ("Live 8 organizer dismisses criticism..." Globe and Mail article).

Geldof is criticised for using Africa as "a catwalk" which is more about reviving the careers of ageing rock stars than about helping the poor in Africa. [16]. Indeed, Geldof appears not to be interested in Africa's strengths, only in an Africa on its knees. I am coming, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Live 8 is as much to do with Geldof showing off his ability to push around presidents and prime ministers as with pointing out the potential of Africa.

However, some criticisms are directed at Geldof himself and the motives for Live 8:. Some of these criticisms are not specific to Live 8 but representative of a particular point of view concerning western attitudes towards Africa. As with many charity events before it, Live 8 has come in for some criticism in the media. [15].

They still believe us to be like children that they must save, as if we don't realize ourselves what the source of our problems is. Who here [in Africa] wants a concert against poverty when an African is born, lives and dies without ever being able to vote freely? But the truth is that it was not for us, for Africa, that the musicians at Live 8 were singing; it was to amuse the crowds and to clear their own consciences, and whether they realized it or not, to reinforce dictatorships. A Cameroonian op-ed appearing in the New York Times stated:. The concert was also been criticized by African intellectuals for not addressing issues such as corruption and governance.

Incidentally, artist 50 Cent cancelled his appearance due to a clash with his acting commitment for the upcoming film Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. [14]. Bob Geldof has been accused of compounding the original error by announcing an entirely African line-up ("Africa Calling") at a concert to be held at the Eden Project in Cornwall on the same day as the main Live 8 concerts. Bob Geldof originally said that this was because he had aimed for the biggest-selling, most popular artists to ensure a large television audience; but critics noted that even if this was acceptable as the sole criterion for inclusion, some of the minor white artists signed up were substantially less well-known than some major African artists.

However, Youssou N'Dour and Dave Matthews of Dave Matthews Band, remained the only African-born artists signed to perform at the main concerts. A Live 8 spokesman said that a number of black performers had been approached to participate and that the event would feature a "large urban element", and pointed to the number of artists of African descent like Ms Dynamite. Live 8 will make a difference – it's already created a debate that we're all involved in. In some way that's been addressed and that's really good..

I have said certain things in relation to the density of African performers.. He told a reporter on 21 June:. Albarn is now reportedly happy about Live 8 now that they have addressed his criticism. [13] Stevie Wonder, Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z and Kanye West also turned up at Philadelphia to perform while Will Smith, Don Cheadle, Black Ice, Kami, and Chris Tucker made appearances as presenters.

So why is the bill so damn Anglo-Saxon?". "More than ever, black culture is an integral part of society. Damon Albarn re-iterated this criticism, saying that "This country [the UK] is incredibly diverse," he said. London-based group Black Information Link described the list of performers at the Hyde Park event as "hideously white" [12], noting that Mariah Carey, Ms Dynamite and Snoop Dogg are the only non-white performers scheduled to perform at the event.

These artists did not sing the same songs but still performed at both events:. Songs are listed with their Live Aid performers, with the artists who sang the songs at Live 8 (if different) in brackets:. These songs were sang at both Live Aid and Live 8 (although some not by their original artists). Geldof was immediately criticised by Lothian and Borders Police chief constable Ian Dickenson for encouraging such a large crowd to assemble in Edinburgh with such little notice and no consultation with local authorities about how to accommodate so many people.

On June 1, Bob Geldof called for a million people to descend upon Edinburgh in a "Long Walk to Justice", on July 6, the first day of the G8 summit at Gleneagles, in a separate protest to the one held on the 2nd [11]. I also want to pay tribute to the organizers of the march who have achieved their objectives through meticulous planning and cooperation. I want to pay tribute to the crowd of 225,000 who came and cooperated with the police to make this a successful and memorable occasion. They raised applause from the marchers by stopping to bow before Starbucks and McDonald's while chanting "Two, four, six, eight, we really must accumulate." .

A group at the head of the procession through the city were dressed in business suits. Marchers were addressed by celebrities, political and religious leaders who supported the reduction of world poverty. The marchers had been asked to wear white to make a symbolic ring of white through the city, matching the Make Poverty History white wrist band. An estimated total of 225,000 people took part, making it the largest ever protest in the Scottish capital.

This protest had been organised by the Make Poverty History group and local authorities as part of a series of events in Edinburgh commemorating the G8 conference, and had been planned for months before the announcement of Live 8. On July 2, the same day as the Live 8 concerts, a rally and protest march was held in central Edinburgh, near the Gleneagles venue for the G8 conference later that week. [10]. In fact, the 35,000 free tickets for the Canadian show were all distributed in just 20 minutes on 23 June 2005, Ticketmaster reported.

Similar scalper situations arose for the Edinburgh and Canadian shows, and eBay halted sales of those tickets as well. Others have argued, though, that selling the tickets would not have done any harm to the people Live 8 is supposed to be helping and it would have allowed those who missed the random selection a chance to go to the concert. It was later announced that eBay, under pressure from the British government, the public, as well as Geldof himself, would withdraw all auctions of the tickets. Many people, angered by others seemingly using Live 8 to make money, placed fake bids for millions of pounds for such auctions in an attempt to force the sellers to take them off sale.

They also promised to make a donation to Live 8 that would be "at least equal to any fees" they would be making for such sales. Initially, eBay defended their decision to allow the auctions to go ahead, stating that there were no laws against their sale. This was heavily criticised by the organisers of the event, including Bob Geldof. Some lucky people who won tickets immediately placed them for sale on the Internet auction site eBay, with the intention of making a profit.

Funds raised beyond the £1.6m "will go to pay for the costs of Live 8, as it is a free event", according to the Live 8 website. The £1.6m donation will act as a quid pro quo. This event was cancelled in 2005 to make way for Live 8. The Prince's Trust usually host the Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park in July.

The first £1.6m raised is to be given to the Prince's Trust, who in turn will donate to the Help A London Child charity. Thus texters had a roughly one-in-28 chance of winning a pair of tickets. Over two million texts were sent during the competition, raising £3 million. Winners were drawn at random from those correctly answering the question.

Entry involved sending the answer to a multiple choice question via a text message costing £1.50. Although the concerts were free, 66,500 pairs of tickets for the Hyde Park concert were allocated from the 13 June 2005 to 15 June 2005, to winners of a mobile phone text message competition that began on Monday, 6 June 2005. Millions of paper petitions and emails have already been submitted. Named the "Live 8 List", this can be reached via the Live8 List page.

An enormous petition with (presently) over 38 million names is available to be signed on the Internet. The event coincided with the 2005 G8 summit at the Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, Scotland, and the idea behind it was to overwhelm the eight politicans attending with the amount of public support for the principles of the Make Poverty History campaign. The Live 8 concert was not a fundraising event of any kind; rather, the organisers were hoping that it would spur people's political interest. The Live Aid concert, held in 1985, was a massive fundraising effort which accumulated approximately £79 million, which was sent to the world's poorest countries in aid.

We don't want your money, we want your voice. It featured further performances from some of the artists from the other concerts, and was the closest of the eleven to the actual location of the G8 summit. The final event was held in Edinburgh on 6 July 2005 and went by the name Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push. The band's last show was at Earls Court in London on June 17, 1981.

Included in the line-up were Pink Floyd playing for the first time together in over 24 years. Guest presenters, ranging from sporting stars to comedians, also introduced acts. Special guests appeared throughout the concerts, with Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Bill Gates making a speech at the London show and Nelson Mandela appearing in the South African venue. Some of these were also shown to other venues.

Bob Geldof was at the event in Hyde Park, London and made numerous appearances on stage, including a performance of "I Don't Like Mondays". This was to represent the death of a child every three seconds, due to poverty. During the opening of the Philadelphia concert, Will Smith led the combined audiences of London, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Barrie (outside Toronto) in a synchronised finger click. The first to begin was held at the Makuhari Messe in Japan, with Rize being the first of all the Live 8 performers.

There were ten concerts held on 2 July 2005, most of them simultaneously. . It was released almost a year to the day after the release of the DVD of Live Aid on November 8, 2004. An official Live 8 DVD set was released on 7 November 2005 internationally, 8 November 2005 in the United States.

However, it is important to note that Live 8, unlike Live Aid, wasn't intended to raise money, but awareness and political pressure. Indeed, as some of the performers involved had been out of the public eye, some may have perceived the concert as a way of getting back "into the spotlight". Other critics say that millionaire rock stars would make greater contribution by donating parts of their personal fortunes. eBay later removed the tickets, after some controversy.

Some ticket holders placed their tickets on the auction site eBay, creating an uproar which included Geldof demanding that the company remove the auctions, even encouraging hackers to attack eBay. Names from the list also appeared on the giant televisions at each concert during the broadcast. This is a list of names compiled from around the world of people who have voiced support of the Live 8 mission to "Make Poverty History" www.live8list.com. Organizers of Live 8 presented the "Live 8 List" to the world leaders at the G8 summit.

Many of the Live 8 backers were also involved in the largely forgotten NetAid concerts. These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison." [4]. Geldof said "This is not Live Aid 2. However Geldof and co-organiser Midge Ure have since explicitly said they don't think of the event as the same as Live Aid.

[2] [3]) referred to the event as Live Aid 2. Prior to the official announcement of the event many news sources (see e.g. Many former Live Aid acts offered their services to the cause. Live Aid and Band Aid organizer Bob Geldof announced the event on 31 May 2005.

[1]. More than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks. On 7 July the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to Africa from US$25 to US$50 billion by the year 2010. Ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July.

Running parallel with the UK's Make Poverty History campaign, the shows planned to pressure world leaders to drop the debt of the world's poorest nations, increase and improve aid, and negotiate fairer trade rules in the interest of poorer countries. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and Summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland from July 6-8, 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Live 8 was a series of concerts that took place in July 2005, in the G8 nations and South Africa. U2.

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (played with Bryan Ferry in 1985, and with Pink Floyd in 2005). Paul McCartney. Neil Young. Madonna.

George Michael. Elton John. DMC (performed as part of Run DMC at Live Aid). "Won't Get Fooled Again" - The Who.

"We Will Rock You" - Queen (Robbie Williams). "Vienna" - Ultravox (Midge Ure). "Tears Are Not Enough" - Bryan Adams. "Save A Prayer" - Duran Duran.

"Rat Trap" - Boomtown Rats (Bob Geldof). "I Don't Like Mondays" - Boomtown Rats (Bob Geldof). "Good Vibrations" - The Beach Boys (Brian Wilson). "Every Breath You Take" - Sting and Phil Collins (Sting).

"Driven To Tears" - Sting. 8 November 2005: Official Live 8 DVD released in North America. 7 November 2005: Official Live 8 DVD released internationally. 25 October 2005: Official Live 8 Africa Calling at the Eden Project DVD released.

8 July 2005: Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof thanks the G8 for meeting the Live 8 goal. Leaders pledge to increase aid to developing countries by US$50 billion overall by 2010, including an increase of US$25 billion in aid for Africa. 8 July 2005: The G8 summit ends. 6 July 2005: Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push concert in Edinburgh takes place.

3 July 2005: Sail 8 flops. Main concerts start. 2 July 2005: The march against poverty in Edinburgh starts and continues mostly peacefully, with an estimate of 200,000 people involved with the march. 2 July 2005: AOL Music begins broadcasting streams from each city live and on-demand at Aolmusic.com[9].

28 June 2005: ABC say they will broadcast a two-hour highlights event at 8pm ET on 2 July in prime time. Acts include Pet Shop Boys, The Red Elvises and Bravo. 27 June 2005: Live 8 Russia, in Moscow's Red Square, announced. Acts in Japan concert include Björk, Good Charlotte, while acts in Johannesburg concert include African stars such as 4Peace Ensemble and Oumou Sangare.

24 June 2005: Live 8 Japan and South Africa announced. 23 June 2005: All 35,000 tickets for Canadian show are taken within 20 minutes of being made available online [8]. Country Music Television and VH1 Classic will show highlights on July 3 in favor of their viewer's genres. 22 June 2005: In the United States, MTV, MTV2, mtvU, and VH1 all confirm that they will broadcast Live 8 starting at Noon ET.

Albarn's band Blur was originally a part of the Live 8 line-up, but withdrew after complaining of the event being too "Anglo-Saxon". Live 8 will make a difference - it's already created a debate that we're all involved in." [7]. In some way that's been addressed and that's really good.. He told a reporter: "I have said certain things in relation to the density of African performers..

21 June 2005: Damon Albarn, who recently criticised Live 8 for the lack of African artists, is now reportedly happy about Live 8 now that they have addressed his criticism. The event will be hosted by comedians Dan Aykroyd and Tom Green. Acts include Bryan Adams, Barenaked Ladies, and more. 21 June 2005: "Live 8 Canada" announced.

17 June 2005: The LIVE 8 List, a petition to the G8 leaders, is launched. 16 June 2005: Geldof announces three more concerts for 2 July, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Makuhari, Japan, and Toronto/Barrie, Canada. [6]. Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour will host the event, which will also feature performances by African performers Maryam Mursal, Salif Keita and Thomas Mapfumo.

The event is to be held in Cornwall, southwest England, on 2 July. 15 June 2005: It is announced that Peter Gabriel will organize a sixth simultaneous Live 8 concert dubbed "Africa Calling" featuring all African artists, to counter criticisms that most performers announced to date are white. 14 June 2005: eBay announces that they will block the selling-on of tickets after Geldof calls on the public to rally against the internet auction site. 11 June 2005: G8 finance ministers agree to cancel the debt owed by 18 of the poorest countries.

7 June 2005: Midge Ure announces a concert to be held in Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on 6 July as the climax to the proposed rally. 1.5 million text messages are received in the first day. 6 June 2005: Text lottery launched in the UK for tickets for the London concert. [5] He also supported Geldof's call for a peaceful protest rally in Scotland.

He estimates that this will save the organisers £500,000. 3 June 2005: British Chancellor Gordon Brown announces that VAT will be waived on the cost of the London concert. Geldof calls for a coinciding march on Edinburgh to protest poverty, "What's better - two days of work? Two days of geometry? Or participating in something you will remember all your life," he says. 31 May 2005: Official announcement of Live 8 concerts by Bob Geldof.