Did this weekend’s Live 8 live up to the hype? Yes. RedEye took in all eight hours of MTV’s coverage (TiVo’d, of course, you think we’re crazy?) and watched the world’s most famous musicians come together for a cause even more important than themselves: raising awareness of extreme poverty in Africa. Despite some awkward editing, MTV pulled off impressive coverage Saturday of the multimega concert on four continents, mixing in lots of real-time footage with taped performances and easy-to-understand lessons on the G-8 and the crisis in Africa. If you missed it, you can check out info and performances at www.one.org and live8live.com. So, who rose to the top of the “greatest concert ever?”
BEST ANTHEMS
Green Day’s “American Idiot” and U2’s “Beautiful Day”
BEST COLLABORATION
Jay-Z and Linkin Park on “Numb/Encore”
LAMEST COLLABORATION
U2 and Paul McCartney on “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”
MOST UNSCRIPTED, HUMAN MOMENT
Madonna choking back tears and holding hands with an African survivor while singing “Like a Prayer”
BEST COVER OF A 1985 LIVE AID CLASSIC
Green Day singing Queen’s “We are the Champions”
BEST PERFORMANCE BY EX-HAIR BAND WITH BETTER HAIR NOW
Bon Jovi’s “Livin on a Prayer”
BEST CENSOR SLIP-UP
Snoop Dogg’s mother of all swears in “Who am I (What’s my Name)”
MOST BOOTYLICIOUS
Shakira singing “Whenever, Wherever” in Paris
COMMERCIAL THAT BECAME MOST ANNOYING AFTER EIGHT HOURS
The celebrity “snap” ad
BEST ACNE COMMERCIAL
Proactiv Solution ad, featuring P. Diddy testimonial
BEST REUNION
Pink Floyd
TRUEST LYRIC
“I have become comfortably numb.”
–Pink Floyd
