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Media Moguls Organize All-Star Benefit Concert
By JESSE McKINLEY

Days after the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, three New York
media moguls arrived at a plan to throw their weight behind a spectacular
benefit that would raise tens of millions of dollars and help lift the
city's spirits.

It fell to Harvey Weinstein, the co- chairman of Miramax Films, to give the
idea its first big push by approaching Sir Paul McCartney. He cajoled Sir
Paul to sit with him in the first-class cabin of a New York-to- London
red-eye on Sept. 23.

By the time the flight was passing near Greenland, Sir Paul had agreed to
headline "The Concert for New York City," a five-hour extravaganza scheduled
for tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. Along with Mr. Weinstein, the
other main movers behind the event are John Sykes, president of the VH1
cable network, which will telecast the show, and James L. Dolan, the
president of Cablevision, which owns the Garden. Each has diverted much of
his company's recent day-to-day operations toward the benefit.

The concert is expected to raise tens of millions of dollars through
donations, future album and DVD sales and international and network
licensing  enough money to make it one of the most profitable benefit
events ever, alongside last month's postattack telethon, which raised $150
million in pledges, and Live Aid, the 14-hour benefit in 1985 that netted
some $75 million for worldwide hunger relief.

With top tickets at the Garden going for $10,000, the concert is boasting
the type of musical lineup usually reserved for the daydreams of rock fans,
with performances by Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, the Who, and
Bono and the Edge from U2, among many others. A younger generation will be
served by appearances of rhythm-and-blues and rap superstars like Jay-Z and
Destiny's Child, while Hollywood will be represented by a stream of
celebrities, as well as by special short films made by Spike Lee, Martin
Scorsese and Woody Allen. Presiding over it all will be Sir Paul, whose
finale will include a trio of Beatles songs and a new single, the proceeds
of which will also benefit the relief effort.

"Harvey basically got on a plane with Paul McCartney," Mr. Dolan said, "and
wouldn't let him off the plane until Paul said yes."

That was but one illustration of how some of New York's media heavyweights,
charged with a sense of civic duty, have been wielding their enormous
resources  their jets and limos, their publicity departments, and perhaps
most important, their access to marquee talent  to do their part for the
relief effort.

It was Mr. Dolan, who is also the chairman of Madison Square Garden, who
could simply turn over the arena to the concert, wedging the event into the
Garden's crammed schedule and making sure it got the necessary manpower.

Mr. Sykes, meanwhile, turned over his network for the evening, offering
hours of commercial-free prime time. He also had ready access to stars like
Bon Jovi and Billy Joel, both of whom Mr. Sykes called early on. "I don't
think there was anyone who turned us down," Mr. Sykes said. "Most people
just said, `I don't care how far I have to travel, I'll do whatever I can to
be there.' "

And it was Mr. Weinstein, a New Yorker whose show business connections are
as deep as any in Hollywood, who had ready access to the rarefied world of
A-list talent  Gwyneth Paltrow, Jim Carrey, Mike Myers  whose denizens
quickly agreed to be part of the event.

But Mr. Weinstein's 20-year friendship with Sir Paul was the most important.

"After Paul agreed," Mr. Weinstein said, "there was a dam burst."

The resulting flood continued into this week as organizers continued to book
performers like Mr. Bowie and Jay-Z. The logistics for planning an event
like this one are daunting. Unlike organizing the recording industry's
Grammy Awards, for instance, which typically takes a week or more to equip
technically, setting up the "Concert for New York City" is being
accomplished in little more than two days, with 200 workers who erected the
stage over the ice rink that was being used for a Rangers hockey game on
Wednesday night. (To the chagrin of organizers, the game went into
overtime.)

AOL Time Warner, which joined the concert as a producing partner, asked
6,000 of its customer-service representatives to stand by for donations
being called in by television viewers. Corporate jets have been in almost
constant motion during the last several days, bringing in celebrities from
around the world; Mr. Clapton, for example, is to fly in tonight on a
Cablevision jet after completing a concert in Mexico City.

"We're running the biggest private air force in America," Mr. Weinstein
said.

Once the concert begins, 18 musical acts and 21 other events are planned, a
lineup requiring 850 staff members backstage. Seven of the more exclusive
New York hotels are donating hundreds of suites, and 60 limousines and
private cars have been put on call to transport performers to and from the
Garden. Ian Schrager, a friend of Mr. Weinstein, is one of the hoteliers
involved.

Not surprisingly, a larger-than- normal security presence is planned, though
Garden officials will not comment on specifics.

Concert revenue will be handled by the Robin Hood Relief Fund, which will
distribute it to various relief charities. In addition, 5,000 of the best
seats in the house, in the center of the arena, are being given to rescue
workers.

Performances will begin with an all-star version of Mr. Bowie's "Heroes" at
7 p.m. They aren't expected to end before midnight.

The concert is also expected to have plenty of odd, once-in-a-lifetime
celebrity pairings usually seen only at award ceremonies. John Cusack will
introduce the Who. Halle Berry will introduce Spike Lee. Harrison Ford will
introduce Eric Clapton. And so on. Plenty of other performers were turned
away for fear of making the show too long.

While millions of dollars in donations are expected, the three corporate
planners said the purpose of the event is to not only raise money but to
show that New York is alive and kicking.

Said Mr. Sykes, "This will be a loud, loud rock concert."

        -Brian in Atlanta
         The Who This Month!
        http://members.home.net/cadyb/who.htm
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