Through the keyhole: a star-studded show
One World: Together at Home
Youtube, US broadcasters, BBC One
Undoubtedly the largest gathering – albeit virtually – of major recording artists since Live Aid in 1985, the One World: Together at Home concert was, however, designed to serve a different purpose. Whereas 35 years ago, Bob Geldof, the instigator of the ground-breaking fundraiser for the famine in Ethiopia, famously yelled at the global audience of millions, “There are people dying now, so give me the money”, Lady Gaga, the curator of this A-list roll-call for the fight against Covid-19, told viewers: “This is not a fundraiser, so put away your wallets.”
This concert was, she said, a thank you to the front-line workers risking their health for the sake of ours. She then kicked off the two-hour televised section – a lightly adapted UK version of which was shown last night on BBC One – of the eight-hour musical marathon at her piano. She gave a stirring performance of Nat King Cole’s Smile, which was swiftly followed by Stevie Wonder covering the late Bill Withers’s Lean on Me, and a waistcoated Paul Mccartney at his keyboard singing Lady Madonna – all within the first 15 minutes.
The preceding six-hour live-stream (available on Youtube) had already showcased performers you’d normally expect high up the bill on the main stage at Glastonbury. Jennifer Hudson, Common, The Killers, Hozier, Sheryl Crow, Jessie J, Annie Lennox and Liam Payne would all be headliners in any other circumstances.
The live-stream had, for the most part, a delightfully low-key, lo-fi bedroom quality, its performances intimate, often acoustic and not overly produced: Ellie Goulding mocked her own jumper; Niall Horan’s appearance confirmed that A-listers in lockdown, like us, don’t know what to do with their hair; Charlie Puth admitted he was living back in his parents’ house, and behind him was the evidence – he hadn’t even bothered to make his bed.
The main show lost a little in being more polished and produced, but made up for it in the delicious voyeurism on offer of peeking into megastar mansions. It was hard to focus on John Legend and Sam Smith’s virtual duet of Stand by Me when there was the former’s groaning awards shelf to peer at, while Elton John’s rousing performance of I’m Still Standing – introduced by David and Victoria Beckham – sparked the question of why he has a grand piano in his garden (it’s Elton, presumably there’s one in every room – and a spare).
Jennifer Lopez belted out Barbra Streisand’s People in her expansive backyard, festooned with fairy lights, while Lizzo gave an uncharacteristically but necessarily stripped-down contribution, a soulful rendition of A
Change Is Gonna Come, with a garden of bamboo behind her. Taylor Swift’s powerfully sombre Soon You’ll Be Better showcased excellent wallpaper.
Billie Eilish’s Sunny, sung in a grey tracksuit, with her brother Finneas on a Hammond organ, was notable for its sessions-style intimacy, more like the earlier performances of the day. And while the overall tone of the show was sincere, the Rolling Stones began their performance of You Can’t Always Get What You Want with a wry visual gag, playing on the idea that four septuagenarians, attempting to play together, virtually, would be more challenging than your worst family Zoom; they didn’t miss a beat.
In all, in spite of the inherent challenge of weaving real-life stories of front-line workers with showbiz performances and messages from celebrities, there were few jarring moments (Pierce Brosnan, quarantining in Hawaii and talking about shamanism being a notable exception). There were messages from Bill and Melinda Gates, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Beyoncé.
Earlier, New York and London mayors Bill de Blasio and Sadiq Khan and a host of world leaders urged support for the World Health Organisation. Coming four days after Donald Trump announced he was halting US funding for the WHO, intentionally or not, a political point was made.
Lady Gaga, John Legend, Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli all – remotely, together – doing Dion and Bocelli’s duet The Prayer, with Lang Lang at the piano, was, perhaps, an unexpected closer. But this final performance made another pertinent point: in fighting a virus that respects no borders – geographic, ethnic, economic, social – collaboration and co-operation is the only hope we have.