Sting & Springsteen lead all-star telethon

Sting and Bruce Springsteen provided the performance highlights during the Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together telethon on Friday night (02Nov12).

Sting wowed with an acoustic rendition of The Police hit Message in a Bottle, while Springsteen & the E Street Band closed the show with Land of Hope & Dreams.

Christina Aguilera got the telethon off to an emotional start with a message to those struggling in Staten Island, New York.

She said, "I was born in Staten Island. Four days ago Hurricane Sandy came through and devastated it, as it did most of the eastern seaboard.

"We've come together tonight to tell every single person who's suffering that we are here for you. We will do whatever we can to help. We will not leave anyone behind because every single one of you matters."

The pop star then sang her powerful ballad Beautiful.

The hour-long benefit, which was interspersed with news footage of the superstorm and its aftermath, also featured heartfelt and rousing performances from Mary J. Blige, Aerosmith, Billy Joel and Jon Bon Jovi, who aired footage of the carnage he witnessed during a recent trip back to his native New Jersey.

Bon Jovi jetted home from London for the telethon after organiser Matt Lauer phoned and asked him to help.

There was also a musical tribute to the New Jersey victims of Sandy - comedian Jimmy Fallon joined Springsteen, Steven Tyler and Joel for a rendition of The Drifters' Under The Boardwalk, which the impromptu supergroup dedicated to the memory of the Jersey Shore, which was washed away in the storm.

Ironically, many of the areas left devastated by the disaster were still without power as the telethon aired on Friday night (02Nov12) - and locals were unable to watch the benefit staged on their behalf.

Among the non-musicians who took part in the telethon were actress/comedienne Tina Fey, Kevin Bacon, Whoopi Goldberg and Danny DeVito, who took a moment to remember those struggling with the aftermath of Sandy in his native Asbury Park, New Jersey.

He said, "This catastrophe has effected everyone on the planet. The whole world is watching, the whole world cares."

Viewers were urged to donate cash to the American Red Cross - the organization fronting the relief effort - throughout the telethon.