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Live 8: The Official Book Here are the Brad mentions from Live 8: The Official Book Brad Pitt is now in the wings too. 'Is there an autocue?' He obviously hadn't been talking to Bill Gates. It's down there, I told him. 'Is that it? Down there. It's tiny. Isn't there a big one out there?' he said, grinning boyishly and pointing towards the crowd in the hope that there would be one of those transparent prompter screens that politicians use so that they can read their speeches and look, apparently, straight into the eyes of their audience. 'Nope. That's it.' 'Are you sure?' 'Come on,' said his make-up lady. 'I'll help you learn it.' And off they went. ---------- It was time for Brad Pitt to go on stage. He was to introduce Annie Lennox. But first there was the small matter of his speech. 'Come on', said the make-up lady, 'I know it as well as you do now. I'll say it with you from back here.' He stepped forward. Even for a Hollywood star 200,000 upturned faces can be intimidating. For many performers it is the pre-stage worry which ensures that they give their best when the moment comes. So it was for Brad Pitt. All those squats and breathing exercises worked. He gave what many in the crowd thought was the best speech of the day. 'Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold,' he told the crowd. And he was all those things as he spoke. 'Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have. 'Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life. Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold.' And he told a story, of how on his first trip to Africa he was startled by a young woman with Aids, a woman with children, who grabbed his arm and said 'Please bring us the drugs, please help'. He said: 'Let us be inspired by her, let us defend her, let us be fighters for her and the lives of her children whatever the cost, whatever it takes.' 'We, the fortunate, let us remind each other this is what we stand for, this is who we are.' The crowd cheered wildly as he left the stage and Annie Lennox arrived. ---------- 'You'd think my single lasting memory would be a quarter of a million people screaming at me to 'do The Dance' but it was actually Brad Pitt and Madonna telling me they were fans. I think it was because I looked so cool in slightly-too-short-for-me sweat pants and t-shirt. I like to make an effort for the biggest TV audience ever' - Ricky Gervais. |
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