Live Earth (UK)

See Kevin Bacon be smarmy, watch Zach Braff rant about geography, witness wild-eyed Melissa Etheridge turn into a rapturous preacher and praise singer, be distracted by Cameron Diaz' short shorts, cringe with Gerri Halliwell at her Spice Girls joke ("I'll tell you what I really, really want…") and be completely unmoved by Ioan Gruffudd's words as he reads them off a piece of paper. Ouch. This reviewer was not impressed with IG's introduction. :roll: I didn't realize the Live Earth DVD had been released in December. http://entertainment.iafrica.com/music/la-*test*-('")/883420.htm

Well, it sounds like this reviewer does was not impressed with the Live Earth (and the concept of holding concerts for a cause) in general, not just with IG's introduction. :roll: I didn't know a Live Earth was to be released and, therefore, that it had been released in December.

Yes, learn something new everyday! Something like that event doesn't really require any "reviews"; it's about,as Frances said, a CAUSE,.....how does one REVIEW that?!!!

Well, what I meant is not that you can't review events like the Live Earth, you can. Personally, I think those events are boring (not because of lectures delivered but rather because of their sheer length), but I would never question their raison d'etre, because they are useful to spread messages about real problems.

They are certainly important in terms of spreading a message, but can also be boring and give the impression that their audience is being talked down to. One of our morning shows did a week long Green theme. One of the sections was on how you can recycle wrapping paper and bows. It was presented in a way that made it seem so innovative and novel. Well, my Mom and thereby her children have done that all our lives. We also saved old clothes in the Halloween box to use as costumes and learned to turn off the light switch when we left a room and recycle cans etc. And short showers are de rigeur in a house with ten people. We also celebrated Earth Day from Jr. High on, spending a day cleaning litter and planting plants. While I realize there are people out there who haven't got the message yet; it's when they become kind of self-righteous and make it sound like it's something people haven't thought about before that I get frustrated.

I thought Ioan just seemed a bit nervous out there in front of thousands of people, rather than unmoved. (scary not having a character to hide behind, for lots of actors! :roll:)

Well the critic was right, Ioan probably did read from a piece of paper. He hasn't ever spoken out about human rights or the problems with Earth and it's warming before that occasion; so I can't help but think the speech was just something thrown together so people could hear what they wanted to hear. If he truly cared, he'd have started talking about it all long before he was (most likely) approached to take part in Live Earth.

Stevie - Have to agree that reading might have been out of nerves and wanting to make sure he got it right. Seems like he did that in The Guerrilla Tapestry also. (Which if memory serves was about the environment and drawing attention to poverty and world problems) I know many actors who can't get off the page for a stage production, unless they've had a lot of rehearsal. Could be Ioan is one of those. Might be why he's more of a film than stage actor.

Well put it this way GG, Ioan is in no position to speak out against povertly like he apparently did in The Guerrilla Tapestry seeing as he is quite convinced that he isn't rich yet. How much more money does he need? It makes me angry that he thinks he can speak out against poverty when he also thinks he could earn even more money than he does currently. Plus, there was that article last year when he bragged on about his car and his plasma screens and swimming pool (that he said wasn't big enough) that was followed by people telling me that I have stuff he doesnt when I said that I'm sick of Hollywood people going on about their expensive things. He's clearly doing his bit for world poverty, isn't he. :roll:

I thought Ioan just seemed a bit nervous out there in front of thousands of people, rather than unmoved. (scary not having a character to hide behind, for lots of actors! :roll:) I have to agree with you, too. It is not true that actors are always be at ease in front of audiences when they can't hide behind a character, so reading could serve him to be sure to get it right. Well the critic was right, Ioan probably did read from a piece of paper. He hasn't ever spoken out about human rights or the problems with Earth and it's warming before that occasion; so I can't help but think the speech was just something thrown together so people could hear what they wanted to hear. If he truly cared, he'd have started talking about it all long before he was (most likely) approached to take part in Live Earth. Well, I guess that if a prerequisite to perform or present at the Live Earth was to have spoken out about human rights or Earth and the environment before that event, the list of participants would have been much shorter. :wink: I guess that being asked to participate in an event organized for a good cause may be an occasion for celebrities to learn about problems and if you let yourself be discouraged by your lack of experience or previous involvement, you would never commit yourself to any cause. Any activist for any cause started somewhere and had an occasion when s/he spoke out for the cause s/he fights for for the first time. Well put it this way GG, Ioan is in no position to speak out against povertly like he apparently did in The Guerrilla Tapestry seeing as he is quite convinced that he isn't rich yet. How much more money does he need? It makes me angry that he thinks he can speak out against poverty when he also thinks he could earn even more money than he does currently. Plus, there was that article last year when he bragged on about his car and his plasma screens and swimming pool (that he said wasn't big enough) that was followed by people telling me that I have stuff he doesnt when I said that I'm sick of Hollywood people going on about their expensive things. He's clearly doing his bit for world poverty, isn't he. :roll: Well, then we could debate about whether celebrities living very privileged lives should campaign to end poverty or for other causes they are not necessarily directly touched by. The case of a singer - Bono Vox - I like very much springs to my mind... He campaigns to end poverty and lobbies government to donate a percentage of their budget to ending poverty, but he is, indeed, a very rich man presiding over an investment empire and whose band - U2 - moved its music publishing company to The Netherlands - where musicians' royalty income is generally untaxed - in June 2006, just six months after Ireland ended an exemption on musicians' royalty income.

Agreed Frances. Everyone has to start somewhere and ten years ago when they were Ioan's age or even a little older: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Bono were not the first names that came to mind when I thought about benevolent celebrities. They were involved in building a career. Ioan has participated in some charity events. Some perhaps more personal and not well advertised, but I'm sure that will increase. My impression was that he was proud of and grateful for the things he earned and in my book; there is nothing wrong with that. It's not uncommon for people to talk about what is new and exciting for them, especially if asked. Ioan's home was new and from his description, it's not a mansion, just a nice house in a decent neighborhood. Many of the above named celebs do have multiple and much larger homes and they are also mentioned in articles about them. Kaitlyn, just give Ioan a little time, if his career continues in an upward path, he will be asked to contribute more time and money and likely he will that for the charities that are close to his heart. If all celebs contributed to the same causes there would be a lot of worthwhile, but orphaned causes out there.

Well, I guess that if a prerequisite to perform or present at the Live Earth was to have spoken out about human rights or Earth and the environment before that event, the list of participants would have been much shorter. :wink: The list may have been shorter but it would have been a more genuine one. Any activist for any cause started somewhere and had an occasion when s/he spoke out for the cause s/he fights for for the first time. Relating that back to the article, that is what makes me think the critic was right in saying Ioan read from a piece of paper. I'd like to bet Ioan didn't write his speech, therefore he'd be reading from a piece of paper making the words a little less compelling or inspiring. Well, then we could debate about whether celebrities living very privileged lives should campaign to end poverty or for other causes they are not necessarily directly touched by. There are celebrities who support campaigns or charities and actually seem genuine, Ioan is not one of them. In the case of Bono, he never says he doesn't earn much money and goes on about what size television he has. The Welshman does. There are different ways of going about the celebrity life, Bono goes about it the right way. Ioan can campaign to end poverty all he wants but it will never seem genuine to me; there are things he should stay away from and charity work is one of them because I honestly think he doesn't care about the big things like global warming and poverty. No nicer way of saying it.

Well, this is such a subjective area, don't you think? The guy has an interview where he says he's grateful and proud of the things he's earned (as am I!) - probably in reply to particular questions. An interviewer will know before the interview what direction will hit the button with his readership. None of this is off the cuff - it's all strategically planned. So Ioan says these things in one interview and that means he's 'going on'. Sorry, I don't buy it. Does having nice things preclude you from doing nice things? So his speech was written for him and he read it from a paper. As ever, we have no idea about what went on behind scenes, maybe they changed it at the last minute. Maybe Ioan is just not good at public speaking - it's an art form. And because of this he is condemned for eternity to be a money-grabbing hedonist? Give the guy a break!!!!!!!

You're saying we don't know what went on behind the scenes, that things could have gone either way; if that's the case then why is it wrong to think the negative way as oppose to the 'positive' one? Not everyone has to automatically run to the man's aid when a critic says he is a crap actor or can't present or that he 'read from a piece of paper'; and I stand by my first opinion whether you three agree with it or not. Ioan's speech wasn't touching to the critic, it's not the end of the world, just overlook it. Excuses don't need to be made for him. Stevie, to be honest, I'm not even going to bother trying to respond to your comment about him being 'condemned for eternity to be a money-grabbing hedonist' because I'm not going to get anywhere. It's all going to keep being shoved back at me anyway.

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