You would need to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the stories of strength and survival that peppered the one-hour telecast of “Stand up to Cancer.”
But that was exactly the point– to motivate viewers to donate to the organization, which funds research for new treatments for the deadly disease. It’s a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF).
It was the third bi-annual edition of a program spearheaded by the late producer Laura Ziskin in 2008 which has raised a reported $100 million to date.
Cable and broadcast television networks do their part by donating the airtime, commercial free for the one-hour show. Showtime, ABC, HBO, CBS, Starz, FOX, NBC were among the nearly 20 networks which aired the special in more than 170 countries.
A plethora of A-list stars was on board and came on stage to solicit for the cause. Many of them, beginning with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon had either beaten cancer or had a loved one who fought it.
Kudos to producer Joel Gallen for fitting in so many participants like host Gwyneth Paltrow, who spoke movingly of losing her father Bruce to cancer, Halle Berry, Robert Pattison, Julia Roberts, Justin Timberlake, Sophia Vergara, Tom Hanks, Jeremy Renner, Jessica Biel and Samuel L. Jackson and four top-notch musical performances.
Alicia Keys and Taylor Swift had both played the VMAs the night before and both songbirds sang lovingly within the context of survivors sharing their stories, many of whom were in the audience and given standing ovations after taped pieces about their journeys ran.
There was nary a dry eye in the house at the Shrine Auditorium as Keys sat at the piano and performed the resonant “Not Even the King.” Swift’s song was a moving ode to a three-year-old boy named Ronan, who lost his battle with cancer. She had learned of the case from the boy’s mother.
Coldplay performed its megahit “Paradise” on tape but the grand musical finale was live as Tim McGraw– who lost his father Tug to cancer– performed an emotional rendition of “To Live Like You Were Dying.”
The call-in time is over–celebs including Chelsea Handler and Eric Stonestreet took donations over the phone during the telecast, but you can contribute at www.standup2cancer.org 24/7.
