Rome — If the days of concerts for a cause having an impact are over, producer Quincy Jones hasn't noticed. "You know, it's not really a concert," he told a reporter for Metro International, a Swedish media company that was a heavyweight sponsor of 'We Are the Future' in Rome Sunday night. "It's an outcry!" Through live or future broadcasts by MTG and MTV, the event will be seen in 167 countries.
Eighteen months in the planning, the 'We Are the Future' extravaganza drew half a million people, according to Italian police estimates, to Rome's historic Circus Maximus for six hours of music and messages. Even a brief deluge of rain at the mid-point did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the mostly young, flag-waving crowd, who cheered as loudly for the video appearance of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as for the all-star performers on stage.
Among the performers who donated their time were Carlos Santana, Angelique Kidjo, Andrea Bocelli, Alicia Keys, Chris Tucker, Zucchero, Soundz of Africa, Khaled, Herbie Hancock, Patti Austin, Take 6, Josh Groban, Juanes, Karina, Fher (of Mana), Kazem Al Sahir, Rifat Salamat Ali Kahn, Fher, Noa, Simon Shaheen and the cast of Stomp. Nora Jones appeared by pre-recorded video. Celebrities and sports figures including Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, Naomi Campbell, Serena Williams, Francesco Totti and Evander Holyfield served as presenters to show support.
The concert was broadcast live throughout most of Europe and over the Internet. A two-hour version is scheduled to air on MTV in the United Kingdom on May 22 at 8pm and in the United States on May 28 at 8pm.
Held as part of the third 'Global Forum', a Rome-based NGO founded by Israeli peace negotiator Uri Savir, which encourages city-to-city collaborations for development, the concert was intended to engage young people in a global movement on behalf of children, beginning with those in conflict situations. The link between the two groups was made by Palestinian entrepreneur and 'We Are the Future' co-founder Hani Masri, who introduced Savir to Jones.
Global Forum brings together mayors to plan cooperative ventures with the theme of thinking globally and acting locally. Among the related events were a three-day Glocal Youth Parliament that brought together more than a hundred people between the ages of 16 and 21 to discuss world problems. A main focus was six troubled cities - Addis Ababa, Asmara, Freetown, Kabul, Kigali and Nablus. Delegates from those conflict areas brought stories from home and ideas for forging trans-city partnerships.
'We Are the Future' plans to build on those efforts by launching a center in each city to carry on the work, hoping the process will spread to cities across the developing world. Quincy Jones says the effort is the most important cause he's even been involved in - thought he's proud of previous projects like 'We Are the World", which brought together 43 big-name artists to raise funds for African famine in 1985. Funds will be raised from sales of a live recording of the concert on DVD and a book. The 'We Are the World' song raised over $60 million for Africa.
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'We Are the Future' is about institutionalizing a movement for radical change, Jones said. If it sounds like just another do-good flash-in-the-pan, World Bank President James Wolfensohn is betting it isn't. The World Bank is backing the plan, and Wolfensohn attended the two-day Global Forum conference personally, despite an exhausting multi-nation trip that preceded it.
"I'm increasingly convinced," Wolfensohn said, "that alliances and action at the level of cities and local government" are a key ingredient of making development work. As the leader of the world's largest development agency, he said he'll be watching Global Forum and 'We Are the Future' closely, to see if he's right.
