Mika stages live stream benefit concert ‘I Love Beirut’

Mika stages live stream benefit concert ‘I Love Beirut’

• Beirut born, British-Lebanese singer Mika will live-stream a concert across four time zones on 19 September in aid of the people of the city
• Mika will perform an intimate show from a special location, with a number of surprises from friends, all money from ticket sales and donations going directly to aid charities helping those affected in Beirut
• ‘I Love Beirut’ partners with GoFundMe to launch a campaign where additional donations can be made
• Tickets will be available to purchase via Ticketmaster worldwide at 9am BST / 10am CET on Monday, 24 August

Today, Mika announces the ‘I love Beirut’ benefit concert, which will be performed on Saturday 19 September and will be live-streamed across four time zones via YouTube. Tickets cost £10 / $10 / €10 and will be available from TicketMaster alongside the GoFundMe campaign, where people can make additional donations to the cause with 100% of all proceeds being split across Red Cross Lebanon and Save the Children Lebanon.

Tickets go on sale at 9am BST / 10am CET on Monday 24 August. This intimate performance has been initiated by Lebanese born singer Mika after he was profoundly affected by the scale of devastation from the explosion in Beirut docks and its impact on the people of the city. Following on from his ‘Love Letter to Beirut’ (see note to editors below) which he wrote directly in the aftermath of the explosion. In an effort to do more he has created ‘I Love Beirut’ an event to raise funds to help those who have been affected by the devastating explosion.

Mika comments: -“After all the years of civil war, financial crisis and political upheaval, the news of the tragic explosion was unbelievable. Although far away, my heart broke for the families losing their homes, their livelihoods and their loved ones in this catastrophe. I wanted to do something to help in any small way I can. That is why I am staging a live stream concert in aid of the people of the city. Beirut has been through so much and the resilience and strength the Lebanese people is undeniable. I have no doubt that the city will recover and the unique life of this magical city will resume once again. Beirut is the place of my birth, is part of me and will always be in my heart. ‘I ️ Beirut’. The Lebanese United Nations team has reported the explosion was like 15 years of war in 15 seconds, comparing its impact to the devastation from the country’s civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990. Miles from the blast site apartments are wrecked and families left homeless. It’s estimated 300,000 people do not have homes fit to live in, as Lebanon now has to undertake a single recovery effort of unprecedented scale.  Hospitals in Beirut are now overrun with wounded people, with some being referred to Tripoli, 50 miles to the north of Beirut, for treatment. The destruction of Beirut’s port will devastate the country further as it relies heavily on imports for its essential supplies. Red Cross Lebanon, Lebanese Food Bank, Islamic Relief and Save the Children Lebanon. are working around the clock to help those on the ground affected by the blast. Donations will fund immediate emergency response and wider long-term rehabilitation.

Donations to be made at: http://gfme.co/ilovebeirutTickets will be made available via Ticketmaster at 9am BST / 10am CET on Monday, 24 August

Supporting images and video of Mika talking about the concert available here: we.tl/t-OFhmJeJLaY

Concert live stream times around the world:

Livestream #1 – UK & Ireland (8pm BST / IST)

Livestream #2 – Europe (9pm CEST / 8pm BST)

Livestream #3 – North America & Central/South America (6pm PDT / 9pm EDT)

Livestream #4 – Australia, New Zealand and Asia (8pm AEST / 10pm NZST / 7pm J

ST and KST)

(NB: Live stream in Australia / Asia ten to occur on the following day).

About Mika

Starting with his 2007 debut album Life In Cartoon Motion featuring “Grace Kelly,” MIKA has sold over 10 million records and is a certified Gold and Platinum artist in 32 countries worldwide. He is Grammy-nominated, won a Brit Award and went on to release three additional platinum-selling albums The Boy Who Knew Too Much, The Origin of Love, and No Place In Heaven. His latest album My Name is Michael Holbrook was released in October 2019 and was followed by the start of a World Tour.

About GoFundMe

Launched in 2010, GoFundMe is the world’s largest social fundraising platform, with over $9 billion raised so far. With a community of more than 120 million donors, GoFundMe is changing the way the world gives. Rather than applying a platform fee to donations to charities, GoFundMe gives donors the option to add a voluntary tip when using the site. These tips allow GoFundMe to maintain and improve the services the platform provides. Unlike other platforms, GoFundMe passes on 100% of the gift aid to charities.

A Love Letter to Beirut by Mika

My dear Lebanon, My dear Beirut,It’s still early in the morning on the other side of the Mediterranean and I feel so close and yet so far away from you. So close to you, as you lie devastated by the apocalypse, I can’t stop staring, transfixed, at the battered expressions of my brothers and sisters. In their eyes, I sense their fright, their tears. I shudder as I see a wounded person carried out through the rear window of an old car, a young girl covered in blood in her father’s arms, shell-shocked inhabitants running through streets littered with rubble, broken glass and shattered buildings…

So far away from you, haunted by the desolation, I hear in my head the deafening noise of the two explosions that haunted the residents of Beirut. The screams of the grieving families and stunned victims merge in the middle of the night with the screeching sirens of ambulances. I’ve also been told of the silence in the early hours of this morning, of the smell of the smoking ruins. Faced with this chaos, I recall a line from the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran: “one can only reach dawn by taking the path of night”.

For some months now, you have once again been sinking into the path of night. There are divisions, echoes of conflicts at your borders, corruption, the powerlessness of your leaders, the monetary crisis which has plunged your families into misery and then the surge of the coronavirus epidemic. The carefree Lebanese nature,  the answer to dramas in the past, was replaced by anger and fear. I became more anxious each passing day, as if my wounds, the roots which I’d left behind at the age of only one and a half were finally catching up with me. And then, suddenly, at 6.10pm on Tuesday, a tragic grey cloud rose up from your port, mowing down your exhausted people. The thick orange smoke drowned the skies of Beirut and replaced the distant memory, so often recounted by my mother, of the yellow light which bathed our 4th floor, sea-facing apartment on the corniche.

I cannot but think of these two explosions as a symbol of a system which is shattering. The crash of bombs, wreaking death in streets still marked by the scars of war, cannot be unheard. The Lebanese Prime Minister, Hassane Diab, promises that the persons responsible will “be held accountable” But those responsible for whom? For what? Those responsible for 30 years of agony which have turned the land of cedars into the land of ashes. It’s said that a catastrophe is a tragic outcome, the end of a series of misfortunes.  After darkness comes the dawn.

I know your resilience, your strength and your solidarity, nurtured by your mix of cultures, by this special place you occupy, half way between the Arab world and Europe. Tomorrow, you will rise up as you have always done before. Music will pour once again from your windows, people will dance on your terraces and perfumes will waft from your kitchens. I will be there.

Mika