Don’t you just love global solidarity for a good cause? On December 7th, 2009, Qatar joined 200 countries around the world, making history in a simultaneous live performance of the famous Beatles hit ‘All You Need is Love’.
Lyrical in the Name of Universal Love
The historic global sing-along was a charitable initiative of Help Starbucks and Project (RED) known as The Love Project. The project was orchestrated in order to raise over $3 million for The Global Fund, which helps to eliminate AIDS in Africa. The event was also held in commemoration of World Aids Day.
At precisely 1.30pm GMT, participants from 200 countries simultaneously performed ‘All You Need is Love’ with family members, friends or just by themselves.
All entries were uploaded at The Love Project Website and the unique event was witnessed for certification by officials of the Guinness World Records.
Qatar Joins the Chorus
At 4.30pm in Doha, 23-year-old Qatari Mohammed al Sharooqi joined the global chorus and performed the song on his traditional Arabic oud near the carpet shops at Souq Waqif. Against a backdrop of locally designed Qatari carpets, the live video shoot also proudly displayed the country’s traditional art.
Like other participants around the planet, Mohammed was accompanied by the symphony version of the Beatles hit developed specially for this event by award-winning composer Graeme Revell.
Although he is not a Beatles fan, Mohammed told the Qatar Tribune that he really enjoyed performing the song, especially as it was for such a noble cause.
Technological Unison
Rewind to 1967, and the world witnessed live international television broadcast of the original Beatles performance of ‘All You Need is Love’ involving 26 countries and over 400 million people. At the time, it was hailed a technological breakthrough.
Forty-two years later, technology once again showed the world what can be done if we all get our hearts, minds and voices together for a good cause.
Qatar’s entry was organized and streamed live by Doha-based company DTM.
“The live feeds from across the globe will be streamed to a central location in London and will be viewed simultaneously,” Danny Erjavec of DTM told the Qatar Tribune.
He also added that footage from the charity event would be made into a promotional film for the initiative.
