Alicia Keys and Lady Gaga take charity work seriously, and they’re going offline to prove it.
Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Usher and other celebrities have joined a new campaign called Digital Life Sacrifice on behalf of Keys’ charity, Keep a Child Alive. The entertainers plan to sign off of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday, which is World AIDS Day. The participants will sign back on when the charity raises $1 million.
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“It’s really important and super-cool to use mediums that we naturally are on,” Keys said.
For the campaign — which also includes Jennifer Hudson, Ryan Seacrest, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Elijah Wood, Serena Williams, Janelle Monae and Keys’ husband, Swizz Beatz — celebrities have filmed “last tweet and testament” videos and will appear in ads showing them lying in coffins to represent what the campaign calls their digital deaths.
“It’s so important to shock you to the point of waking up,” Keys said. “It’s not that people don’t care or it’s not that people don’t want to do something, it’s that they never thought of it quite like that.”
“This is such a direct and instantly emotional way and a little sarcastic, you know, of a way to get people to pay attention,” said Keys, who has more than 2.6 million followers on Twitter.
The foundation, which began in 2003, will accept donations through text messages and bar-code technology, which is featured in the charity’s Buy Life campaign. Raised efforts support families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.
Harry Potter continues to cast spell over weekend moviegoers
LOS ANGELES – Harry Potter has narrowly won a box-office tangle with a fairy-tale princess.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” remained the No. 1 movie with $50.3 million over Thanksgiving weekend, closely followed by the animated musical “Tangled” with $49.1 million.
According to distributor Warner Bros., the next-to-last “Harry Potter” movie raised its domestic total to $220.4 million after just 10 days in theaters.
“Tangled” is the latest Disney cartoon musical, with Mandy Moore providing the voice of fairy-tale princess Rapunzel. The movie raised its total to $69 million since opening the day before Thanksgiving.
Hot ticket sales show Kid Rocks Motor City
DETROIT — Kid Rock always has been a hot ticket in the Detroit area, but sales for an upcoming concert show the country rocker with hip-hop roots is on fire.
The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press report Friday that more than 45,000 tickets for his 40th birthday bash Jan. 15 at Ford Field sold out in only 19 minutes.
A limited number of VIP packages remain at a cost of $300.
A show representative told the Free Press that a second Ford Field date will not be added.
Kid Rock’s real name is Robert Ritchie. He grew up in northern Macomb County’s Romeo and now lives in Oakland County’s Clarkston.
He has sold more than 180,000 tickets over the past 14 months for shows in the Detroit area.
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