Alicia Keys opened the “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon Friday night with a moving rendition of her song “Prelude to a Kiss.”

The two-hour television program, which taped in New York, Los Angeles and London, is intended to raise money for victims of the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake, which by some estimates has killed as many as 200,000 people.

“Why? That’s the question so many of you are asking,” said telethon co-host George Clooney. “Why should be give more? Why should we believe our help can re-build a country where 80 percent of its people live on less than $2 a day, more than 3 million go without clean water and 1 in 3 children dies before the age of 5. If Haiti struggled so much before, then why should we have faith that we can make a difference now. This is a tragedy that reaches across all borders, all boundaries and demands our attention, our help and our compassion as fellow beings. … This is an opportunity to help a neighbor in desperate need and to do it with swiftness, expertise, generosity and love that resides in the best of who we are.”

“My country is in great pain and I know you can help,” Haitian singer and telethon co-host Wyclef Jean said later in the evening. “From the ashes we shall rise, so please give what you can.”
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