A call for all those Italian rock stars who read the CMU Daily - 'Bob needs you'. Geldof is calling on Italian music stars to take part in the Rome date of the Live 8 shenanigans after one native rocker, Vasco Rossi, pulled out because of other gig commitments while another, Lorenzo Jovanotti, was dubious about being involved. Geldof yesterday issued a statement to the Italian music community - this will be "the biggest concert of your life".
While the line ups for most of the Live 8 dates take shape (Bryan Adams, Deep Purple and Celine Dion have been announced for the Canadian date, a late addition to the Live 8 programme), and anticipation of the events starts to build, the profile of the Rome concert remains low in Italy where the country's media and music community are yet to embrace the concept.
Speaking at news conference in the city, Geldof said: "Vasco is a great star, a really great, great artist, and I think he should be on that stage. Where's Vasco? Vasco where are you? We want Vasco. We need Vasco". Regarding Jovanotti's reservations, Geldof pledged to speak to the singer personally in an attempt to get him involved.
US stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, and Italian singer Zucchero (who will be taking part despite having to do his own cooking), are confirmed for the Rome date, but consensus is some of the country's bigger names are needed to capture the local media agenda - which is, after all, the main aim of Live 8.