Red Nose Day: How 'Game of Thrones,' Ed Sheeran raised money for charity
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
The first American Red Nose Day was held on May 21 and culminated in a three-hour telethon on NBC with appearances by various actors and singers.
According to , more than $10 million had been raised by halfway through the show and 鈥淟ate Night鈥� host Seth Meyers, 鈥淭he X-Files鈥� actor David Duchovny, and Jane Krakowski of 鈥淯nbreakable Kimmy Schmidt鈥� served as hosts for the event. The show brought attention to various causes with which viewers may not have been familiar and some of the charities that NBC worked with for the event included charity: water, Feeding America, LIFT, and Save the Children. Check out the full list of charities .听
The event is based on UK charity Comic Relief's Red Nose Day telethon, which has been held for almost 30 years. The fundraiser has raised more than聽拢1 billion ($1.6 billion) in its history, according to Red Nose Day's .
The US version of the program alternated pre-taped segments with live performances. Musical segments included songs by the band U2 and singers Keith Urban and John Mellencamp, who teamed up for a song.
Two of the segments that got viewers talking the most were singer 鈥淩ainbow Connection鈥� with Kermit. The two engaged in banter before performing the track. 鈥淐ould all you folks please call in and help to donate for kids and help them out?鈥� Kermit asked before the song. 鈥淚t would mean a lot to me,鈥� Sheeran said. 鈥淚t would mean a lot to thousands of kids around the world, but most of all, it would mean a lot to Kermit, because he鈥檚 not allowed to go back to the swamp unless he brings back the bacon.鈥� 鈥淪ome green,鈥� Kermit added.听
Another popular segment was the band Coldplay attempting to make a of the smash hit HBO fantasy series 鈥淕ame of Thrones.鈥� There had already been a preview released of 鈥淭hrones鈥� actor Peter Dinklage singing a track about the amount of characters who have met their end on the show, but the full video also included actor Kit Harington singing a song titled 鈥淲ildling鈥� about his wildling love interest Ygritte (Rose Leslie); actress Emilia Clarke, who plays ruler Daenerys Targaryen, singing a reggae-themed track titled 鈥淩astafarian Targaryen鈥�; and actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays knight Jaime Lannister, singing a piano ballad about his love interest Cersei (Lena Headey) called 鈥淐loser to Home.鈥� (Viewers should know there鈥檚 brief adult language in this clip.)
Viewers can still donate via the Red Nose Day .
