The members of Duran Duran decided to bring a football (soccer ball) with them when they attended the MTV Europe Music Awards in Rome last year and began collecting celebrity signatures. Nick Rhodes felt the ball would be a great piece to auction off in the future, with all the proceeds going to charity.
After seeing the devastation created by the Tsunami in South Asia, the band agreed that they should continue to get signatures and then auction the ball off with proceeds going to a charity involved in Tsunami relief.
After thorough investigation, the band chose on GlobalGiving, which focuses on grassroots and project-based relief efforts in the affected areas.
GlobalGiving, founded in 2001 by two former colleagues from the World Bank, has developed the first Internet-based platform for high-impact international philanthropy. The vision is to build a highly efficient international philanthropy marketplace where individuals, corporations and other institutions can find and fund locally-run social, environmental and economic development projects around the world. At GlobalGiving, donors of all sizes can have a direct effect on positive world change. In addition, social entrepreneurs - individuals who run lean, highly efficient organizations working to effect positive change in their communities and the world at large - can have access to a new source of funding that didnt previously exist.
The football made its first appearance on National English TV in January 2005 and culminated with an appearance on Good Morning America February 1st where the band announced their plan to place the ball on eBay March 7th.
So far, the football has been signed by:
Duran Duran (all members)
Pharrell and Chad (NERD)
Anastasia
Andre 3000 (OutKast),
Apl.de.Ap (Black Eyed Peas)
Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand)
Robert Smith (The Cure)
Gwen Stefani
Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne
Maroon 5 (all members)
Jamelia
Alicia Keyes
Swifty (D12),
MCA (Beastie Boys)
Naomi Campbell
Cate Blanchett
Kanye West
Lamar
Tracey Emin
Duran Duran perform in Los Angeles on February 26th, which is the day before the Academy Awards Ceremony, and will continue to get additional signatures. The final list of signatures will be published on March 7th.
