8. Helping Haiti - Everybody Hurts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zugOJU8bds Artists couldn't get into the studio quick enough in 2010, following the devastation left after an earthquake hit the island of Haiti. Helping Haiti the brainchild of Gordon Brown and Simon Cowell, talk about an odd couple... covered REM's Everybody Hurts, which went to #1 for two weeks. The video mixes footage from the island among black and white shots of the singers, attempting to balance that fine line of looking good but also looking sad. (As well as clapping with what appears to be flour in their hands, although whether it's self raising or profile raising is unclear.) Credit where it's due, Mariah Carey does it best, even managing to shed tears while holding a rose during her scenes. Other artists included JLS, Leona Lewis, Joe McElderry and Alexandra Burke. Can anyone else see a Simon Cowell-shaped pattern there? No, that's unfair, there was also Susan Boyle, Westlife and Cheryl Cole... Oh. It's worth pointing out that REM were probably the most generous contributors to the track for waiving the royalty fees and, more importantly, not appearing on the track.