MySpace, the world’s largest social network, brought leading stars to the Middle East last week with Operation MySpace. Talent like Carlos Mencia, Jessica Simpson, the Pussycat Dolls, Filter, Disturbed and DJ Z –Trip gave over 7,000 American troops a taste of home. The one hour version, featuring the concert’s best moments will be nationally broadcast on FX on April 12th.
The success of Operation MySpace has tremendous significance today because it brought people together from all walks of life to support our troops stationed abroad. Friends, families, veterans, politicians, and fellow Americans, along with companies and government programs all came out to show a strong base of support for our troops currently stationed in 177 countries around the globe.
Jessica Simpson called it “an honor” to perform for the troops overseas. The Pussycat Dolls, reunited for the first time with Nicole Scherzinger on the stage of Operation MySpace, also commented on the event, saying "We’re so excited to be performing for the troops and supporting our Armed Forces overseas.” And the six of them definitely turned up the heat in Kuwait, saying that the troops had “Better get ready…the desert’s about to get a lot hotter!"
Some of the memorable interactions of Operation MySpace included the popular bands Filter and Disturbed jamming with the troops who hung out back stage, the Pussycat Dolls and Jessica Simpson dining with soldiers in the mess hall, and host Carlos Mencia participating in a training session. Performers and soldiers alike felt united by their patriotism and were thrilled to be joined together in such a landmark event.
Mencia kept the crowd laughing with his hysterical material as well as arranging a dance off between troops on-stage. Jessica Simpson paid homage to the military movie Top Gun by singing “Take My Breath Away,” and the Pussy Cat Dolls performed “Stick With You” in honor of soldiers and their families. Another touching moment included Jessica Simpson singing “Amazing
Grace.”
Video messages of support were broadcast to the troops in a historic webcast featuring President Bush and Barack OBama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Operation MySpace was the first concert event to be streamed in HD in real time worldwide using Kulabyte’s XStream Live Solutions. Additionally, thousands of MySpace users, war veterans, and families of soldiers posted messages and videos of support for the troops on the official OperationMySpace.
The three-hour plus MySpaceLive! concert hosted by MySpace Co-Founders Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, will be condensed into a 1-hour version featuring the best moments and nationally broadcast on FX on April 12. Originally, the show was performed for a combination of Naval, Army and Air force troops.
By organizing this ground-breaking concert for the soldiers, MySpace continues to show their sound support for those serving overseas as well as for musicians all over the world. For years MySpace has served as a platform for artists to promote their music online, either by posting links to their songs or by streamlining live concerts. MySpace now claims over 6 million bands currently using their website. The concert was also a means to reach out to MySpace’s musical community and include them in the community supporting our troops abroad.
