Making for quite the special occasion, the stars were out in full force for the “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” taping in Los Angeles, CA on Saturday night (November 20).
Held at The Shrine Auditorium, the pre-taped ceremony kicked off with Anderson Cooper welcoming the Chillean miners onstage to quite the stirring ovation.
Of their struggles, Cooper told the audience, “For 69 days we were amazed by these men. Their ordeal was unthinkable; their rescue, unbelievable. No one has ever been trapped underground so deep for so long and survived. They endured a nightmare, experienced a miracle, and in the end became each others’ brothers and heroes.”
As for the celebs on-hand, the event featured performances by Bon Jovi, John Legend and Sugarland, while presenters included Halle Berry, Jessica Alba, Jessica Alba, Kid Rock, LL Cool J, Renee Zellweger, Gerard Butler, Kiefer Sutherland, Marisa Tomei, Aaron Eckhart and Holly Robinson Peete.
For those interested, the show is set to air on CNN on Thursday, November 25th at 8PM ET/5PM PT.
Via CNN’s website, the 2010 top 10 CNN Heroes are as follows:
Guadalupe Arizpe De La Vega founded a hospital in Juarez, Mexico, that cares for about 900 people daily — regardless of their ability to pay. Despite the escalating violence in the city, the 74-year-old travels there several times a week to make sure residents get the care they need.
Susan Burton was once caught in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Today, her nonprofit A New Way of Life Reentry Project provides sober housing and other support services to formerly incarcerated women in California.
With her weight-loss challenge, Shape Up Vicksburg, Linda Fondren is helping her Mississippi hometown battle the bulge. Through free fitness activities and nutrition classes, residents have lost nearly 15,000 pounds to date.
Anuradha Koirala is fighting to prevent the trafficking and sexual exploitation of Nepal’s women and girls. Since 1993, she and her group, Maiti Nepal, have helped rescue and rehabilitate more than 12,000 victims.
Narayanan Krishnan brings hot meals and dignity to India’s homeless and destitute — 365 days per year — through his nonprofit Akshaya Trust. Since 2002, he has served more than 1.2 million meals.
Since 1992, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow has dedicated his life to helping people in need. Today, his program, Mary’s Meals — run from a tin shed in the Scottish highlands — provides free daily meals to more than 400,000 children around the world.
Harmon Parker is using his masonry skills to save lives. Since 1997 he has helped build 45 footbridges over perilous rivers in Kenya, protecting people from flash floods and predatory animals. The bridges also connect isolated villagers to valuable resources.
Aki Ra is helping to make his native Cambodia safer by clearing land mines — many of which he planted years ago as a child soldier. Since 1993, he and his Cambodian Self Help Demining organization have cleared about 50,000 mines and unexploded weapons.
Evans Wadongo, 23, invented a way for rural families in Kenya to replace smoky kerosene and firelight with solar power. Through his Use Solar, Save Lives program, he’s distributed an estimated 10,000 free solar lanterns.
Since 2005, Texas home builder Dan Wallrath has given injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans homes of their own — mortgage-free. He and his Operation Finally Home team have five new custom homes under construction.
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