4th Annual Keep a Child Alive Black Ball Honoring Bono

On October 25th, 2007 at the Manhattan Center in New York, Alicia Keys and Iman co-hosted a glamorous benefit evening for Keep a Child Alive, awarding honorees that included U2 vocalist and Activist for Africa, Bono and featured extraordinary performances by Bono, Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, Sheryl Crow, Kathleen Battle and others, all to raise money to continue to provide life-saving medication, support, and orphan care, to families in Africa affected by AIDS.

Empire Entertainment was again proud to serve as producers of this 4th annual event, which was generously underwritten by Condé Nast Media Group. KCA supporters on the red carpet included Jay Z, Russell Simmons, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Peter Berg, Petra Nemcova, Padma Lakshmi, Billie Joe Armstrong, Christy Turlington, Clive Davis, David Bowie, Heath Ledger, Zoe Kravitz and more. Following a VIP cocktail reception and sumptuous dinner designed by Padma Lakshi and served by Hudson Yards Catering, the evening program opened with a powerful South African dance performance by JUXTAPOWER.

The evening's honorees included the legendary Bono, as well as Nick Reding and Dr. Pasquine Ogunsanya, two of the fiercest fighters of AIDS on the ground in Africa. In 2003, Nick Reding founded Sponsored Arts for Education, or S.A.F.E. in Nairobi, Kenya. Since that time, it has grown into 3 traveling theatre groups who perform in Nairobi slums, Loita Hills (to the rural Maasai population) and the ghettos of Mombasa with a message of HIV Prevention. To date, S.A.F.E. has performed to over 600,000 reaching people in places many organizations could never get to! Dr. Pasquine Ogunsanya is the Director of Alive Medical Center, a Keep a Child Alive funded site in Kampala, Uganda. Her gentle spirit and passionate drive continue to help the people at her clinic and inspire us to work harder. Since her involvement, thousands have been tested for HIV/ AIDS and those that test positive come to her for their comprehensive AIDS care. Dr. Ogunsanya proudly boasts that since Keep a Child Alive's support of Alive Medical Center, not a single child has died of AIDS. Following an extraordinary video that profiled a lifetime of support for Africa, Bono took the stage and graced the audience with a moving acceptance speech that brought the audience to their feet.

After the program the concert began featuring Alicia Keys performing duets with Sheryl Crow, Gwen Stefani and international opera star Kathleen Battle, with whom she sang "Miss Sarajevo"- Bono's masterpiece written at a time of turmoil and chaos in the world, which he himself performed with Pavarotti. The finalé of the concert was a duet performance by Bono & Alicia Keys on "Don't Give Up Africa" with the Children of Agape singers. Amy Sacco of Bungalow Eight ­ which some may know as the Sex and the City hot spot ­ ended the evening with a Bungalow 8 Ballroom after party and lounge on the top floor Grand Ballroom. The event raised over $2.1 million dollars for Keep a Child Alive. To find out how you and your organization can get involved with Keep a Child Alive and help to fund their important programs, visit their website at www.keepachildalive.org.http://keepachildalive.org/kcaAtWork/index.php?p=BlackBall2007