MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Live 8 rocks from Tokyo to Johannesburg

Bono effortlessly worked the crowd. Half a globe away, Bjork strutted the stage. Bill Gates was cheered like a rock star. And on the continent that inspired Saturday's unprecedented Live 8 extravaganza, Nelson Mandela outshone them all.

From Johannesburg to Philadelphia, Berlin to Tokyo, Rome to Moscow, hundreds of the world's top musicians and more than one million of their fans gathered for a music marathon designed to put pressure the world's most powerful leaders to fight African poverty.

Twenty years after he masterminded the legendary Live Aid concerts, rocker Bob Geldof delivered on his promise to deliver "the greatest concert ever," broadcast live around the world on television and the Internet. But his ultimate goal went far beyond music: to squeeze debt forgiveness, trade concessions and $25 billion US in aid for Africa out of next week's Group of Eight summit meeting in Scotland.

The power to even attempt such things sprang from Saturday's "declaration of interdependence," actor Will Smith, host of the Philadelphia show, said on Independence Day weekend in the United States.

"Today, we hold this truth to be self-evident: we are all in this together," Smith said.

Via satellite, he led the global audience in snapping their fingers every three seconds, signifying the child death rate in Africa.

Taking the stage in Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela received a five-minute ovation.

"History and the generations to come will judge our leaders by the decisions they make in the coming weeks," Mandela told the crowd of more than 8,000 people.

"I say to all those leaders: 'Do not look the other way, do not hesitate...It is within your power to prevent a genocide."'

In London's Hyde Park, Paul McCartney and U2 opened the flagship show of the free 10-concert festival with a rousing performance of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A thunderous roar erupted from the crowd of about 200,000 as the two icons belted out the first line: "It was 20 years ago today..." - a nod to the mammoth Live Aid benefit that raised millions for African famine relief in 1985.

This time, the scale was bigger - 10 concerts, instead of two, and thanks to the Internet, a potential audience of billions. The goal was different, too.