Channel Seven Perth Telethon - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Channel Seven Perth Telethon, known simply as Telethon, is an annual telethon produced by TVW

TVW

TVW can mean:*TVW, a Seven Network owned station in Perth, Western Australia*TVW, a public affairs network in the state of Washington*"tvw", the false branding callsign of WISC-TV's digital subchannel and Madison, Wisconsin's MyNetworkTV affiliate...

, a Seven Network

Seven Network

The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...

owned television station

Television station

A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...

in Perth, Western Australia

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

for two main beneficiaries; Princess Margaret Hospital for Children

Princess Margaret Hospital for Children

Princess Margaret Hospital for Children is a centre for paediatric research and care. The hospital is located on Roberts Road in Subiaco, Western Australia. It is the state's only specialist children's hospital...

, and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

Established in 1990 by former Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Stanley, the Telethon Institute of Child Health Research in Western Australia is a multidisciplinary research centre with more than 500 staff, post-graduate students and visiting scholars, working collaboratively to improve the...

, plus many other beneficiaries including the Telethon Speech & Hearing Centre. It's regarded as the most successful fundraising event per capita in the world, raising over A$

Australian dollar

The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...

103 million since 1968.

The Channel Seven Telethon Trust is the charitable trust

Charitable trust

A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...

behind the event and its related fundraising activities. The philosophy behind the Channel Seven Telethon Trust is to financially support the medical and social welfare of children and young people and to fund research into children's diseases.

Overview

The event usually runs around 26 hours non-stop, from 6.30pm on a Saturday night, broadcasting live across Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

on TVW7 throughout the metropolitan area of Perth and the Golden West Network

Golden West Network

GWN7 is an Australian television network owned by the Prime Media Group that is based in Bunbury, Western Australia. The Golden West Network launched on 10 March 1967 as BTW-3 in Bunbury, and has since expanded to cover regional and remote Western Australia, servicing all areas except metropolitan...

(GWN7) across the rest of Western Australia (Australia's biggest state by area), and since 2005 has been held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event aims to raise money for its beneficiaries from donations from private citizens and corporations, as well as from special fundraising events held throughout the year and the public auction

Auction

An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...

of two specially built Telethon homes - one in the metropolitan area of Perth and one in the regional area of Western Australia.

Each year there are also two children (one from the metropolitan area and one from a regional area) who have had reason to be a paitient at Princess Margaret Hospital over the past twelve months. Over the Telethon weekend, these two children are chosen to represent all children who benefit from the money raised. From 2010, these two children have been referred to as the "Little Telethon Stars."

Stars from Seven Network shows such as Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...

, Sunrise
Sunrise (TV program)
Sunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network. On weekdays the programme follows Seven Early News, and runs from 6am through to 9am.-History:...

and Packed to the Rafters
Packed to the Rafters
Packed to the Rafters is an Australian family-orientated television series which premiered on the Seven Network on Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 8:30 pm. The drama series features a mix of lighthearted comedy woven through the plot. It revolves around the Rafter family facing work pressures and...

make the journey west for the weekend to entertain the audience, visit sick children at PMH, take phone calls and generally participate in the 26 hour broadacst. In addition, musical guests are also a big part of the weekend. Over the years many acts including Sir Cliff Richard, Harry Connick Jr., Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...

, Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

, Tina Turner

Tina Turner

Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...

, Julian Lennon

Julian Lennon

John Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal...

, Sammy Davis Jr. and Céline Dion

Celine Dion

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

have performed during Telethon. In recent years past finalists from Australian Idol
Australian Idol
Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...

have also made appearances during the event, joining lower profile and local acts. Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

appeared on the October 1985 Telethon as part of a deal with Western Australian millionaire Robert Holmes à Court

Robert Holmes à Court

Michael Robert Hamilton Holmes à Court was an entrepreneur who became Australia's first businessman worth over a billion dollars before dying suddenly of a heart attack in 1990.Holmes à Court was one of the world's most feared corporate raiders through the 1980s, having built his empire...

(who owned the television station at the time) to acquire ATV Music Publishing. Jackson could not perform due to contractual reasons, but he spoke briefly and met the two "Little Telethon Stars."

Weekend Sunrise
Sunrise (TV program)
Sunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network. On weekdays the programme follows Seven Early News, and runs from 6am through to 9am.-History:...

has even broadcast their show from the event live across Australia.

History

Telethon began in 1968, when the Trust was established by a group of senior executives at TVW. Before moving to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, it was previously held at TVW7's studios at Dianella, Western Australia

Dianella, Western Australia

Dianella is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.Dianella was named after the botanical title of a small blue lily, Dianella revoluta, which is a narrow-leafed plant which was plentiful in the area prior to residential development. Dianella is home...

.

2007 marked 40 years since Telethon began in Western Australia and raised more than $6.5 million. This was more than double the previous record amount of $3 million. Telethon 2008 raised a further $7.5 million, with the Australian Federal Government

Government of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

contributing $1.5 million, and a lottery winner donating $1 million of her winnings to the cause. The 2008 event also featured an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

match between old West Coast Eagles

West Coast Eagles

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

players and old Fremantle Dockers players in tribute to Chris Mainwaring

Chris Mainwaring

Chris Douglas Mainwaring was an Australian rules footballer. He played for the West Coast Eagles in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League and East Fremantle in the West Australian Football League...

, a former West Coast Eagles

West Coast Eagles

player and TVW7 sports presenter who had died the previous year. This match has been run each year since.

In 2010 Telethon again broke the record, raising $9,237,539, surpassing the previous record of $7.5 million set in 2008. This figure was later revised to $10 million as the phones kept ringing after the Telethon finished. In addition, 2010 marked the year in which the total amount collected over the previous 43 years surpassed the $100 million milestone. 2010's Telethon was touted by Seven Network owner Kerry Stokes as being "the best Telethon ever". In 2011, Telethon once again broke the previous record by raising $13,473,159.

Boo Boo Stewart

Boo Boo Stewart is an American singer, dancer, model, child actor, and martial artist.-Early work:...

from Twilight and Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher

Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...

for her tour.

2011 Def Leppard and Boo Boo Stewart

External links

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Overview

History

Guest Stars

External links