Madonna to introduce Band Aid video

Madonna has lent her support to the new Band Aid single by recording an introduction to the song's music video.

The star will tell fans to 'feed the world' before the video gets its premiere on BBC One on Thursday.

Madonna was not among the stars who assembled to record Do They Know It's Christmas? in London at the weekend reports BBC online.

The single will get its first radio play on stations around the UK on Tuesday and will be released on 29 November. It will raise money for food aid in Darfur, Sudan.

When the video is unveiled at 1755 GMT on BBC One on Thursday, Madonna will be seen introducing it - as David Bowie did before the original.

'Twenty years ago I performed at Live Aid,' she will tell viewers. 'You saw me and my generation demanding a change.'

'Once again, here we are 20 years later and more people die of hunger in Africa than war and Aids put together. In a world of plenty, it is hard to imagine that there are African children going to bed tonight hungry.'

'Bob Geldof and his friends are here to remind you that none of us can forget. Not ever. Feed the world. I am honoured to introduce Band Aid 20.'

The video will feature stars including Coldplay's Chris Martin, Will Young, Jamelia, Sugababes and Busted, who took part in the recording sessions at the weekend.

Sold on CD for £3.99 and also available as a download, the new version is hot favourite to be Christmas number one in the UK this year. Retailers expect to sell about 500,000 copies in its first week.
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