Hamburg - Hip-swinging Colombian singer Shakira blew kisses to work up a sparse audience that braved heavy rain Saturday at the Live Earth concert in the German city of Hamburg. Sheltered on a sound stage, the Latino star sang her hit "Don't Bother" to a crowd on a football pitch wearing rain capes and holding umbrellas.
But there was no overlooking that turnout was poor, with many of the more distant seats in the stands empty.
Organizers said Friday they had sold about 30,000 of the 45,000 tickets and added that many people skipped the start of the nine-hour show, but arrived as dry spells interrupted the showers.
The German event was also hit by competition from a techno festival in the city, the Schlager Move with 100,000 fans, and the big rock festival at Roskilde, near the Danish capital Copenhagen, only five hours drive from Hamburg.
Hamburg's Live Earth concert proceeded without a hitch, with the eclectic mix of more than 20 acts ranging from local German electro- pop and jazz bands to Southern California hip-hopper Snoop Dogg.
As Snoop Dogg left the stage, the crowd broke into a huge cheer, ignoring an environmentalist video about rising sea levels showing at the same time. A German all-news TV channel, N24, broadcast the concert.
Countering criticisms that the concert caused pollution, organizers of the Hamburg event allocated 32 euro cents from each ticket to projects to "offset" the carbon-dioxide emissions with environmental projects.
Hydrogen-powered buses ferried many concert-goers to the venue, the HSH-Nordbank Arena, from a nearby electric train station and performers pleaded with the crowd to buy wind-generated electricity instead of coal-fired power.
The stadium, which has covered seating, hosted some of last year's World Cup football matches.
As at the other Live Earth concerts, profits were committed to the Alliance for Climate Protection headed by former US vice president Al Gore.
