Meredith Vieira Plugs Al Gore-athon For the Earth With Singer Paolo Nutini

Meredith Vieira invited on singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini to perform on this morning’s Today show but didn’t let the artist get away without using his spot on the upcoming Live Earth concert, as an excuse to plug NBC Universal’s sweeping coverage of the Al Gore musical marathon for the planet. Before Nutini sang he and Vieira discussed the importance of saving the Earth in the following segment of the July 3rd Today show:

Meredith Vieira: "They are calling it a worldwide event to save the planet and this Saturday more than 100 musical acts will perform in eight cities across seven continents. The Live Earth concert series will bring attention to the issue of global warming. And among the performers, Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini."

...

Vieira: "Well I know since you've been on this show, you've had no shortage, I don't think it's luck, I think you've earned it. Your album is doing great. 1.3 million copies sold, worldwide. Is that correct?"

[Paolo Nutini]

Vieira: "Yeah, yeah. But, I don't know, this has to be even more exciting to be part of this concert series. What does this mean to you?"

Paolo Nutini: "You know, it's the fact that it's concerning the Earth that we live on and hopefully, you know, maybe, me kids and stuff may live on in the future, you know? That's, that's important to me, obviously. And I wanted, you know, it's, but it's not a new concept, you know? I mean Al Gore, himself, has been, for 16 years, been fighting to, to be heard. And for this to be made, in such and an event like this to happen."

Vieira: "And hopefully this will affect people and impact on people's desire to, to help save the environment."

Nutini, rambling incoherently: "Well this brings everybody, watching the same thing and will put black and white, the changes they can make as a person, as a, you know, as maybe a small group and then as a, you know, a race and then, it's so..."

Vieira: "All we can do is try. Absolutely. And we want to remind the audience, too, that you can see all the concerts this Saturday, July 7th, on the networks of NBC Universal at 8/7 Central. And you can catch the highlights of performances from around the world. We're also gonna have live coverage from the U.S. concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, all right here on NBC."