BBC plans Perfect Day

Another Perfect Day for singing star Lou Reed

Rock legend Lou Reed is to lead a star-studded rendition of his classic song Perfect Day to bring the BBC's Music Live event to a close.

The singer has been persuaded to link up with a host of other top names for a simultaneous live broadcast across all the BBC's networks on Monday.

Other stars who have been asked to join in include Boyzone's Ronan Keating, veteran crooner Tony Bennett and Live Aid organiser Sir Bob Geldof.

The song is likely to be recorded and put out as a single to raise money for the Children In Need charity.

Invited to help out - Boyzone star Ronan Keating

Across-the-board broadcasting by the BBC is usually reserved for state occasions such as royal funerals.

But as well as BBC One, BBC Two and all the music-based radio channels, the song will be broadcast on talk stations like Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live. Perfect Day is closely-identified with the corporation, reaching number one in the UK charts in 1997 after being used to promote its music programmes.

World Service

Alan Yentob, the BBC's director of drama, entertainment and children, said: "We have never had as many services as we have now. There is no way that anything like this could have ever happened before."

He added that 150 million radio listeners would also be able to hear Perfect Day in their own time bands on the World Service.

It is unclear whether Reed will perform his section of the song from his native New York or jet back to London, where he has just staged a series of concerts.

A special Oasis recording will be used as part of BBC Music Live

Viewers and listeners will also have a chance to sing a line themselves by taking part in telephone auditions.

They will be asked to sing the line "I'm glad I spent it with you", with the winner being visited at home to take part in the final version.

The performance will come at the close of a 24-hour long Music Live programme to be shown on both BBC One and BBC Two.

BBC Music Live as a whole gets under way on Thursday.

Other events included in the £10m spectacular include pop concerts featuring All Saints, Melanie C and S Club 7 and specially recorded performances from Oasis and Travis.

Also planned are a rare glimpse of plainsong from Ampleforth monastery, a concert of music from schools in Soweto, South Africa and the north-west of England, and a specially-produced production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

Full information can be found on BBC Music Live's website.