BEIRUT: Benefit concerts have become a fashionable phenomenon in recent decades. From “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” to the Live 8 performances, one would be hard-pressed to find a cause without a song or celebrity attached.

That doesn’t mean the relationship need be insincere.Take U.K. musician James Blunt, who gave a concert at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Center (Biel) Monday night to raise money for Tamanna (Desire), a Lebanese charity that grants wishes to critically ill children aged 3-18 years.

The 37-year-old Blunt, who since his 2004 debut has sold over 15 million records, isn’t just a poster celebrity for the cause. Tamanna specifically recruited him for the performance because one of the children the charity is working with wished he would perform.

Blunt’s Biel performance was his second in Lebanon and his first in association with Tamanna. In a pre-concert interview, however, his desire to embrace the cause was evident.

“The real stars in the world aren’t the people sitting in a room with everybody’s attention focused on them,” Blunt said. “The real stars are the people out there, the doctors and nurses, the people on the street, the people who are helping others.”

The British Army sponsored Blunt’s university education, which obliged him to serve four years with the military. In the end he served six. In a pre-concert news conference, the performer was asked about the Western military presence in parts of the Arab world.

“I support the soldiers, he replied, “not the politicians.”

The five-time Grammy nominee burst into the Lebanese consciousness with his 2005 hit “You’re Beautiful.” The youthful-looking Blunt is an enormous hit with a younger, female demographic but he manages to please older audience members too.

Monday night saw Blunt play his best-known repertoire – from “Billy” to “Carry You Home,” to “Dangerous.” “You’re Beautiful” brought the full house of screaming fans to its feet.

His “Three Wise Men” also had the audience on its feet, when, in reply to the lyric “Where are you now?” Blunt sang, “We’re in Beirut baby!”

“Beirut is one of the best cities in the world!” he declared. “You seem pretty happy, so I should warn you I have many miserable songs.”

Many of the tunes are miserable, but Blunt’s audience seemed delighted.

During his mesmerizing performance of “Carry You Home” – a song about a terminally ill child and the certainly of death – compelled one eager audience member to leap onto the stage.

His focussed performance ensured that lines like “I’m watching you breathing for the last time” were especially moving.

Predictably, the curtain calls continued for some time and, based on audience response, the most popular songs were “Goodbye My Lover” and, of course, “You’re Beautiful.”

More up-tempo tunes like “Turn Me On” and “So Long Jimmy” also proved popular, compelling the audience to dance and providing Blunt’s backing band with an opportunity to shine. Paul Beard on keyboards, Karl Brazil on drums, Malcolm Moore on bass and John Garrison and Ben Castle on guitar each shouldered solos.

Blunt’s Lebanon visit is part of his third world tour. Throughout his life he has visited over 120 countries and professes Beirut to be one of the best cities in the world. Above all though, he said in an interview, “music is the bit I love.”

Blunt’s collaboration with Tamanna isn’t his first charitable work. Since his tour of duty in Kosovo in 1999, he has been an ardent admirer of Médecins Sans Frontières and he has held several benefit concerts for the medical NGO among other initiatives.

Aside from concert cost, 100 percent of Monday’s proceeds will go to Tamanna, who since December 2005 have granted over 750 wishes to sick children living or being treated in Lebanon.

Blunt ended his concert with a Tamanna dedication and a promise to Beirut to “See you soon!”

Visit Tamanna’s website at http://www.tamannalebanon.org/.