YOUR MONDAY MORNING POST-MORTEM

Promoter Kevin Wall’s ambitious, global Live Earth concerts went off without a hitch this weekend, and have you changed your light bulbs yet? The massive enterprise, which took place on seven continents and was viewed by more than 2 billion people on a combination of Bravo, the Sundance Channel, CNBC, NBC and online at MSN, was organized by Wall with the help of Al Gore, who spoke to the worldwide audience from Giants Stadium in New Jersey, calling for people to sign the 7 Point Pledge, promising personal action against global warning, which you can see here. Also, check out individual performances on MSN.com here.

The concerts featured the Police, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, Genesis, Metallica, Shakira, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood, Fall Out Boy, Smashing Pumpkins and Snow Patrol, among others. The celebrities who turned out included Leonardo DiCaprio, introducing Gore, Cameron Diaz, Kevin Bacon, Rachel Weisz and Alec Baldwin.

Highlights included:

*Brooks and wife Yearwood's stirring performance of "We Shall Be Free" at the National Mall in Washington, on a small stage shared with a Native American music festival that had only been incorporated into Live Earth on Friday.

*Alicia Keys and Keith Urban teaming up for a searing version of “Gimme Shelter” at the Meadowlands.

*Rihanna performing a sizzling “Umbrella” and “SOS” in Japan.

*Shakira writhing her way through a sexy “Hips Don’t Lie,” baring her belly in a rainy Hamburg, Germany.

*Snow Patrol singing “Chasing Cars” at London’s Wembley Stadium.

*Spinal Tap's reunion at Wembley.

*Surprisingly catchy Antarctic indie group Nunatak, comprised of scientists based at a British research center, playing outside in the snow to an audience of waddling penguins.

*KT Tunstall, resplendent in gold lame tights and glittering eyeliner, getting the Giants Stadium crowd to do the wave.

*Corinne Bailey Rae joining John Legend for an appropriate take on Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy, Mercy Me” in London.

*Bon Jovi playing “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Living on a Prayer” and “It’s My Life” for a hometown audience at Giants Stadium.

*Melissa Etheridge ranting about climate change before shouting, “We are all Americans!”

*Madonna introducing her new song, “Hey You,” the Live Earth theme, closing out her London performance with a version of “Hung Up.”

*Lenny Kravitz rocking Brazil with a version of “Are You Gonna Go My Way” before an estimated audience of close to half a million.

*Kanye West and John Mayer joining the Police on-stage for the climactic, and symbolic, “Message in a Bottle” at Giants Stadium.

TRANSFORMING THE BOX OFFICE: The Transformers went to #1 at the movie box office this weekend, generating $67.5 million over the weekend, giving it a total of $152.5 million since its preview last Monday. The animated Disney, Brad Bird-directed comedy Ratatouille came in second with $29 million, followed by Bruce Willis’ Live Free or Die Hard with $17.4 million. The critically panned License to Wed, with Robin Williams, The Office’s John Krasinski and Mandy Moore, was next up, with $10.4 million, followed by Evan Almighty at $8.1 million. Despite the success of The Transformers, the box office take was down 23% from the same weekend last year. The eagerly awaited Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix hits theaters Wednesday (7/11).

RAP SHEET: Atlanta rapper T.I.’s new album, T.I. vs. T.I.P., for his own Grand Hustle label through Atlantic, will be this week’s chart-topper, with estimates ranging up to 500k in first-week sales. As always, to follow the action, log in to hitsdailydouble’s Building Album Sales Chart to be the first at your water cooler with the latest sales figures.

BASEBALL ON TV: Marking this week’s All-Star game in San Francisco, the only place where Barry Bonds is welcome, are two highly touted television programs devoted to the grand old game. Tonight, ESPN begins airing its eight-part mini-series about the turbulent 1977 World Champion Yankee season, The Bronx is Burning, featuring Oliver Platt as George Steinbrenner, John Turturro with prosthetic ears as fiery manager Billy Martin and Rescue Me’s Daniel Sunjata as the straw that stirs the drink, Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. Wednesday night, HBO will air the documentary Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush, which charts the team’s history from the 1947 debut of Jackie Robinson, marking major league baseball’s integration, to its controversial move to Los Angeles in 1957.

ON THIS DATE:

In 1956: Dick Clark appeared on TV for the first time as the host of American Bandstand.

In 1958: Johnny Cash signed with Columbia Records.

In 1962: Bob Dylan performed at the second session for what became The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.

In 1971: Jim Morrison was quietly buried in Paris’ Pere Lachaise cemetery.

In 1972: Paul McCartney toured for the first time since he was in The Beatles.

In 1978: The Rolling Stones dropped in on Chicago’s Quiet Knight club to jam with hero Muddy Waters.

In 1981: The Jacksons began a 36-city tour that would net them $5.5 million.

In 1990: After an inflamed finger at a Glasgow concert, Keith Richards discovered the digit was infected. The Rolling Stones cancelled their subsequent tour dates for the week, which marked the first time the band had pulled out of a show due to illness.

In 1993: The Rolling Stones convened at Ron Wood’s house in Ireland and began a month-long recording session.

In 1995: In Chicago, the Grateful Dead played their last-ever show with Jerry Garcia. The guitarist died the following month.

In 1996: For the first time, Deep Purple played “Smoke on the Water” in the Swiss city that inspired it. The band wrote the song after surviving a nightclub fire in Montreux.

In 2002: It was announced that Eddie Van Halen and his wife Valerie Bertinelli were separating after 21 years of marriage.

In 2003: The White Stripes guitarist/singer Jack White was in a car accident in his native Detroit, which left him with a compound fracture to his left index finger. A subsequent tour was postponed.

In 2004: Courtney Love was rushed to a N.Y. hospital with what her lawyer called “a gynecological medical condition.” Police were called to her New York apartment after it was reported she was throwing bottles from her window, and she was handcuffed to the hospital gurney. She missed her court date in Los Angeles, and a new bail was set for her at $150k.

In 2006: A plaque was stolen from Bon Scott's grave in Western Australia on what would have been the late AC/DC frontman's 60^th birthday.