The concert was held for almost 9,000 screaming people in the parking lot of the Hard Rock Café at Universal Studios, under a blazing heat for nearly 4 hours.
The live cybercast broadcast via www.cybervenue.com was a huge success. WWW.LiveConcerts.com reported over 27,000 users viewed the concert (a record high) with estimates of 2-3 times that number worldwide. The live chat session hosted was also a blowout success, with over 2,300 individual users entering the chat room over a three-hour period (more than double the Super Bowl). At any given time there were at least 500 users actively chatting and thousands more waitig to chat with the Boys and other perfoming artists. There were users signed on from all over Europe and Asia and other unique locations such as Croatia, Slovakia, Chile, Malaysia, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Israel, Thailand, Taiwan, South Africa, Singapore, Denmark Norway, Ireland and many many more.
Aside from one incredibly memorable show, a number of other efforts were made to raise money. Event T-shirts were sold for $10 each. Raffle sales and a silent auction have made up much of the donations as well. The grand prize for the raffle was a lunch date with Howie Dorough from the Backstreet Boys. $2000 was raised in the raffle alone.
One of the silent auction items was for another lunch date with Howie Dorough. By the end of the day, the highest bid was for $5500. Just as the number was written down, another woman grabbed the clipboard and wrote down $5501. At which point, the lady that wrote down $5500, took the clipboard and tapped the second lady over the head with it. Backstreet Manager Donna Wright, seeing this occur, asked what the problem was. Then, just to raise even more money, she decided that they both should have lunch with Howie, and only for $5000 each. So, a total of $12000 was raised, and Howie now has 3 good meals when he comes home.
To perpetuate the efforts that the benefit concert has made, an online Internet auction will begin on March 29, 1998, and close April 5, 1998. Donated items from all participants will be auctioned off. Additional auction material has been donated from a wide variety of people including an autographed and original "Happy Days" script autographed by it's original owner "Fonzie" himself Henry Wrinkler. Other material has been donated by other stars such as Arnold Schwartznegger and other celebrities.