by Natalie Finn
Thu Apr 26, 9:22 AM ET
Los Angeles (E! Online) – It wasn’t just 70 million voters and major corporations who were feeling charitable this week.
As the curtain fell Wednesday on the two-night Idol Gives Back special that featured live and taped appearances by celebs ranging from Bono to Miss Piggy, no one was given the boot, leaving the same six contestants to sing it out next week.
“All your favorites are still in the competition,” host Ryan Seacrest informed a positively thrilled crowd. “How could we let anyone go on a charity night?”
On the less positive side, however, that means two of said favorites will get tossed seven days from now. The more than 70 million calls and text messages that came in last night will be added to next Tuesday’s tallies, Seacrest said.
But on this night, that exorbitant amount of viewer participation represented far more than people’s desire to have a huge stake in who goes home. As part of the Idol Gives Back campaign, American Idol’s most prominent sponsors, including Coca-Cola, AT&T, Ford, Allstate, ExxonMobil and Fox parent News Corp., signed on to donate a certain amount of money per vote, all of which will go toward the newly formed Charity Projects Entertainment Fund—which in turn will dole out the green to relief charities in the United States and Africa.
To help hammer the point home, the two-hour special included clips from Randy Jackson’s visit to New Orleans to meet with Hurricane Katrina victims, Paula Abdul’s meeting with local school children whose parents are struggling to make ends meet, and the trip made to Africa by strange bedfellows turned harmonious travel companions Seacrest and Simon Cowell.
“We met some of the nicest kids I’ve ever met in my life,” Cowell said, when Seacrest asked what struck him most about the journey.
Another video showed Carrie Underwood, who also traveled to Africa on behalf of the numerous charities Idol is supporting, performing “I’ll Stand by You” for children left orphaned by AIDS and the scourges of poverty.
And where there are people warring against poverty in Africa, there’s Bono. The U2 frontman met with the six aspiring Idols this week to discuss the importance of trying to give back whenever possible.
“Well, you murdered that one, didn’t you?” the Nobel Peace Prize nominee joked, observing the group rehearse “American Prayer.”
“That’s what the ONE campaign is all about—people who you wouldn’t normally expect, hanging out with each other…like Irish rock stars on American Idol,” Bono then said, getting down to business.
“I don’t know what it is about music, but it whispers in your ear that the impossible is much more possible than your parents and school teachers are telling you,” Bono said. “Don’t remember me, remember the children whose lives you’re transforming…There isn’t one person watching this program tonight who cannot save a life.”
Of course, American Idol tries to inject at least a little established star power into the proceedings every week, but Fox sure didn’t mess around tonight.
While the usual Seacrest-hosted hoopla (minus an elimination) occurred on the regular Idol stage in Hollywood, Ellen DeGeneres hosted the show’s live companion event via satellite from downtown Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall.
DeGeneres, who announced that she herself will be donating $100,000 to the evening’s cause, said that “obviously, more money is better than less money, but whatever you can give…You probably have a 20 (dollar bill) hanging somewhere in a coat pocket that you’ve forgotten about.”
Although the name of the game was fundraising, music was still the night’s motivating factor.
Earth, Wind & Fire kicked off the night at Disney Hall with a three-tune medley, followed by the six remaining Idol wannabes—decked out from head to toe in dove-white suits—singing the anthem “Time to Care,” penned specially for the occasion by “We Are the World” producer Quincy Jones, who also conducted the band.
Supplying the basso profundo romance were operatic boy band Il Divo, which serenaded the L.A. crowd with “Somewhere” from West Side Story, and Josh Groban, who crooned his signature “You Raise Me Up,” backed by the African Children’s Choir.
Rascal Flatts sang its aptly named hit single “My Wish,” Annie Lennox performed “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” and, with the help of modern technology, Celine Dion teamed with Elvis Presley for “If I Can Dream.”
Taking a cue from Comic Relief were Ben Stiller and Jack Black, whose musical contributions inspired both laughter and donations.
Stiller, for one, promised to keep singing Little River Band’s “Reminiscing” until the $200 million mark was reached. Considering the loftiness of that ideal, the broadcast reverted several times to satellite clips of Stiller, still singing.
And though Black rocks out frequently, Cowell didn’t think too much of the Tenacious D frontman’s wily-eyed take on Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose.”
“You were better than Sanjaya,” Cowell judged. A rose-bearing Kyle Gass seemed to like it, however.
“I thought that was the best rendition of ‘Kiss from a Rose’ I’ve ever heard,” added Seal, who happened to be sitting right behind Jackson.
And on a night that saw Simon, Paula, Randy and Ryan actually behaving themselves, olive branches were extended in all directions.
Grammy snubs aside, Kelly Clarkson really did make a triumphant return to her roots, belting out Patty Griffin’s “Up to the Mountain (MLK Song),” accompanied by guitarist Jeff Beck, and proving there hasn’t been another Idol quite like her.
Celebs who offered up pretaped messages and/or a clip of them lip-syncing to “Stayin’ Alive” included Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Madonna (surrounded by children in Malawi), Forest Whitaker (chiming in from Uganda), Teri Hatcher, Eric McCormack, Dr. Phil (“you’ll never stand taller than when you stoop to help a child,” he said), Hugh Laurie (“House has an accent,” Seacrest noted), Helen Mirren, Kevin Bacon, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Marc Anthony, Kirstie Alley, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Daughtry, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Keira Knightley, Rob Schneider, Jason Biggs, Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Grant, the Blue Man Group, Goldie Hawn, LeBron James, Gwyneth Paltrow and, not one to be left out, Miss Piggy.
Throughout Wednesday’s broadcast, viewers could make individual pledges through a specially set up phone line or via the Internet, and clips of the show are available to download from Apple’s iTunes Music Store, with all proceeds going to charity. More than $30 million was raised, including an additional $5 million from News Corp., on a night that Seacrest called “the biggest in Idol history.”
“I know that I’ve said that 63 times before,” he said, “but tonight I really mean it.”
Meanwhile, Melinda Doolittle, LaKisha Jones, Blake Lewis, Chris Richardson, Jordin Sparks and Phil Stacey all get to return next week to rock out with help from guest mentor Jon Bon Jovi. (Source: Yahoo News)
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