April 25, 2007: 70 Million Votes and Everyone's Safe!
This is going to be a different kind of blog tonight as I am frankly stunned, shocked and really pleasantly surprised that
Idol pulled this little telethon together so quickly and so effectively.
Idol is in a position to do something to help others less fortunate, and I am proud they took this opportunity to do it. They have friends in very high places, and scores of
Idol-worshiping celebrities offered their services to help spread the message. Not only that, but they partnered with
One.org to bring awareness to extreme poverty. And although the show felt pretty much like a long Ford commercial, I am happy and amazed that they did it. A little more than halfway through the show Ryan announced they had raised $30 million! That's pretty impressive. So if you haven't donated, do so now!
There were some funny moments, but mostly these were two hours that really touched me. I started to lose it during the segment about New Orleans: After walking back and forth to the bathroom for Kleenex three times I decided to just bring the darn box with me to the viewing area. It was too lengthy a show for a play-by-play, but some of the highlights for me:
Eric McCormack: "If everyone who ever voted for Sanjaya gave just one dollar, we could do so much good." (You
know who you are!)
Ben Stiller: "Mousse it down?"
Ben Stiller singing "Reminiscing" by the Little River Band.
Ben Stiller dancing while singing.
Ben Stiller mentioning Pure Prairie League ("Amie, what you wanna do?")
Paula visiting with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club in Hollywood, listening to the one little aspiring dancer who started telling the story about her mom working "three jobs and sometimes we can't pay the bills" and breaking down into tears. Another tissue, thank you.
Jack Black as the "audience member who was lucky enough to get to come up on stage." His rendition of Seal's "Kiss from a Rose" was nearly as good as Chris Sligh's! Kyle Gass, the other half of Tenacious D, was holding a rose looking on. It was priceless. And then the judges really threw Jack to the curb, but Seal saved him.
Kelly Clarkson singing "Up to the Mountain" with Jeff Beck playing a beautiful guitar solo along with her. She really has an incredible voice.
Carrie Underwood singing "I'll Stand by You" was really nice.
The "Stayin' Alive" video was star-studded, and I especially liked seeing Gillian Anderson and Miss Piggy.
Ellen donating $100,000 during the show.
Josh Groban has a remarkably good voice. (I know, I know, but I didn't know!)
The smiling faces with the missing teeth of the kids from the African Children's Choir. Those toothless grins made me smile.
Ryan and Simon back in Africa where everyone was either dying of AIDS or malaria. I pretty much finished the Kleenex box during that segment.
The Simpsons judging Simon as a contestant. Good to know Simon can have a laugh at himself.
Homer Simpson, the judge, to Simon, the contestant: "Lose the accent, Mary Poppins!"
The duet between Céline and Elvis was pretty cool. I figured they had to have a guy standing on the stage, though it looked as though even Céline wasn't really there. I think the whole thing was like a holograph and neither of them was there. (I
know Elvis wasn't really there, he works in Vegas.)
Madonna showed up from Malawi and urged us all to donate.
Bono.
As for the results - you probably already know - everyone was safe! The judges felt that since it was a show about charity, the least they could do was keep all six for another week. Jordin was the last to be told she was safe, and the relief of hearing it after everyone else was asked to sit made her burst into tears. Ryan mentioned they had over 70 million votes last night. And so next week, sadly, we'll lose two.
The kids finished the show singing "American Prayer." I really have to fix my DVR, because it stopped taping before they had finished. Bummer. Just want to drive it home that this was a grand gesture, and I sincerely hope the producers make it an annual event. Suggestion Box: Rather than spending so much money on the production of it, how about donating even more money to help people in need? So go download some of the songs and videos from tonight's show on iTunes. You'll feel so much better knowing that by hitting the "download" button you may have saved a life.
