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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > April > 09
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
4/9: Idol Gives Back is back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Reese Witherspoon and Brad Pitt participate in “Idol Gives Back,” most of which was taped Sunday but aired Wednesday. CREDIT: AP
Well, “Idol Gives Back” has started. I’m not sure how much live stuff will appear, if at all. So far, as of 7:45 a.m., it’s all the taped stuff from the Kodak Theater Sunday. I have heard nothing since about bringing back some of the rejected “Idol” folks for a spot on the tour. I can’t see that happening and certainly not tonight. Kinda off message, eh?
The opener indeed featured the top 8 singing “Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna with several of the “So You Think You Can Dance” singers. Ryan Seacrest makes some embarrassing dance steps himself.
The taped pleas include Jimmy Johnson, George Lopez, Kylie Mingoue. The cadaverous Maria Shriver pops on stage. Comedy relief: Ben Stiller-he wants to raise a “googillion dollars.” Jennifer Connelly stars in an ad for clean water. Snoop Dogg smokes the stage. More pleas from Kobe Bryant, then Triple H.
Teri Hatcher sings a bit of “Before He Cheats” after she “catches” Carrie working with James Denton on a sink. Denton plays guitar in the “Band from TV” group. She’s actually not half bad. Mary Murphy, wearing khaki (??), from “So You Think” screams and screams. Hey, at least this all happened before the traditional 8 p.m. primetime hour!
At 8 p.m., the Jonas Brothers plea and the girls scream. Billy Crystal makes some jokes about not knowing who Miley Cyrus is and vice versa. Wow, this bit drags on and on. But the crowd seems to like it. Fox must love this extended promotion for ABC (“Desperate Housewives”) and Disney (Cyrus). It’s all for charity, folks! Must… clamp… down… cynicism!
At 8:10 p.m., the first shots from the regular “Idol” studios pop up with the top 12 on stage literally taking live donations. Look—David Hernandez, Amanda and Chikezie are back! Bono on tape is in Africa in a village decimated by AIDS. After a commercial break, Julianne Moore does a pre-taped plea.
Then it’s Fergie with John Legend followed by “Idol” favorite band Heart (“Barracuda”). Bringing Fergie on seemed a little indulgent on Fergie’s part. Just let Ann do her thang, bless her heart!
WWE’s John Cena, then Adam Sandler throws out the 1-800-IDOL-AID number. Call! Eli & Peyton Manning show up on stage at the Kodak to promote Save the Children. Oh, and the Beckhams read cue cards. Syesha, Kristy, Michael and David Cook are in the front rows and are getting more airtime. It’s now 8:40 p.m., with more Bono, joined by Annie Lennox, both in Africa. Lennox is truly emotionally wrought. Kiefer Sutherland in suit and tie tapes a quickie plea.
By 9 p.m., we see Celine Dion in Africa. Jimmy Kimmel roasts Simon. “All the good feelings about the British Mary Poppins brought here he has undone… we should set aside a little bit of money tonight to buy Simon a shirt that fits him. I know you’ve had that black v-neck since the fourth grade.. but it’s time to let it go… on some nights it looks like you’re smuggling the Olsen twins under your shirt… Back to Simon’s nipples.. some think Paula is crying. It’s his nipples keep poking her in the eyes.”
“American Idol without Simon would be like Christmas without the Grinch, a picnic without ants, like Ryan Seacrest without the faux hawk.” We watch a video of Simon visiting mobile medical units paid for by “Idol Gives Back” to help the medically uninsured. It’s disorienting seeing Simon in this role of playing empathetic. He then introduces Carrie Underwood, who he reminded us was the one he (correctly) predicted would outsell all other Idols. She sings, with the proper emotional nuance. Whoopi and it’s commercial time!
Finally, we hear an upbeat song courtesy of Gloria Estefan with Sheila E in the background. They are giving the illusion that the Sunday night taping is live by hiding the “Idols” in the side boxes at Kodak while their live versions are on stage at the regular Idol theater. And notice Ryan opened at Kodak but has since disappeared from that portion of the show once he was shown live.
Uh oh, Sarah Silverman—being sincere? About malaria? Forrest Whitaker shows us how one pill can save someone from malaria in Africa. The Prime Minister of England pops in via video. Okay, we’re getting close to the end. It’s 9:20 p.m. with Keith Urban doing the plea. Reese Witherspoon (who had mike problems and had to do her take again) promotes the Children’s Defense Fund and shows a video of her at a “freedom” school in New Orleans.
The Idol stage is cleared of phones and the top 8 sing some inspirational tune. We know it’s inspirational because there’s a big chorus. Then Dane Cook pops up at the Kodak Theatre three days earlier to promote Keep a Child Alive with Alicia Keys in Africa.
Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, from the set of “High School Musical 3,” do the plea followed by a second (!) performance by Miley Cyrus (her hit “See You Again”). They must figure she’s ratings gold for those kid demos so why not double up? She and her dad Billy Ray visit some really poor parts of the Appalachian area.
Then Robin Williams reprises his “Moscow on the Hudson” character as the Russian “Idol.” (I guess Yakov Smirnoff was busy.) ” ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ means something totally different there,” he said. Wow. Jokes about good ol’ communist Russia and drinking! How timely! He sings and if you find Robin amusing, well, there ya go. And Rob Schneider (“Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”) does the plea. Rob Schneider?
Homestretch, people: Tyra Banks does a taping. Then David Spade (“Tommy Boy,” “Joe Dirt”) introduced Brad Pitt (“Fight Club,” “Seven”), whose charity is helping post-Katrina New Orleans. His mike didn’t work so they showed the director came up to fix it, saying, “I needed a reason to touch him.” He showed a tape of Daughtry in Uganda.
Hold your horses, WAGA-TV news staff. This looks like it will go well past 10 p.m.! In fact, at 10:02 p.m., Mariah Carey hits the stage with Randy Jackson on bass. (Mariah hasn’t looked this trim in years and she can still vocally break champagne glasses.) At 10:05 a.m., Ryan closes out followed by the final eight (dressed in white) singing “Shout to the Lord.” Did I miss Maroon 5? And I thought Fantasia and Elliott Yamin would come by though I may have just overlooked them. And where was Amy Adams? And I also thought they were going to get videos from the three major Presidential candidates. Just as well keep the political stuff out of it. Then again, some leftover performances from Sunday may just be shown Thursday night. (I was told the taping took more than three hours with no commercial breaks.)
Overall, I actually enjoyed last year’s more. This one was longer, which didn’t help. There was unfortunately no “what the…?” moment like last year’s Celine/Elvis bit.
This year, the groups which will receive your monies are Global Fund, Malaria No More, Children’s Health Fund, Save the Children, Children’s Defense Fund and Make It Right, Brad Pitt’s campaign to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina.
