Idol Gives Back, and Then Some

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Three things I learned from watching two and a half hours of "Idol Gives Back" last night: Heart still rocks, Teri Hatcher has a decent voice, and Fergie can do one-handed cartwheels. While singing in leather pants. For that, I say props, woman.

In spite of myself, I actually enjoyed Idol's yearly telethon to raise awareness for children in need. Unlike last year's event, the taped segments weren't overly treacly, the musical performances were entertaining, and the guest stars were A-list. (Although I have to say: after scoring the coup of getting Brad Pitt to present on your show, you have him introduce... Daughtry? Shouldn't it be the other way around?) Even the cross-promotions weren't as egregious as normal. Aside from Fox's deft incorporation of the So You Think You Can Dance hoofers with the remaining contestants, the most pimped-out network actually seemed to be ABC. (Witness: Jimmy Kimmel chatting a tad too much about Simon's nipples and a quasi-nervous looking Hatcher rocking out to Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats.") The Desperate Housewives star was clearly talked into the gig by James Denton, her TV husband and guitarist for the fantastic Band From TV. For those unfamiliar with the group, BFTV is a charity cover band started by J.J. Abrams pal and ubiquitous character actor Greg Grunberg, who in turn, has recruited co-stars like Hugh Laurie and Bob Guiney to sign on. Though ivory-tickler Laurie was tragically absent from the gig, Jesse "Dr. Chase" Spencer picked up the slack (and scored some extra airtime!) with his vigorous violin playing.

The other musical performances were hit or miss. Snoop Dogg brought it, Fergie and Heart brought it, and a glam-looking Carrie Underwood brought it. Plus, I'm a sucker for Miley Cyrus ("See You Again" repeats endlessly on my iPod gym mix), so I didn't mind her double bill. I especially loved that she kind of awkwardly stomped around the stage, flung her arms in all directions, and danced like the 15-year old that she is, as opposed to a hyper-sexualized femmebot.

"Idol" also attracted the usual hodgepodge of celebrities (Tyra Banks, Maria Shriver, Peyton Manning -- who was in a far more charitable mood than he was toward the United Way kids he once tried to "coach") and Brits strong-armed by the Simons (Cowell and Fuller) to make key appearances. Other segment presenters (both taped and live) included usual suspects Bono and Annie Lennox, the alpha-actress trifeca of Reese Witherspoon, Julianne Moore, and Jennifer Connelly, and a distinctly dark-tressed Ben Stiller. Although the upcoming Tropic Thunder star's intro was hit or miss, his comment about AI essentially being about "convincing crazy people that they belong on television" was right on target. Dane Cook? Unfunny as usual. The kinda-Comic Relief reunion, with Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal, and Robin Williams? Probably should have updated their material.

The AI contestants themselves were meh. The Rent sing-a-long, while a good fit in theory, seemed disjointed, although the kids, in the words of Randy Jackson, all worked it out for Rihanna's "Please Don't Stop the Music." It was a hawt night, dog!

Comments

[GAC1]

I was embarassed for Billy Crystal and Robin Williams. They weren't funny at all. Jimmy Kimmel was better, but he went on and on. His girlfriend would have been funnier if she was on stage with Matt Damon...Ha just kidding, but she really is not all that funny to me.

[Binea]

It was ok,but..as a parent watching the show with my kids..I thought Robin Williams grabbing Simons butt was totally ...inappropiate ?My kids like his movies like "Hook" .There were a couple of other things..I won't watch one of these "specials" with the kids again.The regular show is ok ..family friendly.

[epotruchyeahright]

Jeez, what a completely benign thing to hold back from your kids. I kept my 5-yr-old son up till 9 to watch some of the show. I think he saw the Robin Williams bit, which was lame anyway. The butt-grab was no big deal. I'll bet your kids didn't even notice, and if they did, you could have just passed it off as two men acting like goofballs! That's what it was anyway, nothing sexual, nothing racy, nothing even funny.

[Binea]

actually my almost 14 year old son missed it,my daughter talked through most of the show she's a bit of a chatter box,for once I'm glad of that lol..I doubt it affected them..but it irritates me.I find myself wincing at alot of things we see in so called "family friendly" shows. It wasn't funny and it was racy enough.

[epotruchyeahright]

Watched the whole show, felt underwhelmed by it. Three major standouts for me were:
Fergie, who just plain rocked her ass off and upstaged the Wilson sisters. Who knew that girl had such pipes?
Annie Lennox, who nearly brought me to tears with her fantastic voice and heartfelt rendition of Jimmy Cliff's amazing song.
Carrie Underwood, who took George Michael's lame, overproduced ballad and just killed it. She also looked so beautiful!

[Melissa]

I am probably the only one in America who has never watched American Idol. I have nothing against it, I just don't like reality shows.

[Burnsey]

It was a pretty good show, and I am sorta glad they cut the presidential candidates, and you are spot on about the Robin Williams bit. Hairy lipped overweight russian women stereotypes is so cold war...

but for goodness sake, at least run spell check or proof read your stories before posting them. Do they pay you for this? I'm suprised at how many "professional" bloggers/reporters don't know how to spell or correctly use grammer (and I'm not talking about the word Fugly).

[InternationalObserver]

Heh heh -- I was going to criticize the spelling of 'Fembot' too, but I actually think 'Femmebot' is better. It's more feminine!

[DemandTruth]

You mean "grammar"? I guess YOUR spellcheck missed that one, huh?