Idol Gives Back

American Idol's Idol Gives Back was a huge success. It was last night from 8 to 10 eastern time. Guest appearances included Ellen Degeneres, who hosted the music performances part at Disney Studios, Jack Black, Earth Wind & Fire, Kelly Clarkson, and many others. Ben Stiller also made an appearance through the big screen, I guess he was somewhere else.

There was also an exclusive performance by Cher and Elvis Presley. Yes, it was the real him. They took a video recording of him doing a song and made it look like him and Cher sung next to each other. Okay, yes if you didn't watch it you probably are like... wtf? But, it wasn't that bad. It looked as real as it gets. They even did side and back shots and so it looked like he was actually there. It was actually really cool! You can download it exclusively on iTunes. Here is the video on YouTube, though it is REALLY bad quality, you get the idea. You should buy it on iTunes to see it with good quality, all proceeds go to the 'Idol Gives Back' funding thing.



Note: If you cannot view the video, it's because it was deleted. You can search YouTube for "Idol Gives Back Celine" and you will probably get some results. But, I would advise buying it on iTunes to help support the Idol Gives Back charity.

What I found to be sketchy though, was the amount of commercials there was on the show. Every 10 minutes there was a set of commercials. For being such a huge charitable event, you would expect to see more of the show I though. But, they are very clever. Put on a huge show that is going to get even non-Idol watchers, plus the returning fans that refused to watch it because of Sanjaya, and you are going to be making money too. That was there plan, and I think it worked.

But, that isn't the main point. The main point is they probably raised a couple million dollars that will help poverty in both America and Africa. Which is good. I would have donated if I had any money. My dad did though. They are going to reveal the results next week I think.

As for elimination, they surprised just about everyone. The last two standing was Jordin Sparks and Chris Richardson, and then Ryan Seacrest told Chris that he was safe. I almost threw something at the TV. But, then Ryan turned it around and said that Jordin was safe as well. I was confused, and he said no one would be eliminated tonight.

They showed a lot of clips from Africa and it was sad. I cried a little bit. It was really overwhelming and real. I wasn't expecting such terrible stories and images. But, it was the truth.

The show was great though. Hopefully they will do one next year. I enjoyed it.