8:18 p.m. - 2008-04-09
idol
Blogging American Idol Gives Back
I love this show. I LOVE it that so many people tonight are going to see things they don't think about. They are going to be moved to give money - and the money goes to good organizations that know what to do with it. It will be star studded and moving and sad and hopeful. I'm excited!
8:05 (I tuned in a few moments late)Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana and Billy Crystal. Awkward, boring.
8:10 Yes!!!!!!!!!!! BONO!!!!! Already??? This is like 50% of why I am watching. He is in Africa with a little girl who has AIDS. I am crying. I effing love that man. "Give me a job!!!!!!!!!" I yell at the tv.
8:15 Fergie is looking Fergie-lish as aways. She sings something slow and nice and hopeful. And then...Heart comes on and does Baracuda. Hmm. It's good. One of the "Hearts" is large. Very very large. We've all gained weight since the 80s but yikes. Heart still rocks though. And Fergie comes back and rocks with her. She does a one-handed cartwheel. Hmm.
8:25 Adam Sandler tells us to donate. He has my dog - the British Bulldog I desperately want.
8:29 Peyton Manning. Looking dapper. Oh and Eli. Also dapper. They talk about New Orleans and show video of the Katrina disaster. Really heavy. Kids talk about seeing people die, people killing themselves. Not enough food and water for days. I have three kids in my program who came to us after Katrina. They are scarred but getting better. They smile now, sometimes.
8:35 Becks and Posh.
8:37 Argh!!!! Bono again!!! This is fantastic! He is in Tansania talking to a boy who lost both of his parents to AIDS. He turns it over to Annie Lenox in South Africa - a family of brothers - young children, the oldest is 15 - have lost every family member who has taken care of them, to AIDS. Annie takes them to a clinic to get tested for AIDS - the oldest one is terrified that he has it because if he dies, the little ones will be totally vulnerable. I am actually holding my breath. Whew. Their tests are negative. Annie talks about what it would be like as a mother, dying, knowing she was leaving her children to fend for themselves. I cry a little. People do not have to die from AIDS.
This show is amazing - I wrote a letter to Bono 5 years ago and told him that he needed to get every celebrity he could think of on board with this stuff in case someone happened to him. Who would take up the charge? He was seemingly the only one for so long. Then came Angelina and Madonna....and countless others. I don't have any delusions that Bono actually got my letter and followed my advice. But I am soooo happy to see this happening.
8:45 Ooooh, Keifer does a little request for donations.
8:50 Celine Dion reports on the work being done in South Africa with last year's donations. I like that they do this.
8:51 Jimmy Kimmel. Makes fun of Simon Cowell's nipples. He introduces Simon who is in the audience, but on the video he talks about lack of healthcare in America. There is a family that he talks with who is basically homeless - the mom has lupus which is an autoimmune system disorder that is actually a form of arthritis and I can tell you from my previous work, that it is nasty. She has a child with JRA - Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis. This is a disease that I can tell you requires EXPENSIVE medication. People ( kids with JRA grow into aduls with JRA) who get this suffer extreme pain and inflamation and eventually, if not treated, serious deformity. Simon gets up and speaks and is funny and looks really good all dressed up.
8:56 Carrie Underwood is glorious and sounds great. That girl could make me a country fan.
9:00 Whoopie Goldberg urges us to donate.
9:04 Ellen Degeneres
9:05 Glroia Estefen. Get on your feet! Wooo! I love this song. There is this very cute, girly drummer playing. I love her! Ooh, salsa dancers! I actually just got up and danced. For reals.
9:08 Sarah Silverman. Hee hee. She is very very funny. Then she talks about Malaria. I have never seen her be serious. I am confused about Malaria. They are always handing out these mosquito nets. How come Americans go to Africa and get Malaria shots? Why can't we give the Africans malaria shots? Oh, wait. Because they are poor. I guess nets are cheaper than shots?
9:17 Reese WItherspoon. She and Carrie Underwood could be sisters. We are told that every 3 hours a child is killed by a firearm. Every 30 seconds a child is born into poverty. She highlights a network of after school programs called Freedom Schools.
9:22 The Idols sing Seasons of Love from Rent. I didn't like Rent, the musical or the movie, but I LOVE this song. It could have been a little more dramatic, if you ask me, but it was still nice.
9:25 Dane Cook talking about Alicia Keyes and introducing her video of her in Africa. Alicia says "It's crazy to think you can change someone's life forever for the price of a pair of shoes."
9:32 I am eating an organic orange druing the commercial. Um, I don' tthink I've ever had one before. It cost be 59 cents at Trader Joes and it was well worth it. It is at least twice as good as any other orange I have ever had. I have only recently been buying any organic produce because it is generally much more expensive than the normal, pesticide laden stuff. I thought the taste would be about the same and just not have poison on it. However, the organic orange is far superior. I am trying to calculate the cost difference - a bag of like 12 Sunkist oranges is like 6 dollars I think so it's really not that much more. Totally worth it.
9:35 Miley Cyrus performs and then shows a video of her and Billy Ray go to Appalachia. They show an after school program that focuses on literacy.
9:40 Robin Williams comes out pretending to be Russian. It's kind of annoying.
9:50 Mariah Carey, boo.
9:55 The Idols sing a worship song that I used to sing with Bev. Aw.
