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April 08, 2007
Charity on Idol
Nikki's Thoughts on American Idol and Charity
According to another one of my favorite entertainment news sources (and television shows), ET Online, American Idol's using its popularity to raise some money for children's charities targeted to helping those impoverished in Africa and America. The ratings giant and reality show phenom has been wrangling numerous celebrities to join the cause, including its most famous alum, Kelly Clarkson - America's very first American Idol. Other celebs include Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Forest Whitaker, Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Radcliffe, Teri Hatcher and Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson).
The charity drive, entitled "Idol Gives Back", is set to coincide with the show's Tuesday, April 24, and Wednesday, April 25, airdates. On Tuesday night, every vote tallied will earn a donation to a charity from sponsors News Corporation, Ford, Coca-Cola and AT&T. Then on Wednesday's Result show, viewers can make their own donation while hot performers - Gwen Stefani, Josh Groban, Pink, Michael Bublé, Annie Lennox, Il Divo, and Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) - take the stage. Idol's banking on the tried and true formula of celebrity swaying power to get more contributions.
I think it's great that Idol's using its strong media presence for a worthy cause. Every time celebrities rally together to raise awareness and raise funds, such as 2005's Live 8 Concert, great things happen. It's even more awesome to see that Idol Gives Back isn't just coming at a time when some major disaster occurred - there are people suffering in the world all the time and we can't forget that.
Posted by paulinad at April 8, 2007 02:23 PM