My Thoughts On "Idol Gives Back" and Tonight's Show

So before we move on to tonight’s show, let me play a little catch-up and offer up some thoughts on “Idol Gives Back”…

To be honest, I can’t really say that much because since I was watching it on tape, I fast-forwarded through most of it—including all of the appeal videos (Am I cold-hearted or what?).

But of what I saw, I thought the show was actually kind of decent. The comedy bits were mostly funny for a change—although George Lopez went on a little long and I didn’t appreciate the Clay Aiken slam in the Russell Brand-Jonah Hill bit (Tatiana looked good, didn’t she?). But Wanda Sykes was hilarious, especially the part about the eliminated contestants singing and reminding us of why we didn’t vote for them.

And no, the contestants did not sing live, but I think the Auto-Tune was turned down slightly and there may have been some actual live notes involved.

My biggest problem with the show is that it always thinks bigger is better. We couldn’t just have Joss Stone, we had to have Joss Stone and Jeff Beck. We couldn’t just have Mary J. Blige, we had to have her with an All-Star Band. But the best performances were just one person and the microphone—Carrie Underwood and the always phenomenal Annie Lennox. It was disappointing that Annie couldn’t be there live, but she was still amazing.

Speaking of the performers, it’s interesting to note that The Black Eyed Peas are not allowing their performance to be downloaded for charity. Personally, I wouldn’t waste my money even if it is for a good cause, but I find that to be a terrible move on their part that they should seriously reconsider.

My biggest disappointment with the show was that there were no big watercooler moments that made me want to run to my computer and start downloading. Remember two years ago, the goosebump-inducing performance of “Shout to the Lord” by the contestants (Of course, you downloaded it and discovered it was completely different, but that’s another story.)? Or Annie Lennox tearing through “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during the first one? It just all seemed a little blah this year.

And did the President of the United States really need to tell us that we’re all his dawgs?

The most important thing is that a lot of money--$45 million and counting—has been raised for some very worthwhile charities…

Of course Tim Urban being out of the competition is pretty important too…

Tonight it’s the music of Shania Twain. I’m not going to lie. I’m pretty worried. This is, after all, the music that took out Mandisa in Season 5. This could be interesting…