Idol Gives Back

There are two ways a celebrity summit like Wednesday night's "Idol Gives Back" charity telecast can achieve razzle-dazzle nirvana: through staged spontaneity or grandeur. When the first occurs, as when Fergie did flips across the floor while rocking out with Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, we viewers are plunged into the fun of the moment. Unexpected gestures by our favorite stars collapse the distance between us and them.

Britney Spears was so moved by the "Idol Gives Back" telethon on Wednesday night, she donated $25,000 to the cause.

Fox's second annual "American Idol" charity fest "Idol Gives Back" dropped significantly from its debut last year. Despite an all-star lineup that included performances by Mariah Carey, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Fergie and the promise of appearances by all three presidential candidates, the show was down 34% among adults 18-49 year-to-year. Although the two-hour "Idol Gives Back" was Wednesday's highest-rated program (17.6 million viewers and a 6.7 rating and 18 share), it marks the lowest rating for an "Idol" telecast since the 2005 "American Idol's Worst Auditions" special.

Fox's "Idol Gives Back" charity telethon raised $22 million for charity last night (April 9), thanks to a combination of corporate sponsorship and donations from viewers who called in to the show and gave via AmericanIdol.com

The presidential candidates all taped appeals for charity for "Idol Gives Back," but when the special telethon edition of the popular singing contest show went on too long, that segment was cut and was bumped to tonight's show.

Life is good for Nigel Lythgoe. The co-producer of American Idol helped usher in a show that's become a pop-cultural sensation, with an average weekly audience of 40 million. Lythgoe is the president of Idol's parent company, 19 Entertainment, and the creator, producer and a full-time judge of So You Think You Can Dance. Still, something seemed missing. So when Idol creator Simon Fuller and British writer Richard Curtis floated the idea of a charity benefit, modelled after Comic Relief, to combat poverty in Africa and U.S. cities, Lythgoe jumped aboard. The result was Idol Gives Back, a two-hour...

ExxonMobil Corp. has upped the ante this year on tonight's "Idol Gives Back" episode of American Idol with a $10 million donation to support anti-malaria efforts. Last year, the Irving-based company offered a $3 million "challenge grant" that matched viewers' donations to Malaria No More, a nonprofit organization with the mission to end deaths due to malaria.