Idol Gives Back. . .

Tonight's show opened with the current Idol contestants singing "Please Don't Stop the Music". Then the onslaught of celebrities began only to be interrupted by commercials and the contestants singing "Seasons of Love": Nascar's Jimmy Johnson, George Lopez, Kylie Minogue, Maria Shriver, Ben Stiller, Jennifer Connelly, Snoop Dogg (and a friend, I know not whom), Kobe Bryant, Triple H, Paula, Randy, Carrie Underwood, Teri Hatcher, the Man from TV Band, crazy Mary Murphy and her British co-host, Jonas Brothers, Billy Crystal, Miley Cyrus, Bono, Julianne Moore, Fergie, John Legend, Hart, John Cena, Adam Sandler, Eli and Peyton Manning, David and Victoria Beckham, Annie Lennox, Kiefer Sutherland, Celine Dion, Jimmy Kimmel, Simon, Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Gloria Estefan, Sheila E., Sarah Silverman, Forest Whitaker (and his wife), Gordon Brown, Keith Urban, Reese Witherspoon, Dane Cook, Alicia Keyes, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Billy Ray Cyrus, Robin Williams, Rob Schneider, Tyra Banks, David Spade, Brad Pitt, Daughtry. . . then my DVR stopped at the "delete/don't delete" cue, telling me that the show had gone over. Why don't I ever remember to set it to record over???

Anyway, the point of tonight's blog is: all these people made time in their very busy lives to appear on this show to plead with the American public to give to some very, very worthy causes. If you watched the show and weren't moved to tears by the injustice: of children in New Orleans who still aren't back in their homes, of children in Africa who have been orphaned -- some of whom have no one to take care of them, of children who are dying of malaria because they lack the resources to buy a $10 mosquito net, of children in Kentucky who are living WAY below the poverty level for whom a child's book is a luxury, then you're a robot.

Please give. If each American gave $1 it would be over $300 million to help. Give up that latte tomorrow morning and send the $4 to Idol Gives Back. Quit talking about how the world needs to change and send some money; every little bit helps.

Imagine what we could do. Your money will go to one of these charities: the Children's Defense Fund; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Make It Right (a campaign launched by Pitt to help New Orleans rebound from Hurricane Katrina); Malaria No More; Save the Children, and the Children's Health Fund. Please know that these charities benefit CHILDREN most of all.

Thank you Coca Cola, Freemantle Media, Ford, Allstate Insurance, Mac Aids Fund, 19, iTunes, AT&T and New Corporation.