American Idol - Idol Gives Back Episode

Thanks to People magazine for this report on last night’s American Idol …

Everybody Loves Ellen: Ellen DeGeneres, who cohosted Wednesday’s Idol Gives Back from L.A.’s Disney Concert Hall, came out to greet the crowd before the show and show off some of her signature dance moves as she shook her hips and did some tricks for the roaring audience. The talk-show host got a standing ovation and the audience chanted her name – “Ellen, you rock!” screamed one fan – before DeGeneres introduced R&B supergroup Earth, Wind & Fire to kick off the night.



Heart-y Support: As the Idol Top 6 walked to the center of the stage for the show’s opening, Jordin Sparks scanned the crowd to find her family. Dad Philippi caught his daughter’s eye and held up his hands in the shape of a heart. She smiled and winked at her proud papa.







Life Is Beautiful: An audience member had the opportunity to ask Simon Cowell how his trip to Africa affected him and he sincerely replied, “You don’t feel sorry for yourself anymore.” The audience responded with polite applause.









Tearful Moment: After Josh Groban performed an emotional rendition of “You Raise Me Up” with the The African Children’s Choir, they got a two-minute-long standing ovation from the crowd at the Disney Concert Hall. And over at the Idol studio, the Top 6 were equally emotional about the tender song: When the show went to commercial, Jordin buried her head into her hands and turned away from the audience as she tried to regain her composure while LaKisha Jones rubbed her back.





Chris Richardson was also in tears and quickly left the stage to pull himself together. Upon his return, Melinda Doolittle embraced him and patted him on the back.

Thumbs Down, Thumbs Up: For a crowd who had been anticipating surprise duet, there was an audible letdown when it was Celine Dion and Elvis Presley, who made a “guest appearance” next to her in the form of a 1968 performance. There were grumblings and light boos from the audience, who talked amongst themselves during the performance. Much more well-received was Annie Lennox’s show-stopping closing performance of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” While Lennox sat down at her piano to prepare for her song, an excited DeGeneres came over to greet and hug the British singer.

All Hail Sanjaya! Only a week after being ousted from Idol, Sanjaya Malakar returned to the Idol studio as an audience member and was the talk of the night. After Jack Black’s performance of Seal’s “Kissed From a Rose,” and Simon snarked that the funnyman sang it “worse than Sanjaya,” producer Debbie McVickers asked the 17-year-old during the commercial how he liked being teased.

The smiley Seattle native’s response? “I liked it!” During the next break, Simon summoned Sanjaya to the judges’ table, where the he was greeted warmly with hugs from him, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. Later in the night, during another break, Sanjaya reunited with the Top 6 contestants on the stage. They all embraced him, especially an excited Phil Stacey, who picked him up and swung him around before putting him back on his own two feet.

Kelly Clarkson:


Jack Black:


Celine Dion and Elvis Presley!!!:


Josh Groban:


Results/Vote Videos:


Earth, Wind and Fire:


Carrie Underwood:


Il Divo:


Top 6 Perform Quincy Jone's "Time to Care":


Annie Lennox:


Simon Cowell on the Simpsons:


Rascal Flatts:


Jordin Sparks and Chris Richardson Results:

China gives thumbs-down to 'American Idol' imitators

CHANGSHA, China - Zhou Dong is a polite, articulate boy-next-door type who reveres his parents. If the government is to be believed, he is also a threat to China's moral fabric.

The 26-year-old travel agency employee in the central Chinese city of Changsha is one of thousands of young men across the country hoping to enter "Happy Boy," China's new all-male answer to "American Idol".

"I love to sing, and I just want to have the chance to express my love for my parents for everyone to hear," Zhou says while relaxing in a coffee shop in Changsha, home to "Happy Boy's" producers, Hunan Satellite TV.

Crooning a few bars from a syrupy Chinese love ballad, Zhou clearly seems guilty of little more than an inability to hit the high notes.

But China's government sees it differently.

The successor to Hunan Satellite's smash hit "Super Girl," "Happy Boy" is one of many Western-inspired reality shows whose success has triggered a crackdown by a Communist Party apparently sensing a destabilizing cultural threat.

"Many (reality shows) are low-quality, low-brow programs only catering to the bottom end of the market," Wang Taihua, head of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said in January.

The administration, which acts as the government's TV censor, last week issued a thumbs-down directly at "Happy Boy" that was worthy of Simon Cowell, American Idol's famously acerbic judge.

"No weirdness, no vulgarity, no low taste," it told Hunan Satellite as it listed 11 restrictions for this year's series.

Contestants must only sing "healthy and ethically inspiring" songs, while the show must not indulge in "gossip". No one aged under 18 is allowed to apply.

The censor's notice said the rules were aimed at "preparing a good atmosphere" in society ahead of the ruling Communist Party's five-yearly National Congress late this year.

"The government worries that the popularity of this type of entertainment will destroy the mainstream ideology of the party," said Zhu Dake, a professor of Chinese culture at Shanghai's Tongji University.

"Today's culture of entertainment is a double-edged sword; it brings profits but also can cause the collapse of more refined cultural values."

China's leaders have declared past wars on various forms of "spiritual pollution," but face a formidable foe in the reality show phenomenon.

Three years ago, Hunan Satellite launched its first talent show in Changsha -- ironically, a short drive from the birthplace of the founder of Communist China Mao Zedong.

"Super Girl's" huge popularity -- and profitability -- won it a national audience and spawned myriad imitators among revenue-hungry local and regional broadcasters. Even Beijing-based party flagship China Central Television piled in.

Since then, up to 500 reality shows have been created, ranging from a search for the next Beijing Opera star to a program where well-off urbanites temporarily swap lives with poor farmers.

The Idol-style fare, however, has proven particularly popular in a music-loving society where people often unabashedly burst into song in elevators, checkout lines and other public sites.

Last year's "Super Girl" finale drew one of the highest television audiences in Chinese history, with an estimated 400 million viewers tuning in.

"The impact (of such shows) has been huge, both on culture and business. But people born in the 1980s or '90s are sinking into a mess of fanaticism and confusion," said Ma Xiangwu, a culture critic at People's University in Beijing.

"I think the government and central authorities are very worried about this."

Yet many see greed behind an official backlash that seems particularly focused on Hunan Satellite.

Speculation was rife that the broadcaster would be banned from airing another season this year.

This was averted only when Hunan province's Communist Party boss personally flew to Beijing to plead for leniency for the provincial cash cow, according to various media reports.

It gained the green light last month, but only by changing to an all-male format and jettisoning its valuable brand name in favor of the childish "Happy Boy".

Theories abound for the change, but it threw Hunan Satellite's advertising strategy into disarray and was widely seen as an attempt to prevent the market leader from hoarding too much of the pie.

"This was about competition. No question," said Hunan Satellite TV newscaster Zhang Dandan.

"'Super Girl' was built into a powerful brand name, so this is a big blow for Hunan TV."

How big remains to be seen. The broadcaster -- which received well over 100,000 entries for Supergirl last year -- began accepting entries for "Happy Boy" last month.

But the popularity and profitability of such shows could mean they will remain a cultural thorn in the Communist Party's side for some time, Ma said.

"To completely ban these shows would be inappropriate. The media, society and business world demand them. Entertainment and business are becoming one in China," he said.

As he prepared to enter, Zhou remained bemused about all the fuss.

"I'm not trying to become a star. This is just fun and a valuable personal experience. Young Chinese just want to be able to express themselves." AFP