American Idol Sets The Pace

Jordin Sparks is my pick of the Season 6 litter

While it was a treat to watch American Idol 'Give Back'
on Wednesday last, it was also an emotional two hours
for most viewers, many of whom were driven in record
numbers to make their first visit ever to the websites
of charitable organizations. According to Reuters News,
' the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History, a coalition
of dozens of nonprofits like Oxfam and Save the Children,
said more than 70,000 Americans joined the campaign
after the show, which included an appeal by Irish rock star
and spokesman Bono ' Read the article here

Like the rest of the 26.4 million viewers who tuned in, I was
rightly amazed by the Elvis-Celine Dion duet which will be
the one with the most entertainment tech buzz in days to come.
Unlike Natalie Cole's duet with her father's giant-sized video
many years ago, this duet had something of a holographic image
of The King swinging alongside Celine, and to make it more eerie
people walked all around the stage without breaking up the picture,
as happens in projected images. Almost like a Star Trek sequence,
and the image was visible from ALL sides. My feeble mode of
tech comprehension said this was an Elvis impersonator, but no
amount of makeup could have reproduced this likeness.
We'll just have to wait for Idol to pull out another surprise from
their seemingly endless supply.

Highlights of the show were definitely the KIDS in Africa,
dying of AIDS and Malaria without a whisper of hope.
Every three minutes a child dies of Malaria in Africa !
It was certainly worth seeing the ever-bubbly Ryan Seacrest and the
unflappable Simon Cowell getting overwhelmed by the depth of the
tragedy they confronted there. They attempted to rescue a young
woman dying of AIDS by rushing her to the nearest hospital in their
truck, but two days later they were shaken by the news of her death.

Now all the Reality shows on TV, Jerry Lewis' Telethon aside, will
have to match Idol's effort or be resigned to the list of also-rans.
In the wake of the whole Sanjaya Malakar madness American Idol's
meaningful attempt to shed light on Poverty and AIDS in Africa
is uncontested Reality TV.

On another note :

click

Jeff Beck's duet with Kelly Clarkson was a big
treat for me, along with those funky Earth, Wind and Fire cats.
Here's Jeff Beck ripping the hell out of his Strat on a tune called 'Nadia'.
Makes his axe wail like an Indian shehnai....amazing technique. Enjoy !