IGB gets message across, but falls flat

In what was supposed to be an exciting extravaganza of Hollywood coming out to help raise awareness for those who are less fortunate in both the U.S. and Africa, "'Idol' Gives Back" offered a great deal of boredom and only a little bit of what they do best - performances.

Although it was great to see celebrity after celebrity talking to viewers via taped messages and urging them to call in to donate, from Whoopi Goldberg to John Cena, there seemed to be an emptiness about the whole thing. Sure, it was great for the producers to focus on the actual purpose of the night, but the video packages of seeing Bono, Annie Lennox and Alicia Keys going to Africa grew tiresome as the night wore on. If it could have been done in a less organized manner, it might have been better.

The highlights of the night were most definitely Fergie's performance with Heart on "Barracuda" and the Top 8's final number of "Shout to the Lord," which were fun and inspirational. It was also nice to see the Top 12 taking phone calls on the stage, which was great whether or not it was all for show.

Other numbers like the uber-scripted, unfunny dialog between Billy Crystal and Miley (or "Milly") Cyrus and the "Russian Idol" Robbin Williams were incredibly out of place and took away from the night. Miley's singing and Britney-like dance moves were enough to send a wave of disgust over some viewers (no offense to any Hannah Montana fans).

Noticeably missing were the three presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama, who were all scheduled to deliver pre-taped video messages to encourage people to donate. For whatever reason, the videos were not shown, though they were in fact shown during the taping on Sunday night.

But it was still a great effort put on by Nigel & Co. and for a good cause, despite the fact that there were more valleys than peaks over the course of the night. As for tonight, someone will be feeling a little less than charitable after hearing the results, but hopefully the spirit of giving from IGB will lessen the blow.