PlaTheGreat said:
And I'm sick of all the people who complain about not hearing how much celebrities donate. You have no idea if Simon gave a million dollars to that village in Africa. Or if Paula Abdul donated $10,000 to build a new facility for the boys and girls club? Instead of complaining about other people being on television for charity, why don't you and those like you take a step back and realize what this has done?
My dad, a hardcore Republican who never gave a shit about Katrina victims (and honestly, still doesn't) sat there with his jaw on the floor watching how those kids in Africa lived. When they brought up the malaria infested kids all he could say at the moment was, "There's nothing we can do about that."
I immediately said, OF COURSE THERE IS and right there and then, they showed how $10 mosquito nets could save the life of a family. He said that he had no idea it would be like that.
Of course, he didn't donate any money, and I wouldn't have expected a television show to change that attitude, but now he knows what Africa can be like. And he knows that it is so simple to change this.
No one is expecting people to give their hearts to those in poverty overnight, but the point of doing this on American Idol was to give awareness to those people who aren't U2 fans and know everything there is to know about Africans in need already, thanks to Bono's 
So say what you will about the contrived and scripted efforts, they might have been done just like you say, but the heart behind the whole thing is genuinely pure.
On Tuesday night my mom said, "Why doesn't Siiimon give half of his fortune away?"
My response? "Why don't you?"
I hear this same point made in various forms whenever somebody trashes Bono for his charity work.
I get what they were trying to do, I really do. I also think probably a lot of money got raised that otherwise wouldn't have, because of Idol Gives Back. I think that's great, obviously. I think, looking at the big picture, that any attention brought to the issues facing not only Africa but also Appalacia and the various depressed urban & rural areas around this country is a good thing. So all in all, I'm glad they did it.
But if it's OK for the judges to say, among other things, that this or that Idol's performance was believable based on watching them for 2 minutes, I can do the same. I don't buy Ryan. He came/comes across as phony, IMO. If you think he's sincerely concerned that's fine...but this is a guy who when not doing AI hosts various radio & TV shows dedicated to whether or not Britney, Lindsay, and Paris have panties on today. He showed us a bit of sensitivity, and to me it appeared forced...and this was edited footage - imagine what they cut out?
For the record, I don't celebrities have to tell anyone what they donate; they don't owe me or anybody else that information. It just felt really uncomfortable to me. Not sure if you ever watch Maury (the wife watches, so I see my fair share), but when he has the paternity tests, which is 4 out of 5 days a week I think...he parades these girls out there to be called every name in the book by the possible father, then reads the results. And when the guy turns out not to be the dad, and he dances around like an idiot, and the girl runs offstage crying...and there goes Maury to put a fatherly arm around her, and tenderly whisper how he'll help her find & test other guys if she wants. He acts all concerned, and it's complete BS. Humiliating those girls makes him money, which is fine, but when he acts all concerned about their feelings it's phony, and very transparent. Well, I got the same feeling from Ryan.
Maybe I'm wrong...if I had to guess I'd pick Simon as the most genuinely concerned among Ryan & the 3 judges. Maybe I'm wrong...
Anyway, ending the hijack...2 eliminations next week, should be interesting. That moment of shock when the audience thought Jordin was out was priceless, but I felt bad for her. That was kinda mean.
It did not come off as Ryan was telling the kid not to cry. 
Just what I was going to say.
