American Idol Charity Show Reduces America To Tears.... Touching Tv Charity Drive Brings America To Tears Tears of joy and sadness flowed in the US last night (25Apr07) as American Idol highlighted the plight of poverty-stricken kids in Africa and America.The TV talent contest became a charity drive for two magical hours when pop, rock and movie stars filmed special messages, videos and performed live in a bid to highlight charity organisation One: The Campaign To Make Poverty History.Among the highlights was a moving rendition of West Side Story love theme Somewhere from opera quartet Il Divo, who performed as images of children blowing out candles were beamed onto a huge screen behind them.Former Idol winner Carrie Underwood also helped hammer home the emotion of child poverty when she shot a video of herself performing The Pretenders' I'll Stand By You to a group of African schoolchildren.The video, filmed especially for the show, also featured the Jesus, Take The Wheel singer visiting an African graveyard with a young local.Another Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, performed gospel standard Up To The Mountain with British guitar great Jeff Beck.But the night's musical highlight came as opera star Josh Groban performed You Lift Me Up with the African Children's Choir.The charity special also had a host of comedy moments - Jack Black performed Seal's Kiss From A Rose and was critiqued by the British singer himself, while funnyman Ben Stiller had viewers covering their ears last night (25Apr07) as he attempted to raise charity cash by crooning the Little River Band's Reminiscing on the Idol Gives Back TV special.

In a taped video message, the funnyman insisted he wouldn't stop singing until viewers of the American Idol show raised $2 billion (£1 billion) for anti-poverty charities.

And stars like Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Teri Hatcher, Gwyneth Paltrow and Oscar winner Helen Mirren lip-synced a hilarious video version of the Bee Gees' Staying Alive.

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