American Idol flaunted its generosity and heart on last night's Idol Gives Back charity show by teasing viewers for two hours about "shocking" voting results, only to forego elimination altogether (two contestants will go home next week). But while Chris Richardson and LaKisha Jones were spared for another seven days, the special was notable for being the first telethon to actually kill two people during the telecast in a ploy for sympathy and donations.
The shocking deaths occurred in two separate segments featuring Idol Angels of Death Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell in Africa. The first victim was a woman in the last stages of AIDS. After Simon helped fold her into the back of a pickup truck for a ride to the hospital, Seacrest announced that she died two days later. A later segment featured a mother rushing her malaria-stricken baby to a hospital, only to have the screen go to black and Seacrest intone that the child didn't make it.
Meanwhile, an attempt to raise the dead--a bizarre, grainy, soft focus segment in which Celine Dion (why the long face?) traded verses with Elvis Presley-- just wasn't as successful-- or shocking.
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