Idol's suspense takes a back seat

The usual Wednesday night suspense of who leaves and who stays on American Idol took a back seat. Instead, the two-hour Idol Gives Back focused on children in need: Those displaced by Katrina in Louisiana, orphaned by AIDS in Africa or simply living in the poverty of Appalachia.

Along the way, after all the fundraising, Ryan Seacrest pulled all the strings, announcing four contestants, including Jacksonville's Phil Stacey, were safe. Then he brought up Chris Richardson and Jordin Sparks before declaring Richardson safe. What? Sparks, who has looked like she might win this thing, is going home?

Nope: It was just a trick. No one would go home on this charity night. But the votes will be kept and two sent home next week.

So: Was it a charitable move during a charitable event, or really, really misleading, sucking people into two hours for results that never came? We'll go with the latter.

Money: It's hard to be cynical about an effort to raise millions for children, but the show was really slow going.

Still: If you weren't moved by seeing how so many kids have to live ...

Musical highlight: You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban and the African Children's Choir doing.

Odd pairing: Kelly Clarkson, the first Idol winner, with guitar hero Jeff Beck.

Lowlight: All the celebs mugging to Staying Alive. I guess it's a way to get their faces out there.

The duet: Word had already gotten out about the much-guessed-about pairing: Celine Dion and the late Elvis Presley, together with the magic of technology. It was well done and didn't sound as bad as it might have.

Roger Bull/The Times-Union