Dance lessons cost money, Paula.
Yes, folks, this is "Idol Gives Back," in which television's No. 1 show attempted over the last two nights to take the power that kept Sanjaya Malakar in our living rooms week after long week and turn it into a force for good.
Chances are they succeeded, Americans being a generous people and most "Idol" viewers being well able to distinguish between the syrupy sympathy of Ryan & Company and the genuine need on display.
"Idol Gives Back" may turn out to be good for a lot of people - though no one should have to participate in awkwardly staged photo ops with celebrities to get help - but it's not necessarily so good for "Idol," a show many of us value as much for its cynicism as its singing.
Should "Idol" be giving back? Sure. Why not? With the highest ad rate of any series on television - Advertising Age pegs it at an average $620,000 per 30-second spot, climbing to more than $1 million for last spring's finale - it can certainly afford the $5 million Fox parent News Corp. pledged in return for driving votes on Tuesday's show.
It could even afford to do it quietly, or at least away from the main show. Though doing it this way drew celebs, dozens of them, some of whom might never have appeared on "Idol" otherwise. (If the number of pre-taped pieces was higher than some viewers expected, Elvis Presley's "duet" with Celine Dion was still a surprising bit of wizardry.)
"Idol" sponsors, too, got a chance to attach their names to a worthy cause.
