Idol Goes into Charity Mode

America held back a collective sniffle tonight, as the most popular show on TV went into charity mode, and showed scenes of desperation in Africa and poor folks in Louisiana. It shows the way that fundraising has so radically changed.

It’s just much easier…the web, the easy enabling of credit cards, and now even the voting for the contestants has a charity angle. Vote often, and we take a little sliver for the charity, matched by a corporation.

At one point Tom, everybody’s friend on My Space, founder of the site and now dot.com multimillionaire, stood up. He smiled as Ryan Seacrest thanked him for their help. Tom is the one guy who will be your My Space friend even if no one else will.

At the end, Bono walked in while the final six were singing a song. My daughter asked me, ‘who is he?’ and I welled up a bit. Bono makes me inspired. “He is one of the most influential people on earth today,” I answered. “Bush and Clinton take his phone calls.”