telethon
boston globe review (spoilers!):
\"i can’t say the evening was overly emotionally manipulative, or that my tear
ducts were under siege. but there were a few touching moments. early on, patrick
swayze came on stage to a standing ovation. swayze, who is battling pancreatic
cancer, appeared thin, his jaw more prominent than usual. he spoke of his hopes
for cancer research, then said, “tonight i stand here, another individual living
with cancer, who asks that we not wait any longer, and i ask only one thing of
you: please stand up with me.”
for the most part, the tone of the night was sober. rival network news anchors
katie couric, brian williams, and charlie gibson co-hosted, each one sharing his
or her personal connection to cancer. lance armstrong introduced clips of john
mccain and barack obama describing their stance on cancer -- which, by the way,
seemed oddly gratuitous. but there were attempts at lighter segments, such as
brad garrett supposedly receiving a digital rectal exam on the stage. the idea
was to make checking for cancer seem like a breeze, and so we were also shown a
“simpsons” clip in which homer gets a colonoscopy.
the night contained relatively little music. james taylor and sheryl crow
delivered a loose duet of “fire and rain,” and josh groban and monica mancini
performed an austere version of “imagine” interspersed with readings by halle
berry, jennifer garner, casey affleck, and forest whitaker.
the only “we are the world”-ish moment that might have lent itself to parody was
a performance, via remote from the rehearsal for the forthcoming “fashion rocks”
concert, by a stage crammed with beyonce, carrie underwood, rihanna, mariah
carey, fergie, mary j. blige, and others. they belted out “just stand up,” and
not a one of them was about to sit down.\"
boston globe review (spoilers!):
\"i can’t say the evening was overly emotionally manipulative, or that my tear
ducts were under siege. but there were a few touching moments. early on, patrick
swayze came on stage to a standing ovation. swayze, who is battling pancreatic
cancer, appeared thin, his jaw more prominent than usual. he spoke of his hopes
for cancer research, then said, “tonight i stand here, another individual living
with cancer, who asks that we not wait any longer, and i ask only one thing of
you: please stand up with me.”
for the most part, the tone of the night was sober. rival network news anchors
katie couric, brian williams, and charlie gibson co-hosted, each one sharing his
or her personal connection to cancer. lance armstrong introduced clips of john
mccain and barack obama describing their stance on cancer -- which, by the way,
seemed oddly gratuitous. but there were attempts at lighter segments, such as
brad garrett supposedly receiving a digital rectal exam on the stage. the idea
was to make checking for cancer seem like a breeze, and so we were also shown a
“simpsons” clip in which homer gets a colonoscopy.
the night contained relatively little music. james taylor and sheryl crow
delivered a loose duet of “fire and rain,” and josh groban and monica mancini
performed an austere version of “imagine” interspersed with readings by halle
berry, jennifer garner, casey affleck, and forest whitaker.
the only “we are the world”-ish moment that might have lent itself to parody was
a performance, via remote from the rehearsal for the forthcoming “fashion rocks”
concert, by a stage crammed with beyonce, carrie underwood, rihanna, mariah
carey, fergie, mary j. blige, and others. they belted out “just stand up,” and
not a one of them was about to sit down.\"
