A Thousand Beautiful Things.

FILE UNDER: A Moment of Clarity.

I don’t know how, but I managed to make it through all of last night’s Idol Gives Back on FOX. Again, I don’t know how, but I just did. And if you, like me, managed to take it all in, you know that beneath the somewhat entertaining bits of comedy and somewhat dazzling musical performances was the spirit of giving, and the opening up of the nation’s eyes to plights we often overlook and tend to cast aside with a shrug of the shoulders and a “well everything is alright with me” kind of attitude. But last night it was hard to not feel something. And for a minute there I was surprised that none of this was truly tugging at my heartstrings.

And then Annie Lennox came on.

And then everything that Idol Gives Back [and American Idol] tries to accomplish and get across was all encapsulated in her video segment and bare performance of Many Rivers to Cross.

And when she got to the bridge of the song, closed her eyes, took her hands off the keys, and reached for that high note, I literally coughed up a lump in my throat, and sat there silent as tears welled up in my eyes. She had me on the edge of my seat from the top of her taped segment in Africa, but at that moment she literally took my breath away. It was so raw, so genuine, so heartfelt, and damn near transcendent. I hope the 8 Idol hopefuls were taking notes. This is how one gives through the power of music.