Bo Bice didn't wait until he got onstage Sunday at the AI live tour to rally fans to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Four hours before the benefit concert, he stepped from a car & limped with a cane toward a metal barrier where few fans had already lined up outside the Onondaga County War Memorial. Then he proceeded to give away a few tickets to the concert, proclaim how much he & the 9 other "Idols" singers loved the fans & encouraged everyone to drum up support for hurricane relief. "Let's all just band together," he told those looking stunned at Bice's unscheduled public appearance. "Y'all please, please, please put the word out." As he backed away, Bice shouted a promise about Sunday's show. "We're going to rock out tonight," said Bice who returned to the tour this weekend after missing several dates due to intestinal surgery. On several levels, Sunday's concert lived up to Bice's predictions.
The crowd despite filling maybe half the arena after a sold-out show of about 6,000 Saturday night was a convincing replica of the piercingly loud & fanatical TV audiences that cheered on the 10 finalists earlier this year on the 4th season of American Idol, the hit singing competition series on Fox. And with every penny from Sunday's ticket sales going to the American Red Cross to help with the Gulf Coast relief effort, organizers said they raised about $280,000 from the three hour concert.
"We may not have filled this place up," singer Scott Savol told the audience during his set, "but we did a lot more relief than if we hadn't done the concert." This was also an emotional occasion because it marked the last night of the tour, which began July 12 in Sunrise FL.
"I really can't believe this is the last time we're doing this," bespectacled "Idol" finalist Anthony Fedorov said. "Im going to work very, very hard to make sure I do this (singing) for the rest of my life."
Several stars of the show also pointed that it was the 4th anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "As a country, we've weathered many storms....We all feel it," said Bice, his voice choking up. Bice bounded around the stage, showing little effect of breaking his foot earlier on tour. His performance included his version of "Vehicle," which he sang dressed in an American Red Cross T-shirt with "Heroes" printed on the front.
In a hallway of the War Memorial before the concert, 2005 "Idol" winner Carrie Underwood said it was going to be a bittersweet night made a little sweeter by runner-up Bice's unexpected return for this weekend's show in Syracuse. "I'm excited to go home. I'm excited to start the rest of my career. And it's also cool we're doing something good to help out the world a little bit. But I'm sad because it's just kind of the end of a chapter in all our lives," said Underwood, who's donating money from sales from personal memorabilia sold at Sunday's concert to help animal victims of the hurricane. Like several other "Idol" finalists, Underwood said she had no plans to take an extended break. She would go home for a couple of days, then head to TN to finish work on a country music album.
Performer Constantine Maroulis, who was wearing a Queen T-shirt before the show, said he felt a little chill when Bice took the stage Saturday, his first time with the tour in about 3 weeks, "Having Bo he's like our leader back it's been incredible," Maroulis said. "And to be able to put on a show like this at the last minute & give all the proceeds to an incredible charity, I'm pretty proud I can say I was part of it."
Also performing Sunday were "Idol" finalists Vonzell Solomon, Nadia Turner, Anwar Robinson, Jessica Sierra & Nikko Smith. W LaRue
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