Jerry Lewis
Hmmm. I just started typing this in and I suddenly got whisked away to another part of the forum. Don't know what that was about... Anyway, those who watched the telethon, what did you think? I usually only catch snippets, but it was especially dreary in Erie and I felt compelled to cozy up on the couch and watch pretty much the whole darn thing. I thought the talent was terrific, including many performers I'd never heard of but was very impressed with (magicians, comedians/impressionists, folk/country singers). I should get on the MDA site and see if I can find their names and keep an eye out for them in the future. The Muppets were also fun, and I greatly enjoyed the frequent participation of Billy Gilman and Mattie Stepanek. Mattie in particular is a great inspiration. What a great outlook on life, especially with all he has been through.
The highlight for me was the very last performance, Clay Aiken singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water." When we started watching the telethon, I logged on to Clay's site on a whim to see if he would be performing; I really doubted he would be, mainly because I'd seen several articles about him recently but none mentioning the telethon. So I was pleasantly surprised to see he was on the programme, and I figured he would sing "Bridge" because of its appropriateness to the occasion. Making Clay the last performance of the evening seemed like a huge vote of confidence from Jerry; in fact, several folks pointed out that Frank Sinatra used to have that slot when he was still around. I was very touched by Jerry's affectionate words for Clay and his insistence that he come back out after his song despite the short time left. And I was rather tickled to be one of the fans who contributed more than $30,000 in his name!
I thought it was a very uplifting day overall. Jerry looks like he is struggling with his health, but he appears in good spirits. I thought he seemed in better shape than last year. And they managed to break the record yet again, with more than 60 million dollars raised to fight for a cure to Muscular Dystrophy. It's about time I heard something this good on the national news!!
Erin