Jerry Lewis’ spokeswoman denied a report that the MDA had a change of heart and would allow Lewis to appear on the Labor Day telethon for a final farewell after 40 years as host. MDA is making radical changes this year to update the show and try to boost donations. Among them: cutting the show back to just six hours in prime time, bringing in hot names like Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion and Steven Tyler to draw a younger audience and replacing Lewis with “ET“‘s Jann Carl and Nancy O’Dell, “American Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, and “The Biggest Loser” host Alison Sweeney.
- Celine Dion almost cancelled so she could write a song about the ferry crash in Finland, but since no one was hurt, she’s back in!
- The show will reportedly end with Clay Aiken doing a rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.
- How are they going to raise more money in 6 hours than they did in 21? Apparently Congress did the math on that one!