Katharine McPhee Launches U.S. Hunger-Free Summer Initiative for Kids

For many kids, the end of the school year is a time to celebrate, plan summer vacations, and play with friends. But for millions of children, the time away from school means not knowing where their next meal will come from. With the goal of helping ensure more children have enough to eat all year long, ConAgra Foods has partnered with Feeding America to create the Hunger-Free Summer initiative.

Among those supporting the program is 2006 “American Idol” runner-up, Katharine McPhee.

“This summer, I am going to be traveling across the country to Feeding America food banks from Orlando to Los Angeles – to volunteer my time and, more importantly, to raise awareness about this important issue,” said McPhee. “I want to challenge every community to come together to help end child hunger in the United States.”

McPhee is launching Hunger-Free Summer on Wednesday, July 7, with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida in Orlando at New Image Youth Center from 11:30a.m. until 1:00p.m. While at the site, Katharine will be volunteering her time, raising awareness for the cause, and singing with the children served by the center.

Throughout the month of July, McPhee will travel across the country to other Feeding America food banks to raise awareness. Upcoming locations and dates include:

— Irvine, Calif. – Monday, July 12
— Little Rock, Ark. – Wednesday, July 14
— Houston, Texas – Week of July 26

For more information, please visit www.conagrafoodsfoundation.org/summer or http://feedingamerica.org/hungerfreesummer.

No Doubt Holds Auction for Charity

PRNewsFoto/Interscope Records, John Shearer

Now that No Doubt is busy recording their new album, the band has decided to put some costumes and vintage memorabilia to good use by auctioning the items for charity.

The auction will include costumes from No Doubt’s 2009 U.S. tour, instruments they have played on stage and in videos, out of print vinyl, drummer Adrian Young’s old “tuxedo” and other one-of-a-kind items from the No Doubt archives. Says No Doubt front-woman, Gwen Stefani, “The tour last summer was so amazing, it was exactly what we needed to inspire the new record. Now that we’re in the studio we wanted do something special for the fans who did so much for us. It’ll be really fun to share the costumes – they’re wicked. A lot of the stuff was really hard to part with, but the money we’ll be able to raise, together with the fans, will be worth it. These charities need us, badly. It means a lot to us as a band to be able to support all the hard work they do.” Read more

Country Music Assoc. to Donate All Proceeds of 2010 CMA Music Festival to Flood Relief

In response to the devastating floods that have plagued the City of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, CMA has announced that 50 percent of the net proceeds of 2010 CMA Music Festival will be donated to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee for flood relief. This is in addition to CMA’s already established annual donation of 50 percent of the net proceeds to Metro Nashville Public Schools for music education through the Keep the Music Playing program. In total, 100 percent of the net proceeds of the event will be given to benefit Nashville’s public school students and Middle Tennessee families in need. Read more

Pink Performs With Linda Perry At The Beverly Hilton

At the annual Evening With Women event in Los Angeles Saturday night, Linda Perry and Pink did a surprise performance of the hit song, “What’s Up?” A.K.A. “What’s Going On?”

We happened to be there and let me tell you, Pink brought the crowd to their feet with her powerful and moving performance. Prior to the performance Pink appeared onstage during the live auction sitting atop a Vespa that sold for $12,000. Pink let the winning bidder sit on the bike with her and be photographed with the singer who had a lit cigarette in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

In the past few years it has been known that there was some friction between Pink and Linda Perry but they squashed those rumors last night and it was quite obvious they are friends.

An Evening With Women is an annual benefit to raise money for the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center.

Check out the video below.

U.K. Haiti Benefit Single ‘Everybody Hurts’ Debuts At No. 1

Simon Cowell may not be the nicest man in the entertainment business, but there’s no denying that he is generous and willing to lend a hand to those in need.

Syco Music/Sony Music Entertainment’s charity cover of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts,” which was released under the name Helping Haiti to raise funds for victims of the Haiti earthquake, topped the new U.K. singles chart at No. 1.

Helping Haiti sold 453,000 copies last week to become the U.K.’s fastest-selling charity single of this century.

Hope For Haiti – Christina Aguilera Performs New Song ‘Lift Me Up’

I was in Egypt during the Hope For Haiti Telethon and missed the television broadcast, so I’ve been catching up on the performances since I returned home a couple of days ago. Christina Aguilera performed a new song off of her upcoming album called ‘Lift Me Up’ and I believe this is one of her best performances to date. Aguilera is known for incredible vocal performances, but here she takes it to another level with the power of her emotions in the delivery of each word. It was truly and inspiring moment and a great way for Aguilera to introduce the world to her upcoming album. After her Back To Basics album, it’s good to have the old Aguilera back that we’ve come to know and love.

Check out Aguilera’s performance of ‘Lift Me Up’ on the Hope For Haiti Telethon –

Kelly Clarkson Lends A Helping Hand

Kelly Clarkson spend the weekend helping out at the Tide Loads of Hope charity event in New Orleans. The event was started by Tide detergent to provide free laundry services to people who lost their homes during hurricane Katrina.

Good to see Kelly being so domestic…

All-Star Line Up for ‘A Very Special Christmas’ Album

A Very Special Christmas Volume 7 has gathered an impressive list of celebrity all-stars for its upcoming release on November 24th to benefit the Special Olympics.

Colbie Caillat, Miley Cyrus, Kellie Pickler, Ashley Tisdale, Carrie Underwood, Charice, Kristinia DeBarge, Gloriana, Vanessa Hudgens, Sean Kingston, Leighton Meester, Mitchel Musso, and Carter Twins have all contributed to the acclaimed Christmas series.

A Very Special Christmas Volume 7, released through the Universal Music Enterprises, features original recordings of new and traditional Christmas songs which each artist selected especially for this album.

“This is a fantastic Christmas record created by and for a new generation that wants to make the world a better place,” said Timothy Shriver, Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics. “The songs on A Very Special Christmas Volume 7 have all the freshness and energy of the talented artists who recorded them. Through the spirit of their musical performances, these young recording stars bring the same passion and dedication to Special Olympics that our athletes display every day of their lives.”

A Very Special Christmas series has generated more than $l00 million for Special Olympics, the most ever raised by a benefit recording series.

Surprise Jay-Z Concert Interrupted By Fire Alarm

Jay-Z surprised fans with an impromptu performance at a free Myspace/DJ Hero show on September 9th, just 2 days prior to his Madison Square Garden charity concert. We think he was just practicing for the big night!

And he didn’t perform just a couple of songs, he rapped an entire set. “They told me 45 minutes, but I think I’m going to go an hour and fifteen,” the Brooklyn rapper, clad in all black, told the roaring crowd of 650 just after performing a hit-heavy set including “You Don’t Know;” “99 Problems;” “I Know;” “Venus Vs. Mars;” “Dirt Off Your Shoulder;” “Ain’t No Love;” “H To The Izzo;” “Jigga What;” “I Just Wanna Love You” and “Show Me What You Got.”

Jay-Z even invited his sideman Memphis Bleek to join him onstage and it was while Bleek was rapping that the electricity on the stage went out and the fire alarms went off. New York Fire Department officials ran on stage with flashlights and attempted to fix the issue. As the FDNY officials left the building fans were heard chanting “Hova! Hova!”

Jay-Z returned to the stage for several more songs, much to the delight of his fans.

“We really have to get out of here, enough is enough,” he said after performing tracks like “Big Pimpin’,” “Hard Knock Life,” “Can I Get A What,” and the night’s closer, “Encore.” “I had a good time with you all and shit. I appreciate all of you. Shout out to the whole NYC, especially Brooklyn — my hometown. And to everybody that got the ‘Blueprint 3,’ I appreciate the love,” he said.

Jay-Z’s “Answer The Call” 9/11 Charity Concert

Jay-Z held a news conference today, August 31st, 2009 to discuss the details of his upcoming “Answer The Call” charity concert at Madison Square Garden on September 11th, 2009. The concert will raise money for the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund.

The event is being sponsored by Absolut Vodka, Roc Nation, Live Nation, Citi and Fuse TV, will be televised live on Fuse at 9pm EST on Sept. 11th. All tickets will be priced at $50, with 100% of the proceeds from ticket sales and concert merchandise going to New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund. Additional information can be found at answerthecall.org.

“This all came about September 10th, 2001. I was in Los Angeles shooting a video. The album was to come out the next day. On that day, I got a phone call and a friend of mine said, ‘turn the TV on.’ I turned the TV on and I saw the World Trade Center on fire,” Jay-Z said. “It looked like a movie to me — it didn’t look like anything that could be real. The last thing I was thinking about was the album. The first thing I thought about was, ‘What happens from here? What happens tomorrow? How will this continue?

“I turned the TV on September 12th and I saw footage of these heroic actions, people running to buildings and saving each other and I saw the strength of New York,” Jay-Z continued. “It made me proud. So, as I was embarking on putting out ‘Blueprint 3,’ it was only right that we revisit that day. This is my chance to do something to help out.”

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