Fox’s second American Idol Gives Back charity special taped Sunday night at the Kodak Theater before an audience of 3,000.

Several A-list celebrities appeared in person and via pre-taped parts, aiming to pull in more than last year’s US$76 million to better the lives of sick and poor children around the world.

Producer Nigel Lythgoe promised the Democrats in the audience that they would be smiling by the end of the night. That’s because both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama appeared in taped messages of support. Footage supplied by Republican presidential nominee John McCain was so poor in quality that it could not be used. “We didn’t make these films,” explained Lythgoe, who said he was not anti-Republican in any way. McCain was invited to shoot a new message to be included in Wednesday’s broadcast.

That wasn’t the only part that didn’t go smoothly. Two stars experienced technical audio problems making do-overs necessary: Reese Witherspoon, who happily redid her entrance, and Brad Pitt, who did not.

While trying to fix Pitt’s clip-on microphone, a woman technician told the delighted audience, “I just needed a reason to touch him.”

But much of the night came off just fine.