For the past 45 years, the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon has raised money and awareness for Muscular Dystrophy as it has become a Labor Day weekend TV viewing staple. For the 45th airing, Lewis and his cast and crew are introducing a new slogan, "Make a muscle for MDA." To help introduce the new slogan and encourage viewers to call in pledges to aide in the continued research and eventual discovery of a cure for MDA, Lewis has once again enlisted a who's who of classic stars mixed with a number of today's up-and-coming notables.
Among the celebrity co-host on board this year are: Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady on the long-running daytime drama, Days of Our Lives and host of NBC's Biggest Loser); former American Idol hopeful and current Broadway star, Ace Young; So You Think You Can Dance's judge and creator, Nigel Lythgoe; country star Billy Gilman; celebrity journalists Nancy O'Dell and Jann Carl; Law & Order's Richard Belzer; General Hospital star Brandon Barash and comedian John Pinette.
Since being appointed the MDA National Goodwill Ambassador in 2007, Redlands, California native Abbey Umali has become a favorite of the annual event. The energetic youngster, who suffers from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which manifests itself in muscular atrophy, lack of coordination and loss of sesation in the extremities, is only the third youngster to hold the National Goodwill Ambassador title for a third consecutive term. During last year's telethon, she brought tears to the eyes of viewers everywhere when she sang For Good from the Broadway musical Wicked. Abbey and her family will be back again this year and rumor has it her performance for the 45th Annual MDA Telethon will be just as touching.
A little bit of Broadway and Vegas comes to this year's telethon thanks to performances by the casts of Broadway's Memphis, Rock of Ages and Million Dollar Quartet and the casts of Vegas' Viva Elvis by Cirque du Soleil, Paris By Night and Vegas! The Show.
Providing humor during such a serious subject can oftentimes be difficult. That's where comedians like Pinette come in. In addition to Pinette, look for Vegas headliners Carrot Top, Terry Fator and George Wallace. Stand-up comedians Bob Zany, Jeff Trachta, Norm Crosby and Charlie Callas will also join in the fun.
Music guests include the always-present Tony Orlands, who will also be hosting the New York telecast; Taylor Dayne, Maureen McGovern, Charo and Jack Jones.
Thanks to Clear Channel Radio's recent Get Discovered contest, four up-and-coming musicians will be making their national television debuts during the MDA Telethon. New Jersey rockers Last Perfect Thing, Iowa's Hollywood Burnout and two Nashville musicians, Billy Dawson and Beau Davidson will take to the MDA stage during the telecast.
TV stars past and present will take part in the iconic broadcast. The cast of Glee is set to drop by the telethon, as are daytime TV's The Doctors, comedic legend Ray Romano, Patrick Duffy, Ken Howard, Lou Ferrigno, Don Francisco and Olympians Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci.
Over the years, in addition to the announced guest stars, the MDA Labor Day Telethon is chocked-full of surprise guests. Beginning back in 1966, the telethon has featured literally thousands of celebrity guests. Everyone from Ed Sullivan to Jimmy Fallon, Frank Sinatra to an appearance this year by former American Idol hopeful David Archuleta. Despite the declining economy, last year's telethon raised an astounding 60.5 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a record for the event.
Airing on more than 170 stations across the country, this year's 21-hour telethon began Sunday and continues throughout the day Monday on stations including: WCVB/Boston, WOR/New York, WDCW/Washington, WBFS/Miami, WUPA/Atlanta, WGN/Chicago, WSTR/Cincinnati, WZTV/Nashville, KSDK/St. Louis, KXAS/Dallas, KTNV/Las Vegas, KCAL/Los Angeles and KTVU/San Francisco.