MDA Show of Strength Performers 2012

The MDA Show of Strength was held on September 3, 2012, and featured a 3 hour long program with many performances by popular artists including Carrie Underwood, OneRepublic, B.o.B, Alanis Morrisette, will.i.am, Karmin, Tim McGraw and more.

It was definitely very different from the traditional telethon that went on for 21 hours live with 86-year-old comedian Jerry Lewis hosting.  This year, there was no Lewis, no tote board and it was not held in Las Vegas.  From 21 hours, it dwindled down to 6 hours last year, and 3 hours pre-taped this year.

MDA interim president Valerie Cwik explained, "It has to change because the American audience has changed.  A 21.5-hour show doesn't fit in a 140-character world."

No longer a telethon, it is now referred to as an entertainment special.  Donations were no longer taken by telephone banks run by volunteers.  Donations were dialed in to 800-FIGHT-MD, texted to 20222, or donated online via mda.org.  The tote board that used to tally up the donations real time was not available this year.  Instead, the total donation numbers are expected to be released at the end of this week.

Although the great performances were impressive and entertaining, many faithful viewers and donors to MDA have expressed that they missed the live telethon.

11-year-old Tommy Hotchkis who had been diagnosed with Duchenne mudcular dystrophy and now sits in a wheelchair revealed that he had looked forward to the live telethon, according to News-press.com.  However, the new format offered a different experience for Tommy and his family because they "just stayed home and watched it on TV this year."  

According to MDA website, performers this year included Carrie Underwood, Pitbull, will.i.am featuring Eva Simons, Carole King, Paula Abdul, All-American Rejects, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, B.o.B, Brandy, Luke Bryan, Gavin DeGraw, Hot Chelle Rae, Karmin, Tim McGraw, Alanis Morissette, Khloé Kardashian Odom, OneRepublic and more.  The televised special also featured "touching 'stories of strength' about families affected by muscular dystrophy and related diseases in an all-new streamlined format."