Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Who better to serve as guest star on season nine’s first American Idol results show than last year’s winner, Kris Allen?

But when Kris appears on Thursday’s episode, he’ll be doing much more than hawking his music.

Kris recently returned from a trip to Haiti.

And the United Nations Foundation, one of the agencies helping Haitians recover from the recent earthquake, is among the beneficiaries of this year’s Idol Gives Back effort.

So Kris will sing “Let It Be” on Thursday’s show — “an inspirational kind of thing” he hopes touches people. And he’ll introduce footage from his trip to Haiti.

The show will also make a pitch for donations on behalf of the UN Foundation.

The initial outpouring of donations to assist Haiti was “phenomenal,” said UN Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin, who accompanied Kris on the trip there.

“But the big-ticket item is the long-term recovery and rebuilding,” she said, noting Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. “They’ve got some real challenges going forward.”

That includes the onset of the rainy season, a factor that brings damage beyond what the earthquake left in its wake. And some of the camps that provide housing for those displaced by the earthquake are located in flood plains.

So the UN Foundation is trying to provide tents and waterproof sheeting for 1 million people, plus enough latrines to prevent an outbreak of water-borne diseases.

“Funds are still desperately needed,” Calvin said.

As for Kris, he’s no stranger to trips abroad. He has participated in missionary work in Morocco and South Africa. He traveled to Thailand after the 2004 tsunami.

But he described the devastation he saw in Haiti as “insane,” something you can’t imagine until you go there and witness it firsthand.

Kris was there for about 10 hours. He helped clear rubble and distribute food. He also got to sing “Amazing Grace” for mothers who were caring for their very young children.

Among the images that will stick with him?

The destroyed palace in Port Au Prince. Families of 6 or 7 people “living in tiny little tents that are blazing hot.”

“When you see something like that, it makes you happy for what you have,” Kris said. “But it also makes you want to help.”

Kris says he wouldn’t mind going back to help for a longer period of time, long enough to get “my hands dirty.”

In the meantime, he’ll do his part on Thursday’s episode of Idol.

Being back on the show will be a little nerve-wracking, Kris said. On the other hand …

“The thing about this is, it’s not about me. Every time I was on stage last year, it was about me. This time, it’s not. It feels like a really good reason to be there.”

Editor’s Note: The American Idol semifinals start this week, of course. The top 12 females sing at 8 p.m. Tuesday; the top 12 males at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

I’ll be blogging live and providing song-by-song grades during both shows.

And I read that Allison Iraheta will also be performing during Thursday’s results show, singing “Scars,” the best song off her debut album.