Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol contestants will sing inspirational songs Tuesday night.

They’ll participate in Idol Gives Back Wednesday night.

And they shouldn’t expect an elimination reprieve just because of the charitable focus of Wednesday’s two-hour show.

“Someone will be eliminated,” Idol executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz said during a Thursday afternoon conference call.

Wednesday’s 8 p.m. show will mark the third Idol Gives Back special. The first, in 2007, was done during an elimination show; the second, in 2008, was done as a stand-alone special.

The former method seems to work better. Frot-Coutaz said.

And even though Idol decided not to eliminate anyone two years ago in the spirit of the event, she said someone will be booted off the show at some point during Wednesday’s episode.

Performers announced for the show so far include Elton John, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, the Black Eyed Peas, Annie Lennox, Jeff Beck & Joss Stone and Mary J. Blige & the All-Star Band.

Frot-Coutaz said there’s probably only one performer the show hasn’t announced yet. And if the entertainment roster seems a little more sparse than two years ago, that’s because Idol also has to find time for film clips to explain the Idol Gives Back mission and to provide viewers with the results of Tuesday’s show.

“If anything, we’re trying to figure out a way to make it all fit in two hours at the moment,” she said. “There’s too much good stuff.”

Frot-Coutaz wasn’t giving up what songs the performers would be singing Wednesday night.

But here’s betting season four Idol champ Carrie Underwood sings “Change,” a song off her new album “Play On” that sounds like it was written for the event.

Speaking of Carrie, she’s also now part of the Idol Gives Back auction. Fans can bid on a meet-and-greet opportunity with her at the Hollywood Bowl and four tickets to the show. As of Thursday afternoon, the package had attracted a high bid of $1,525.

You say you’re more of a David Cook fan? He has an autographed guitar up for bid as part of the auction. The guitar was used during the 2008 American Idol summer tour. So far, it’s received 54 bids with a high bid of $2,500. (The auction ends in the wee hours of Wednesday morning here on the East Coast. For more info, go here.)

We’ll also likely see footage of David’s trip to a girls’ school in Ethiopia and footage of Kris Allen’s trip to earthquake ravaged Haiti as part of Wednesday’s special.

Beneficiaries of Idol Gives Back include the Children’s Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children’s U.S. Programs and the United Nations Foundation.

Historically, 50 percent of the proceeds of the fundraiser have gone to Africa and 50 percent to domestic charities.

“This year, we’re a little more weighted toward domestic causes because we feel American Idol is an American show,” Frot-Coutaz said. “We are in the U.S. It’s been a very tough couple of years in this country, and that it’s only fair that we focus on U.S. causes as well as some big international causes.”

The recession has also prompted a more low-key approach to this year’s special she said. The message: Give what you can. Even a small donation helps.

“The circumstances are very, very different than when we started doing this,” Frot-Coutaz said. “Whatever people can donate will be great. We realize we can’t go into this with the same expectations.”