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What fashion trend have celebs like Mandy Moore, Will Smith, Jessica Biel, and others been spotted wearing everywhere from the gym to the red carpet? To do their part in aiding the situation in Darfur, Relief International is selling Relief Beads, these awesomely colored bracelets are all over Hollywood. Each bracelet is $8, and even buying just one can make a difference- proceeds from one bracelet provide two months of education for one student. Buying multiples lends even more benefits: money from 3 bracelets is enough to buy medicine for 100 people, and buying 4 can supply a student with a full year of education.

Relief International has a goal to sell 250,000 bracelets, and they have already donated $14 million to the cause through their various campaigns. We plan on getting a bunch- they’re funky, go with anything, and support a great cause!

PS- Check out BR!CK finalist Adam Sterling’s efforts in Darfur, and click here to find out more on what you can do to save Darfur.

Two cool campaigns are asking celebrities to single out their greatest inspirations. I am in love with the Teachers Count campaign "Behind Every Famous Person is a Fabulous Teacher". Movie stars, singers, politicians and activists are paying tribute to the teacher who made a deep impact in their lives. Ugly Betty's America Ferrera says "thank you" to her high school drama teacher Sue Feitag, who claims to be America's "number one fan".

Jeremy Piven, from HBO's Entourage, didn't have a difficult time choosing his most influential teacher. His drama teacher, Joyce, is also his mom!

I guess it's not surprising that actors tended to choose acting teachers and athletes tended to choose gym coaches. Ludacris chose his high school math teacher. In his ad, he writes on the board, "Math is fundamental to my life because I'm going to make a whole lot of $$$."

What does it say about me that I am most grateful to my pre-school teachers who encouraged me to color outside the lines. Ha ha! Check out all of the cool teachers -- and their protoges! -- here.

AND . . . in other role model news, Glamour Magazine has announced the 2007 launch of its annual Women of the Year award and is asking famous women to say who inspires them most. Our BRICK supporter, Mandy Moore, chimed in:

“Gay Walker of the hospice TrinityKids Care. She dedicates every day of her life to terminally ill children and their families. I’ve never met a more giving person.”

Click here to read what other stars had to say and here to nominate your hero for Women of the Year!

Related Cause:     Education

Two of the attendees at this year's BRICK Awards showed up for another charity even this past week -- the Revlon Run/Walk for Awareness.

Mandy Moore and Fran Drescher were joined by Sheryl Crow, Jessica Alba, and Eva Mendes at walks that took place in both LA and NY. The event raised awareness and money for breast cancer research.

(source)

Related Cause:        Cancer

Hopefully you all caught Mandy Moore's performance of her new single "Extraordinary" when she performed it live at the BRICK Awards. (If not, you can watch it here!) Today on TRL, she debuted the video for the song:

I really like the idea of all of the different versions of her. My brother has a saying -- "as many faces as friends" -- for people who are sort of disingenuous and unclear of their true personalities. I find that different people bring out different sides of me, though. With some friends I am shy and reserved; others bring out the crazy in me! I'm definitely down with this video concept . . . and the song will now be stuck in my head for the rest of the day

Related Causes: BRICK Awards

OK, guys . . .

So I realize I've been a bit of a blog slacker. It's not like we've had anything interesting going on here, what with the BRICK Awards and all . . . :)

I can safely report, however, that the payoff will be worth the delay! As cheaters who got to see the show being taped Tuesday night, we here at Do Something are THRILLED with the show, the kids, the stars, the surprises . . . I saw the promos last night on the CW during my weekly date with America's Next Top Model and got goosebumps! The show is going to rock and you ALL had better be watching (and thinking about applying to star in next year's show)!

Throughout the day, I'll be posting about some of my favorite moments . . . This show is about YOU GUYS and the real stars of the show are young people who have huge hearts. Since this IS the Celebs Gone Good blog, however, let's get down to business:

I got to stand on the red carpet and meet the guests as they arrived. First up was Nigel Barker. Ladies: he's even dreamier in person! He couldn't have been nicer or more supportive . . . and couldn't resist making a clever comment about supporting the night's "role models". Get it? MODELS? That's right. The America's Next Top Model judge and photographer ALSO quick with words. Love him!

Next was Fran Drescher, who looked sassy and fabulous in skin-tight black satin. She told us about her book Cancer Schmancer, which she wrote after winning her battle with cancer a couple of years ago.

Also wearing a (strikingly similar!) slinky black dress, Mandy Moore stopped by just before going inside to perform her new single "Extraordinary" for the very first time. Man, that girl is tall! She let us know about how good it feels to support these kids and what it means to her to be, well, extraordinary. I met her band backstage and they complained about the DJs and interviewers out there who asked her about her song "Extra Ordinary." Maybe they've never seen the word spelled out before. Maybe they're just trying to be clever like Nigel. In any event, she rocked the song and was so supportive of the show. Thank you Mandy!!!

NOT wearing black satin -- but perhaps stealing the show in a black leggings and a black leather vest -- was Susan Sarandon, mom of Eva Amurri from the movie Saved! (Worth noting: Susan and Mandy Moore worked together in the movie Romance and Cigarettes; daughter Eva shared the screen with Mandy in Saved! Oh, the family tree that is Hollywood!)

Chris Carrabba from Dashboard Confessional was so great on the carpet, hanging out for a long time and answering tons of questions. Very patient and accomodating. He then went on to give a killer performance, which you'll have to wait and see on T.V. We asked him tons of questions. We asked him, "If you had one minute with President Bush, what would you say?" He looked straight into the camera and said, "Nothing." Long pause. "Absolutely nothing." Either this president has left him speechless or he's very politic in his interviewing etiquitte! Regardless, he was cheery and visibly excited to be a part of the night. I am told that "Stolen" is for sure one of the highlights of the night. I missed the whole thing, but I heard him rock it out during sound-check and it was really beautiful. Bravo, Chris.

Between Lorraine Bracco and Jamie Lynn Sigler, there was impromptu Sopranos rendez-vous in the press line! (Have you guys been watching the new season? I need to catch up!) These girls have been long-time supporters of Do Something and are really genuinely committed to service and charity work, using their celebrity to bring attention to causes that they care about. Read more about their specific organizations on the BRICK Celebs 2007 section under the Brick Awards part of this site. Lorraine and her daughter Margaux chatted us up about the BRICK winners and how inspiring they are, how much they make them want to do more in the world.

The day after the awards, Lorraine and Jamie Lynn had a gig on The View to talk about the Sopranos final season. Aparently, they were so taken with the night before, however, that they spent a good chunk of their time RAVING about the awards and the kids. How awesome must those BRICK winners be feeling right now?

LeAnn Rimes was so amazing as a host. She has been really active speaking out on behalf of wounded soldiers who've returned from Iraq. Here is a photo of her from a recent hospital visit:

She was a great host, quizzing the kids and setting the stage for all of the presenters and performers.

. . . . and speaking of presenters, we are all still talking about how incredible Wyclef was. He was REALLY committed to the Do Something outlook and spent a ton of time hanging with the winners. I walked into the theatre after the show and he was one of the last people in there, talking with David Fajgenbaum and a few of the other kids. I overheard them talking about their workouts and Wyclef asking if he could join them sometime. Apparently, he invited a couple of the BRICK winners over for dinner sometime! He got very chummy with them and was so sincere and genuine . . . such a great guy. And he looked super sassy all in white.

Other memorable moments? A mini-dressed Petra Nemcova shivering backstage while she waited to go on for a special award, TRL's Damien Fahey charming the pants off of the crowd, and former One Tree Hill sweeties Hilarie Burton and Bryan Greenberg reuiniting for the sake of handing out some hardware.

And look who zipped over straight from the airport!

Thanks, Russell Simmons, for stopping by!

I am working on getting our red-carpet video clips and photos up ASAP. In the meantime, do your homework, pop some popcorn, and get settled in for the show! It's all for YOU!!!

What better way to start than to highlight a few very special superstars who are celebrating this year's Brick Awards with us when they air April 12th on the CW. As you may have heard, we have an A-list roster of celebs who are excited to show up and support young people giving back.

Mandy Moore -- singer, actress, designer, and all-around cutie! -- will be taking the stage and performing that night. She's the real deal, having been deeply involved with various organizations supporting kids affected with cancer and making appearances at tons of different charity events throughout the year.

Dashboard Confessional is also performing! Chris Carrabba not only rocks as a musician, but genuinely cares about the quality of our schools. In fact, he once studied education in college and worked in a special-education program at an elementary school in Florida.

Wyclef Jean will also be there. He's done some really cool philanthropic work using his musical talents as his tools. For example, he started a non-profit organization in Haiti that uses music and performance as catalysts for community development and expression. He's also recorded tracks for charity, like the time he and Norah Jones cut a song to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. His lyrics are often political or socially critical, too, so he really uses his art form as a platform to deliver a message.

There will be lots of surprises and I’ll drop you hints and info as we get closer to the date. In the meantime, stay tuned for some of today's hot stories!