Annie Lennox’s journey to Africa and visit with orphaned children, captured in a video report, and her performance of “Many Rivers to Cross” on American Idol Gives Back 2008 were memorable and heartrending.

On the importance of being on the show, Lennox remarked “the medium of television is very powerful and it’s going to go into millions of livingrooms.” Of her trip to Africa Lennox said simply, “a very strong experience, a very deep experience.” She continued that she’s had the opportunity to see the human face of poverty and witness the struggles. (Source.)

The Scotsman profiles Annie Lennox and her commitment to the cause.

It’s a cause about which Lennox is passionate. “I don’t have a mentor,” she says. “No-one saying this is what you have to do. But if you have a platform and you’ve got an opportunity to talk about social injustice, then why not? Why not use it to benefit others?”

Pop stars and politics don’t always mix – tokenism or perceived self-aggrandisement are tricky to avoid. But there’s no doubting Lennox’s commitment to humanitarianism, not least because she’s long worn her political heart on her sleeve. The Eurythmics supported Amnesty International and Greenpeace decades ago and Lennox has supported charities as diverse as Children in Need and Hear the World, a campaign to spread awareness about deafness, as experienced by her late father, who had worked in Aberdeen’s shipyards. (More.)

Read more about Idol Gives Back 2008 at TV Squad and the official Idol Gives Back 2008 Web site.