"This bringing together of different music generations is really one of a kind," said Bonnie Raitt backstage at Lifetime Television's Women Rock concert, an annual gathering of female musicians to fight breast cancer. This year's concert, held last night at Los Angeles' Kodak Theater and taped to air on Lifetime October 23rd, presented a new variation of the concept, but the same rich musical treasures.

Dubbed "Music and the Movies," the show found Mandy Moore, who hosted and performed, Anastacia, Mya, Dolly Parton, Heart's Ann Wilson (a returning participant from previous years), Raitt, Alison Krauss, Debbie Reynolds, Celine Dion (via satellite) and Kenny Loggins ("the first cajones on the bill," according to Wilson), performing their favorite songs from movies.

The show began with a tribute to still what is arguably the ultimate blend of music and movies, Saturday Night Fever. Mya kicked off a medley of songs from the film with "Disco Inferno"; she was followed by Moore doing Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You," Anastacia with a fiery rendition of "You Should Be Dancing" and Wilson with a second Bee Gees track, "How Deep is Your Love." The four then kicked out a spirited version of the classic "Stayin' Alive," with Anastacia handling most of the vocals.

It's that kind of camaraderie and spirit of adventure that distinguishes Women Rock. Individual performances, such as Moore doing John Hiatt's gorgeous "Have a Little Faith in Me" and Raitt's "Something to Talk About" were strong, but paled in comparison to the excitement of seeing current idol Moore team with yester-year idol Reynolds on "Good Morning," from Singing in the Rain, or Raitt and Parton duet on Parton's classic "I Will Always Love You."

Anastacia, who recently battled breast cancer herself, was the one performer to do original material, debuting a song called "Heavy on My Heart," which she wrote about her experiences with the disease. She said before the show, "They're allowing me to sing it tonight because they felt like it was the meaning of what this event was about."

Whether it was Raitt, who said she's had many friends affected by breast cancer, or Mya, who told backstage of her mother being diagnosed with the disease in 1998, most of the acts had personal stories about why they were involved in the show.

For a finale, everyone joined together onstage for a run through Parton's "Jolene."

STEVE BALTIN
(October 1, 2003)