American Idol raises almost 45 million

Sir Elton John, Alicia Keys and Carrie Underwood were among the stars who performed in Wednesday’s live special event organized by the producers of top-rated singing contest “American Idol.”

Two previous editions of “Idol Gives Back” in 2007 and 2008 raised a total of around $140 million from audience and corporate donations.

Some 18.3 million Americans watched Wednesday’s show on Fox television, which was scaled down partly because of the U.S. economic recession, and expectations were lower. The $45 million is expected to rise when proceeds from iTunes sales are added, Fox said.