Review and Highlights of ‘Healing in the Heartland’ Benefit Concert

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Oklahoma native and current resident Blake Shelton should be congratulated for putting together a fantastic benefit concert for the people devastated by the recent tornadoes that killed 26 people May 20th.

Although the televised edition, also carried by 98.1 the Hawk, was much too brief, the hour was filled with great music and a touching interview by NBC News on a survivor that graduated shortly after losing her Mom to the EF5 tornado that tore through her hometown.

Blake held the show together and seemed visually choked up at times. He was most comfortable introducing his wife Miranda Lambert who, as mentioned, has contributed endless hours and funds to help the voiceless animals of Oklahoma. Thank you Miranda.

While a few artists appeared to promote and strut their current music, a few took the time to come up with something that truly touched the emotion of the night. Vince Gill, always amazing, seemed to accomplish this better than anyone else with a touching ballad. And is it me, or should we Reba McEntire as Entertainer of the Year, every year? Reba knows how to sell a song and touch everyone on a one-to-one basis. Thank you Reba and Vince.

It was nice seeing Carrie Underwood, Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and others showing their support by urging people to show their support.

While I wish the show was 2 hours or more, overall it was a wonderful evening and hopefully raised all the efforts raised a lot of money.

Click HERE to view the benefit concert from the NBC web site.

In the meantime, if you would like to help by making a contribution, you may do so by calling 1-800-890-4999 or if you would consider making a one-time donation of $10.00, you can do so by texting REBUILD to 52000. This will give your cell provider the permission to bill you $10.00 on your next bill. Another option is facebook.com/UnitedWay.

Thanks to Blake, Miranda, Reba, Vince, Darius, Luke, the guys from Rascal Flatts, Usher, and newcomer Ryan Tedder for your time and talents.