Night of Too Many Stars shines on one who's not

NEW YORK (AP) - Moments of absurdity are to be expected at the biennial Night of Too Many Stars benefit on Comedy Central.

Things like Seth Rogen auctioning off a trip to the urinal with him; a knock-down, drag-out fight between Kevin Bacon in a butter costume and Liev Schreiber dressed as broccoli; a performance of Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen and Harvey Keitel.

All of those are memorable highlights of the fourth Night of Too Many Stars, which uses comedy to raise money for autism education programs. But at the event, which was taped last Saturday at the Beacon Theatre in New York and will air Sunday on Comedy Central, something remarkable and unusually tender happened along with Stephen Colbert being mauled by a bear.

A young autistic girl accomplished a feat beyond that of most, autistic or not: She sang a duet of Firework with Katy Perry that brought the house down and moved host Jon Stewart (and many others) to tears. As the standing ovation roared for young Jodi DiPiazza, she stood up from behind the piano and wrapped her arms around Perry, nestling herself against the pop star.