Katy Perry Duets With Young Jodi DiPiazza At 'Night Of Too Many Stars' Autism Benefit

by UInterviewOctober 19, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

Katy Perry, 27, came out Saturday night to perform at Comedy Central's fourth autism awareness and education benefit, Night of Too Many Stars, hosted by emcee Jon Stewart, in New York City.

While there were many antics by the celebrities who participated — including an auctioned-off trip to the urinal with Seth Rogan, a surreal butter-and-broccoli brawl between Kevin Bacon and Liev Schreiber, and one of the strangest duets of "Call Me Maybe" that will ever exist — most everyone agrees that the highlight of the evening came when Perry sang her hit song, "Firework" with the musically-inclined young Jodi DiPiazza, who took the stage with the pop star for a stellar performance.

Before the duet, a video that documented Jodi's struggles played for the audience, revealing that she was diagnosed with autism directly before her second birthday and that her parents were warned by specialists not to "expect too much" from her. "We were afraid she would never speak, never dreaming that she would sing, or even be able to understand. And as the education continues, I've taken off the idea that there's some limit on her, because she continually proves that that's not true."

"I think through music and through songs, she's making herself known," said Jodi's mom.

For the performance, Jodi began singing the first verse before Perry joined her a few bars in. Catch the Night of Too Many Stars televised on Comedy Central Sunday, October 21, 2012, at 8 p.m. EST.

Watch the performance with Katy Perry and Jodi DiPiazza here: