Vocal in support

“We did a small version of this party up in Sundance, now we’re here doing it in the big city,” said David Arquette, host of Karaoke Revolution, a March 10 event at the Ivar in Hollywood benefiting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. After leading off with “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” -- he kind of skated past the high notes -- Arquette passed the mike to a series of celebrity would-be singers, the most tuneful of whom would receive such goofy prizes as a Saddam Hussein doll (dressed as Hello Kitty) or “Knight Rider” coloring book.

As he did in Park City, Arquette, a longtime supporter of the foundation, brought with him emcee Johnny Fayva, whose neat bangs, white suit and blue ruffled shirt made him resemble a psychedelic version of the late Captain Kangaroo. Actress Tia Carrere showed off the best pipes of the evening with her soulful “We Are Family.” “I wasn’t kidding when I said I do this in my living room,” she said afterward, flashing the “Girls Gone Wild” T-shirt she won. Christian Slater channeled Ol’ Blue Eyes competently enough on “Come Fly With Me” (“I don’t know what it is,” he said of the figurine he received) and “Will & Grace’s” Eric McCormack certainly brought no shame upon himself with “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” -- in fact, it netted him a joy buzzer.

Offstage, Matthew Perry hinted he might favor the crowd with Julio Iglesias’ side of “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” but left before anyone could hold him to it. And Jose Canseco demurred at the opportunity to pinch-hit, as it were. “I’d just embarrass myself,” the ex-slugger said.

That sentiment didn’t stop “The Young and the Restless’ ” John Enos III and “Walking Tall’s” Neal McDonough. Their duet of Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away” -- which fairly characterized their relationship to the song’s tune -- displayed the kind of brave butchery that makes this Japanese leisure-time import so oddly compelling.

The one full-time recording artist in the house, Ben Harper, nicely covered fellow singer-songwriter Prince’s “Purple Rain,” but it took the audience showering the stage with cash donations before he would consent to do it. That plus the $50-a-head cover charge brought the total collected to over $55,000. And isn’t that the real reason everyone showed up anyway? “My adopted brother is 14 and he has AIDS,” announced former “West Winger” Kim Webster, who spoke her way through most of OutKast’s “Hey Ya.” “If it wasn’t for Pediatric AIDS, he wouldn’t be alive today.”