'American Idol's' James Durbin, Orianthi Rock for Scholarship Fund (Video)

1:24 PM PST 3/4/2012 by Portia Medina

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The season 10 finalist teamed up with the guitar virtuoso for a benefit in Burbank.

Michael Scott Slosar

American Idol’s season 10 rocker James Durbin is preparing for a return visit to the show, and while he hasn’t yet decided which song he’ll perform, he promises viewers something to remember.

“It’s going to be very cool,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “[On Idol], I went out of my way every single week to do something that had never been done before and be original and make moments for myself. Come April 12, it’s going to be no different.”

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•American Idol

But first, Durbin is using his trademark wail for a good cause. On Friday, he teamed up with guitar goddess Orianthi at Burbank’s Center Staging for a performance benefitting the Rock School Scholarship Fund. Durbin sang Ronnie James Dio's "Rainbow in the Dark" and Journey's "Separate Ways" to a crowd ranging in age from 8 to 65, with the kids from Full Count and School of Rock North Hollywood backing him up. Orianthi took the stage to shred on guitar and singing with Durbin, playing alongside the kids to make a dream come true for the youngsters.

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“I’m here for the kids,” Durbin said before the show kicked off. “I got the chance to meet one of them. His name is Jamis Dekay and he was up there singing ‘Best of You’ by the Foo Fighters, and his mom told me, ‘When you were up there on Idol, he looked at me and said, Mom that’s what I want to do, for the rest of my life.’ And the kid can wail. He’s got perfect pitch, he’s got style, it’s great.”

The Rock School Scholarship Fund provides tuition and instruments to kids ages 7 to 17 who want to attend any rock music school in the U.S.A., but whose families do not have the financial means. They are currently working with 14 rock schools in Southern California, Georgia, Massachusetts, and North Carolina with a required curriculum of rock classics.Their mission is to help kids rock!

“These kids are so talented and it’s such an honor to be here and to be doing something good for the community,” Durbin added. “There’s no more music in schools so this is all they’ve got -- this is all we’ve got. If it wasn’t for music scholarships I wouldn’t be able to do what I love to do.”