Oprah Winfrey's talk show privilege

25 May 2011

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Oprah Winfrey says it has been a ''privilege'' to host 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' for the past 25 years as it has helped her grow as a person.

Oprah Winfrey says it has been a "privilege" to host 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' for the past 25 years.

The legendary TV star quit the show to concentrate on her own network, OWN, and as the final episode was aired this morning (25.05.11) Oprah paid tribute to the viewers who have loyally stood by her over the years.

She told them: "It has been a privilege for me to speak to you here. You let me into your homes to talk to you every day. This is what you allowed me to do, and I thank you for that. But what I want you to know is each of you has your own platform. Do not let the trappings here fool you. Mine is a stage on a studio. Wherever you are, that is your platform, your stage, your circle of influence. That is your talk show and that is where your power lies.

Use your light to serve the world

"Everybody has a calling, mine aligned with my profession, my job. Not everybody gets paid for it, but everybody gets called. My great wish for all of you who've allowed me to honour my calling is you carry whatever you're supposed to be doing forward. Don't waste anymore time. Use your light to serve the world."

She also told viewers how the show has helped her grow as a person and teach her valuable lessons.

The 57-year-old presenter said: "I started the show as a job but it was not long before I understood that there was something more going on here. It was more than a job. Something in me connected with each of you in a way that allowed me to see myself in you and you in me. I listened and grew...sometimes I was a teacher and sometimes you taught me."

Source: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/Oprah+Winfrey-39329.html

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The Voice Recap: Duet To It!


With only one week of battle rounds to go, The Voice was ... well, it was totally overshadowed by both American Idol and Dancing With the Stars last night.

Sorry, NBC. Still, each contestant got his or her due, the judges pared down the field efficiently, and we moved one step closer to the 16-person finals.

Let's break down Tuesday's battles and survivors on The Voice ...

Team Adam Levine - Rebecca Loebe vs. Devon Barley

Probably the best duet of the night, they sang Radiohead's hit song “Creep,” which Devon had never heard before, yet jibed perfectly with Rebecca on.

In the end, pre-med student Devon got the nod. Watch here:


The Voice Battle Round - Devon Barley vs. Rebecca Loebe

Team Christina Aguilera - Raquel Castro vs. Julia Eason

Christina paired pint-size teen Raquel Castro against the very tall Julia Eason, for Rihanna's “Only Girl In The World.” Raquel bulldozed right past Julia.

Aguilera advanced Raquel, or “Little Mama,” after this battle:


The Voice Battle Round - Raquel Castro vs. Julia Eason

Team Cee Lo Green - Kelsey Rey vs. Tori and Taylor Thompson

Cee Lo paired Kelsey, a telegenic “internet sensation,” against cute-overload sisters Tori and Taylorr, for a rendition of Natasha Bedingfield's “Unwritten.”

The Thompson sisters prevailed in the end, with good reason:


The Voice Battle Round - Kelsey Rey vs. Tori and Taylor

Team Blake Shelton - Dia Frampton vs. Serabee

Blake pitted Dia Frampton – a clear-voiced “children's novelist” – with ultra-aggressive hippie rocker Serabee, for “You Can't Hurry Love.” Interesting call.

Who prevailed in this one? We'll keep you in suspense ...


The Voice Battle Round - Dia Frampton vs. Serabee

What did you think of The Voice last night? Are you digging the show in general? Will the hype return now that Idol and DWTS are over?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/05/the-voice-recap-duet-to-it/

Shannon Elizabeth Scarlett Johansson Olivia Wilde Jamie Chung Cinthia Moura

After Oprah, who will fill the void in daytime TV?

The Oprah Winfrey Show signs off today after a storied 25-year run, and ever since the Queen of Daytime announced her plans 18 months ago to call it quits, fans and the TV industry have been asking:

  • "I really like involvement with an audience," says Anderson Cooper, who  is getting a new syndicated daytime show, but "nobody can replace Oprah."

    "I really like involvement with an audience," says Anderson Cooper, who is getting a new syndicated daytime show, but "nobody can replace Oprah."

"I really like involvement with an audience," says Anderson Cooper, who is getting a new syndicated daytime show, but "nobody can replace Oprah."

"Who will replace her?"

To answer literally, one of her protégés, Dr. Oz, will inherit her time slots, mostly at 4 p.m., on the majority of the TV stations that carry her show. Other stations will expand their local newscasts or air other talk shows to fill the slots.

But in a cultural context, it's impossible to fill her role as celebrity gabber, spiritual guru, book champion and live-your-best-lifer.

"It's a silly question. Nobody can replace her," says Anderson Cooper, who, along with many others, will try to fill a void with his new syndicated daytime talk show this fall.

Instead, "you find something else that adds to the landscape of daytime," says Lyle Schwartz, analyst at ad firm GroupM. "The Office didn't replace Friends, and nothing ever replaced The Cosby Show."

Winfrey's exit comes amid an upheaval in daytime broadcasting. After 23 years on national TV, Regis Philbin is calling it quits in November, imperiling his long-running Live With Regis and Kelly, which plans to replace him.

ABC is canceling two soap operas, All My Children in September and One Life to Live in January, citing high costs and sagging ratings. Three other daytime dramas have been axed in the past four years, replaced by cheaper talk or game shows, which leaves just four. And Entertainment Tonight's founding co-host, Mary Hart, packed it in last Friday after her 29-year run.

"It's a jump ball for everybody," says Oz executive producer Mindy Borman. And it all adds up to a "major disruption" that will leave daytime devotees scrambling for alternatives, says Hilary Estey McLoughlin, president of Warner Bros.' Telepictures Productions. "There's really never been this kind of sea change in daytime. There's never been this many changes in stalwart hosts with this much audience appeal." Viewers won't "abandon TV, but what will they watch?"

Winfrey has no clue. "I haven't thought about it," she says. "I did my part. Anderson Cooper and Katie Couric are coming along, and I say, 'Have at it, y'all!'"

Telepictures is readying CNN's Cooper for Anderson, due Sept. 12. Couric's show, to be distributed by ABC but still unconfirmed, wouldn't start until fall 2012, when actress and talk-show vet Ricki Lake also is considering a daytime comeback.

For now, thanks to similarities in viewership, Ellen DeGeneres might pick up some viewers. And Winfrey's cable network, OWN, will serve up lightning-rod Rosie O'Donnell in a new 4 p.m. ET/PT show this fall.

Appearances on 80 Oprah shows were "tremendously helpful" in the successful launch of Dr. Oz, says John Weiser, president of U.S. distribution at Sony Pictures Television. "It's very rare for a show to come out of the gate to be an instant hit." Dr. Phil has been even more successful, with Phil McGraw the No. 2 talk host, though Winfrey's newest pal, Nate Berkus, is less so. (Judge Judy, with 9.8 million viewers, is the most-watched daytime series.)

Is Dr. Mehmet Oz worried about measuring up to his mentor? "I don't sense pressure; I sense responsibility to provide the audience the same service that she has offered," Oz says. "Even if I did get her ratings, I'd have to do it for 25 years to get my name mentioned in the same sentence as hers."

Daytime by the numbers

Despite increases in the numbers of working women, daytime viewing hasn't changed all that much, Nielsen figures show. At any given time, 15% of the core daytime viewers ? women ages 18 to 49 ? were watching last season, a percentage that's unchanged from 20 years ago.

But with dramatically splintered viewing habits, the shift to cable has been startling as networks such as TLC, Lifetime and Bravo seek that same audience. About 44% of daytime viewing was on cable this season, nearly double the share of broadcast, where viewership has dropped more rapidly than in prime time.

Hoopla over Oprah's exit has boosted her ratings 10% this season, to 6.4 million viewers, though long-term her audience has been aging and declining; it's now at about half its peak. Soaps also have been slippery; All My Children's audience of younger women has been cut in half over the past five years.

"It's change that's generational," says Brian Frons, daytime chief for ABC Television Group. "Serials for the most part are Baby Boomer programs, and as Boomers age out of the key selling demographic, we need to look at alternatives."

Younger viewers, he says, are "looking for an upbeat tone, they want entertaining relevance, more talk and reality than scripted drama. They're looking to us for shows that help improve their lives, rather than escape from their lives."

So taking a page from cable (and importing names such as Tim Gunn and Clinton Kelly), ABC will try The Chew, a food-centric roundtable show to replace All My Children, and The Revolution, focusing on weight loss, when One Life to Live signs off. Each will cost 30% to 40% less to produce.

Daytime dramas' appeal has been mined by prime-time reality shows such as ABC's The Bachelor and the real-life celeb soap-operas covered on 24-hour cable news. "The biggest change happened (with the broadcast of) the O.J. Simpson trial, (which) was more dramatic than anything any writer could come up with," says longtime analyst Bill Carroll of Katz Television Group.

Stephanie Sloane, editorial director for Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly, says "the kind of escapism and romance these shows offer will always be appealing to a group of people." But while Frons hopes the few remaining soaps such as General Hospital "will survive all this," Sloane is keenly aware that the genre is a dying breed. "At the end of this decade, if we're still talking about daytime soaps as regular programming, I'd be happily surprised."

Ratings, not costs, declined

Even Oprah's departure is not inciting gloom in every station that's losing it, says Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker. Winfrey's "ratings have been declining, yet programming costs have not been coming down," she says. "Station owners are saying, 'We can probably spend half the amount and get similar ratings on our stations and still be more profitable.'" Winfrey's show "definitely made a lot of money over the years, but most of that accrued to her."

But that analysis understates Winfrey's positive ratings effect on local newscasts that follow her show, where stations make most of their profits. "Oprah was the quintessential news lead-in," says Emerson Coleman, programming chief at Hearst Television, a major station owner. Her show "impacted your 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts like no other show in television. That's why stations paid a premium."

The theory: "If the audience trusted me, they will trust the news broadcast that comes after me. That dynamic is very important for our stations," Oz says.

And Winfrey's effect on the audience is undeniable. Maury Povich, who has been on TV as long as Oprah, says previous daytime monarch Phil Donahue "set the way in which audiences became part of the show; he was in the audience more than any of us." But Winfrey's willingness to open up about her struggles over abuse and weight loss made her a relatable ally. "Oprah's unveiling of her personal life attracted a huge audience, and that was the key to her stardom," Povich says.

"She underscored the fact that a television personality could make a difference in the way we approach issues," Carroll says. "She raised the level of conversation at a time when elsewhere on television the conversation was becoming more strident," as her contemporaries ?Sally Jessy Raphael, Jerry Springer, Povich and others ? embraced the "Who's your baby daddy?" path to ratings.

Aspirants to Winfrey's throne emphasize the need to bond with viewers. In contrast to nightly news' doom and gloom, "it's nice on the daytime format to focus on things that connect us," Cooper says. "I really like involvement with an audience. I've been reporting for 19 years and like to try new things."

Instead of politicians and pundits, he'll cast a wider net, from celebrity interviews to social issues, and from "current events to Beverly Hills housewives."

McLoughlin says Cooper will fill a void. "He has the relevance, the skill set and the credibility to cover the range of topics that will be gone when Oprah leaves," especially "real people overcoming adversity and transformational stories. It's the kind of fodder women connect with, and he's a great storyteller."

Winfrey won't stop telling stories, either. She'll move to OWN in January, promising 70 episodes a year of Oprah's Next Chapter, where the globe-trotting host will profile "fascinating, sometimes famous people in interesting places" ? without a studio audience. "What is different about the Next Chapter is, I am not tied to the chair."

Contributing: Ann Oldenburg

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Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-LifeTopStories/~3/0jx_u7cqyt0/2011-05-24-oprah-daytime-TV-void_n.htm

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Will Kirstie Alley Win ?Dancing With The Stars??

kirstie2 Will Kirstie Alley Win Dancing With The Stars?

 

Kirstie Alley and her pro partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy performed a Samba and Freestyle on Monday?s show and we have the videos here. Do you think Kirstie will take home the mirror-ball trophy tonight?


Kirstie Alley, 60, has lost around 70 lbs since competing on ?Dancing with the Stars? and has really worked hard to make it to the finals.  Do you hope to see Kirstie win in the finale show tonight?

Kirstie performed both a freestyle dance with Maksim as well as a samba, which you can view below!

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said of Kirstie,  ?You are the new poster child for life as it should be lived at 60 years old! Free, loving, poignant, crazy, wacky, unpredictable, and all of the above and then some.?

Kirstie will be up against Chelsea Kane and Hines Ward in tonight?s finale showdown.  This should be a very interesting competition to see who takes home the mirror-ball trophy this evening!

Who would you like to see win?

Here?s Kirstie and Maksim?s freestyle:

Kirstie?s samba video:

Click thumbnails for larger pictures

Images: wenn.com

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/jNjhiVHgsZo/

Bridget Moynahan Nadine Velazquez Charli Baltimore Jamie Lynn Sigler Mena Suvari

Dancing With the Stars Finale: And the Winner Is...

To the victor goes the spoils! Or, in this case, a funny little trophy shaped like a mirror ball.

But that glittering orb has become quite the coveted accessory among the Hollywood elite(ish) over the last few years, and Hines Ward, Kirstie Alley and Chelsea Kane were all itching to get their hands on it heading into tonight's Dancing With the Stars finale.

After a hard-fought final round that saw an NFL star and a Disney princess go neck and neck, with a noticeably slimmer Emmy winner hot on their heels, who claimed ultimate glory upon the conclusion of DWTS' 12th season?

GALLERY: DWTS Season 12: Step by Step

Pittsburgh Steelers star Hines Ward and his wounded swan, Kym Johnson, won it all in the end.

"I started this competition, I never thought I'd be in the finals, but I owe it all to Kym," the two-time Super Bowl winner said. "She's an amazing teacher. I want to thank the judges for giving us their constructive criticism to help me get better each week. But also I want to thank all the fans."

Flash to Steeler Nation back home waving their black and gold "I'm 4 Hines" signs. He's the second NFL player (but the first active one) to take the title, the other being Emmitt Smith in season three.

This also marks Kym's second championship, her first coming in season nine with Donny Osmond.

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In a bit of an upset, however, it was Kirstie and Maksim Chmerkovskiy who wound up in second place!

"It's the most extraordinary adventure I've ever been on in my life," the former Cheers star said afterward, "and I want to thank...I love Maks."

"It's been a special season," Maks agreed. "I have words for all the partners I've had: This is the 10th trophy that I've got, and it's been an amazing season."

Aw, Maks, don't leave...

And despite being the best dancers on the floor, Chelsea and partner Mark Ballas were relegated to third and a pair of stoic, yet disappointed-looking, smiles. The 22-year-old Jonas L.A. cutie may have gained millions of fans, but Kirstie and Hines started with millions.

It truly is a viewers'-choice world these days!

After an hour and a half of filler (all the stars danced, the Go-Go's performed, etc.), the finalists performed a blast-from-the-past dance for one more score.

Chelsea and Mark went for the Harry Potter waltz that Len Goodman sniffed at the first time, but which earned them a perfect 30 tonight.

Kirstie and Maks harkened back to their "first date," i.e. the season premiere when Kirstie surprised everyone with her cha-cha skills. Well, she charmed us all yet again, and earned her first 30 to boot!

"A 100-proof cocktail of effervescent fun!" Bruno Tonioli exclaimed.

Hines and Kym, of course, could do no wrong by pulling the samba out of mothballs. Another MVP performance and another 30 for the football stud and his partner, who rebounded from a shocking injury to lead her champ to the winners' circle.

WATCH: Kirstie charms one more time on Dancing With the Stars

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(Originally published May 24, 2011, at 8 p.m. PT)

Source: http://feeds.eonline.com/~r/eonline/topstories/~3/iqpOiJKc1pY/b243800_dancing_with_stars_finale_winner.html

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"Jersey Shore" Fight Leaves Bruises, Bandages

Getting into their first major brawl since heading overseas, "Jersey Shore" castmates Ronnie Ortiz-Magro and Mike ?The Situation? Sorrentino reportedly got into a fist fight with one another last night during filming in Florence, Italy.

According to TMZ, everything started when Ronnie and his on-off girlfriend Sammi "Sweethart Giancola had a fiery disagreement at the bar.

The two battered housemates arrived back to their apartment earlier today (May 24), where Ronnie showed off his bloody knuckles and The Situation appeared with a set of red marks covering his face.

This is not the first time Ortiz-Magro has found himself in an altercation, as just last year the reality star was arrested for aggravated assault after he attacked a stranger in the street following a night out.

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/mike-sorrentino/jersey-shore-fight-leaves-bruises-bandages-508731

Ana Paula Lemes Alessandra Ambrosio

The O?Connell?s & Their Kids!

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OMG! The twins got so big! When the heck did that happen???

Yesterday, Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romijn took their daughters Dolly and Charlie to an indoor playground in Los Angeles.

Such a sweet family! So nice that they have the time to have these little outings together.

But which one's Dolly and which one's Charlie????

[Image via Pacific Coast News Online.]

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inspirationally/CelebrityGossipNewsHeadlines/~3/gbuJhaOmszk/

Joanna Krupa ThalĂ­a Vogue Katy Perry Paulina Rubio

NEW MUSIC: STACY BARTHE & FRANK OCEAN ? ?WITHOUT YOU?

[See post to listen to audio]? Stacy Barthe & Frank Ocean – Without You ? ALTERNATE LINK ? Everyone is loving Frank Ocean these days. Check out this new material with songwriter, Stacy Barthe, who is responsible for penning hits … Continue

Source: http://concreteloop.com/2011/05/new-music-stacy-barthe-frank-ocean-without-you

Blake Lively Melissa Sagemiller Christina DaRe Rozonda Thomas Audrina Patridge

Lenny Kravitz Cast in The Hunger Games

Lenny Kravitz Cast in The Hunger Games

Lenny Kravitz

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Lenny Kravitz has always had a unique sense of style ? and now he's taking on the role of stylist in The Hunger Games.

Kravitz will play the character of Cinna, who designs eccentric, crowd-pleasing costumes for protagonist Katniss Everdeen, to be portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the upcoming film, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The musician-actor is joining the likes of Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Banks in the highly-anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins's sci-fi novel.

Kravitz's performance as a nurse in Precious got the attention of director Gary Ross.

The first installment of the best-selling triology hits theaters in March 2012. Vignette StoryServer 6.0 Tue May 24 18:56:37 2011

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Source: http://feeds.people.com/~r/people/headlines/~3/RKKA05j9tPU/0,,20497299,00.html

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