FAIRWELL TO OPRAH: A TRIBUTE TO A LEGEND

A TEARFUL FARWELL to LEGEND.....

OPRAH WINFREY

Well I cant believe that it is finally over......well at least for the OPRAH WINFREY SHOW,

She is a true icon for television. I can remember growing up watching her as a child. The memories of all of the different guests and topics are inumerable. O is a definite pioneer in the field of DAYTIME TELEVISION......With over 25 years under he belt she outlasted the likes of DONAHUE, SALLY JESSIE, JOAN RIVERS, RICKI LAKE, JERRY SPRINGER and sooooo MANY MORE wannabees!   

Oprah Winfrey has touched my life and yours! Yes, she has. She has most likely affected the way you speak, the foods you eat, the books you read, and the music you listen to. And today, she said goodbye to the eponymous show that launched her onto the world stage – after almost 25 years, 24 seasons and more than 4,000 episodes.

The show that ends this week is light years away from its original, vaguely tabloid incarnation; I remember Oprah urging confessions from her guests – women looking to win back their boyfriends by any means necessary, skinheads talking about racial superiority, that sort of thing – looking all the while like "one of us". The hairspray was abundant, the jumpers were brightly coloured, the weight fluctuated.

Oprah in the 80's

Oprah was the originator of the "talking on telly as therapy" trend, which is now the norm for talkshow formats. Nowadays of course, Oprah is a polished multi-million dollar enterprise, as much a brand as Coca-Cola or Apple. She sells us things the way no one else can. It does give the show the air of an hour-long advertisement with a few celebrity guests thrown in, but brands know that an Oprah endorsement is practically a licence to print money. So many careers have been launched on Oprah – we can, for example, blame her for the wild success of singer James Blunt, as well as Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret.

So many pop culture moments of the last couple of decades occurred on Oprah's couch. Tom Cruise's spectacularly ill-judged couch-jumping display, 

TOM CRUSING ON THE O COUCH

Ellen DeGeneres coming out and a shamed James Frey returning to face the ire of a disappointed Oprah. I remember the stark image of Oprah wheeling out a wagon of fat to illustrate how much weight she'd lost. It was she who gave away cars, holidays and extravagant gifts to her over-excited audience. Her unique, booming cadence and sing-song delivery – "You get a car, You get a car!" – saw her imitated and parodied; Maya Rudolph used to do a spot-on impression of her on Saturday Night Live.

For me, The Oprah Show was always a pleasure. I did not watch it as a cynic or with irony. It was, and still is, a thrill to see a black woman in such a position of power. Taking away the money element – Oprah was the world's only black billionaire between 2004 and 2006 and is still the only black woman billionaire in the world – here was a woman people listened to, respected and trusted. That was wildly inspiring. A large number of black British women cite Oprah as a major influence in their lives; like Ebony magazine, she is both black and universal. 

Oprah lives on in her magazine and OWN, the network she set up at the beginning of 2011. But it won't be the same. 


In honor of Oprah i wanted to go back through time and remember the O we all know....Enjoy the memories

THE O FAHSHION

IT WAS HIT AND MISS with OPRAH'S Fashion USUALLY MISS!!!  in the 80's and 90's!

BADD OPRAH!!

SKINNY OPRAH!

LOVED THIS DRESS!!

BEAUTIFUL COLOR FOR O!!!

MY FAVORITE OF ALL......THE COLOR IS GORGEOUS

FUN AND FESTIVE!.....SHE WORE IT WELL

THE HAIRSTYLES OF O

     

      

OPRAH'S FAMOUS Protege's

.....um well people she made famous!!

Dr. OZ

I love this man and watch him religiously!!......I wish he was my personal doctor!

Dr. PHIL!

Funny TV Psychologist......lol

Suze Orman

TV's OWN Financial GURU.....Love her

RACHEL RAY!

TV's OWN Sexi CHEF

NATE BERKUS

Popular Chicago designer!.....not turned TV SHOW HOST!....DUH!

OBAMA!!!.

Yeah she's probably one of the main reasons he is the president.....i dont know if I should thank her or kick her....lol.....well.....I still love you anyways!

OPRAH's longgggtime LOVER (according to dumb tabloids).......Im mean BEST FRIEND

GAYLE KING!!!

Seriously these girlfriends go way back......I wish i was gayle......she now helps run Harpo and OWN! (Oprah Winfrey Network).....She goes wherever O goes.

If you haven't seen her home in california Check this OUT

FABULOUS!!

Well the pictures are endless.....and i am running out of time......I hope you enjoyed the life changing experience known as Oprah as much as I did.......

To Oprah: 

Thank you so much for all that you did for television and for all who watched over the 25 years. Yes we cried, we laughed, we awed, we were shocked and amazed.....but most of all we were changed in some way or another. We will miss you but we know you haven't left us. May God continue to Bless you Oprah.