CLTV Producer Afua Owusu is braving the crowds and fans, and is attempting to view the Oprah Show taping on Michigan Ave. She is live blogging from the filed.
WOOOOOO! I am back at work... seems like I've spent the last 13 hours in a dream. But really, I got the opportunity to experience the Oprah Factor in all its glory. Yesterday, I began my journey from the WGN TV Studios in Roscoe Village all the way down to the Michigan Avenue Bridge -- after a full work day which began at 3am to see the one and only Oprah Winfrey. Those of you that know me well- know she is my hero.
Joining me on my mission to experience Oprah's 24th season kick off was my fellow producer Lindsey Nesselbush. We got downtown around 3pm. When we got to there the crowds were not super crazy. We were able to walk around the area for a bit. We got our hand stamped and then entered the gate area.
We ended up in section 4, which I think was the last section (there we met a nice couple-Tess and Nate). My fancy dancy iPhone was not doing its job -- the battery was dying and even though I had plenty of those bars, I couldn't get a signal to save my life. Luckily, Edgar was there and so kindly took some pictures for me. (pics of my new found friends are below).
I tell ya, it was great to see how people were making friends with the folks around them.
The show started about 15 minutes late, you could feel the excitement starting to die down the later it got. People were tired, hot, and uncomfortable....well at least I was. Once Oprah came on the crowd went wild... I was debating between tears and fainting... I opted to just take pictures instead. Once Oprah introduced the Black Eyed Peas we did our secret mob dance
(which I tried to film on my camera- once I figure out how to get it off my memory card I'll
upload it and you guys can see what it was like on the ground).
After the BPE performance and interview there was like a good 20 minute gap of nothing. They were resetting the stage for the next performance. You could feel the crowd dying down once again. We were pumped by BPE's performance and then we were forced to stand and wait. It was kind of hard to hear Nate and Ally (O's correspondents in the crowd) but it was fun
to see them.
Jennifer Hudson came on moments later, she was ok. Not a huge J-Hud fan. She sounded great, she sang some classic covers before singing her own hits. When James Taylor came on mics were passed around and we sang along to some of his hits. ** Side note, you may see Linds and I during this portion of the show when it airs Thursday, we were really close to the
camera at this point. Rascal Flats closed the show, but by this point the crowds began
to dissipate. People were tired, it was late, and there was so much lag time in between the acts it was kind of ridiculous.
But my favorite part of the night is when Oprah began reading the signs in the crowd. At
one point she told a very hopeful college student, "No, I can't pay your college loans."Then started singing "I love you but, Ican't pay your student loans." Oprah also thanked the crowd
for coming and told all the "haters to look at what they missed." Ha, leave it to Oprah!
All and all it was a good night. You can read below to see my time line of the journey.
Enjoy!
Video of us practicing the flash mob dance:
UPDATE: 9:30, just got home, ugh longest but best day ever. Got tons of pics to upload from
the big party. Stay tuned for complete blog tomorrow!
UPDATE: 5:14, its Ooooooooo time aaah. Dancing to BPE and watching lady O
UPDATE: its 3:44, bout another hour and 15 before they start the taping. They are teaching the crowds a dance to the Black Eyed Peas song (video is above). Crowd is growing but still not too bad. Having trouble loading pics :(
* UPDATE: its 2:55, quick train ride, just got here,getting our hand stamps so we can get in. It's
not as crowded as we expected!
* UPDATE: its 2:16p and we are on the redline!
* UPDATE: its 1:18p running super behind on the way to meet Lindsey
just got a text from Molly at the Tribune Tower it read, " saw Oprah and heard Jennifer Hudson singing."
Are you excited? I am...
Today's the BIG DAY.... OOOOOOOPPPPPRRRRAAAAh's block party! Me and my great friend and fellow CLTV Producer Lindsey Nesselbush will be traveling downtown for the big show. Stay tuned to my blog, I will be documenting our entire journey from WGN TV Studios to the Tribune Tower/ Michigan Ave Bridge (I will also upload some pictures from my fancy dancy iPhone).
As Oprah would say... "Stay Tuuuuuunnnnnnned!"
Afua S. Owusu
(uh-fee-yah) (Oh-woo-sue)
CLTV News Producer
