andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

The old adage is true: all good things must come to an end, including the beloved Oprah Winfrey show of 25 years.

The queen of daytime television announced that the show will not continue past 2011, and she will move on to pursue other projects in her life. According to people.com, a spokesperson announced the “the last day will be Sept 9, 2011 [...] She will speak about it on (Friday’s) live show.”

This mention of new projects brings to light Winfrey’s latest work on her new cable channel, called the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Perhaps she will bring to life another version of her talk show on this channel?

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Thanks to illegal digital downloading, album sales are on a continuous decline. And as sales keep sliding, the music industry keeps looking for ways to make big events out of record releases. There have been partnerships with big retail companies (such as Walmart’s exclusive with AC/DC’s Black Ice), large-scale live shows (such as Jay-Z’s event before the release of The Blueprint III), and exciting fan contests (such as Pearl Jam’s artwork scavenger hunt for Backspacer). But as rollingstone.com reports, one sure way to guarantee an album’s success is Oprah Winfrey.

For example, Canadian singer Michael Buble’s new album Crazy Love went to the top of the charts after he appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which led Variety magazine to examine what they are calling the “Oprah Effect.”

“Oprah is the one thing everyone wants,” Diarmuid Quinn, president of Reprise Records, told Variety. “If you get that call back from her production people, my god, it’s the Holy Grail.”

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Corrine Gehrls, a former flight attendant on Oprah Winfrey’s private jet, claims she was fired in July after two other flight attendants falsely told Winfrey she had “inappropriate intimate behaviour” aboard a flight, reports TMZ. The man alleged to be involved with Gehrls, the chief pilot, was also let go as a result of the incident.

Gehrls is now suing Winfrey’s company, Harpo Productions, as well as the two flight attendants who allegedly lied – one of whom is the daughter of Winfrey’s best friend, Gayle King – for damages in excess of $75,000.

Angelina Jolie managed to take the post previously held by Oprah Winfrey on Ford’s list of The World’s Most Powerful Celebrities.

Their reason: She’s a gossip column favourite and never fails to get Oscar nods. But most importantly, Jolie’s latest blockbuster “Wanted” raked in an impressive $340 million at the box office.

Oprah doesn’t have too much to worry about. The self-made billionaire came in second and shows no signs of slowing down. Winfrey continues to host “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and a monthly magazine. The talk-show host has also sealed herself a three-year $55 million contract with XM Satellite radio and has developed a partnership with Discovery Communications to create an Oprah Winfrey Network.

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Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie are the No. 1 women in entertainment, according to two lists released Friday by trade paper The Hollywood Reporter.

Winfrey topped the publication’s annual “Power 100″ list, which ranks the most influential women in Hollywood.

The media mogul was chosen “based on her dizzying array of Oprah-branded media and her immense cultural influence,” editor-in-chief Elizabeth Guider said in a statement Friday.

All of the other women in the top 10 were studio executives.

Meanwhile, Jolie — who came in No. 24 on the power list — topped The Hollywood Reporter’s annual ranking of the industry’s highest-paid actresses.

She earned $15 million for her role in the action flick “Wanted” and could receive $20 million to star in a possible sequel, said the trade paper.

Taking the No. 2 spot was Julia Roberts, followed by last year’s top earner, Reese Witherspoon.

Oprah Winfrey has been proclaimed the world’s biggest giver — again.

For the seoncd year running, the day-time host topped a list of the 30 most generous celebrities for giving $50.2 million US last year through the Oprah Winfrey Foundation and Oprah’s Angel Network, which fund education, health care and advocacy for women and children.

The list, now in its second year, was compiled by The Giving Back Fund, a charity that aims to encourage philanthropy.

Claiming the No. 2 spot was trumpeter Herb Alpert, who gave $13 million for education, including music lessons, through the Herb Alpert Foundation.

Three athletes also made the top 10, with cyclist Lance Armstrong, basketball star Michael Jordan and Canadian hockey player Eric Lindros giving $5 million each.

Here is the top 10 on The Giving Back Fund’s list of most generous celebrities (all figures in US dollars):
1. Oprah Winfrey, $50.2 million.
2. Herb Alpert, $13 million.
3. Barbra Streisand, $11 million.
4. Paul Newman, $10 million.
5. Mel Gibson, $9.9 million.
6. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, $8.4 million.
7. Lance Armstrong, $5 million.
8. Michael Jordan, $5 million.
9. Eric Lindros, $5 million.
10. Rush Limbaugh, $4.2 million.

If you haven’t gotten enough of Oprah already, you will soon. The ubiquitous television host is planning to enter the wonderful world of reality TV – Oprah’s Harpo Productions announced Friday it is currently working on two series for ABC, tentatively titled “Oprah Winfrey’s The Big Give” and “Your Money or Your Life.”

In “The Big Give,” ten people will be given money to help others in a creative way and the contestant who succeeds best will be able to live out their “wildest dream.”

In “Your Money or Your Life,” families faced with crises are forced to learn to adapt. It is currently in development.

Air dates for either show has not yet been announced.

Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey surprised her 310-member audience on Monday by giving each and every one of them a debit card loaded with $1000 US.

The move, sponsored by Bank of America, was part of a “gift of giving back” program, reports People. The cash has to be donated to charitable causes of the audience member’s choice, or given to a single person (just not a family member).

“I can honestly say that every gift I’ve ever given has brought at least as much happiness to me as it has to the person I’ve given it to,” Winfrey told the crowd. “That’s the feeling I want to pass on to you.”

As a secondary prize, audience members were presented with Sony DVD recorders to document the positive effects of their donations for an upcoming show.

It’s not the first time Oprah has presented her audience with lavish gifts. In her most famous stunt, Winfrey gave a brand new car to every crowd member during one episode.

Oprah is already the queen of TV and magazines, and now she wants to conquer our radios.

Oprah Winfrey’s new satellite radio channel debuted yesterday morning on XM Satellite Radio, reports CBC.ca. The new channel, titled “Oprah and Friends,” will extend her reach beyond her syndicated talk show and “O” magazine, the publication that features Oprah on the cover every month.

The channel will feature a news and gossip show hosted by Winfrey and friend, Gayle King, entitled “The Oprah and Gayle Show,” as well as some feature shows hosted by other frequent guests on Winfrey’s television show. Poet and writer Maya Angelou will contribute, as well as fitness expert Bob Greene, and King will have her own solo program as well.

Although the first guest to appear on the channel is Winfrey’s long-time partner, Stedman Graham, there is also a line-up of high-profile celebrities who will lend their voices to Winfrey. Actress Annette Bening, jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, rock star Jon Bon Jovi and fellow multi-millionaire Donald Trump.

This channel may be an attempt to rival XM’s competitor, Sirius Satellite Radio, who has signed on shock jock Howard Stern and the crafty Martha Stewart to their own respective shows. XM’s other celebrity channels include Bob Dylan and Quincy Jones.

Winfrey signed a three-year $55 million U.S. deal with XM last February.

Author James Frey, whose sort-of-memoir “A Million Little Pieces” has made news for being largely fictional, was confronted by Oprah Winfrey yesterday on her TV talk show.

“It is difficult for me to talk to you because I really feel duped … but more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers,” Winfrey said Thursday.

Winfrey had chosen “A Million Little Pieces”, Frey’s account of what happened to him while overcoming drug addiction and alcoholism, for her book club, making the book a best seller.

But, The Smoking Gun did a bit of research and fact checking, something publishers failed to do, and found that parts of Frey?s memoir were embellished or completely false.

“I have been really embarrassed by this,” Frey told Oprah, adding the bad press would make him “a better person and learning from my mistakes and making sure I don?t repeat them.”

Winfrey also made it clear that she was not endorsing lying when she defended Frey on Larry King Live.

“I left the impression that the truth doesn?t matter, and for that I am deeply sorry,” she said. “That is not what I believe … and to those who challenged me, you were absolutely right.”