We left off…what seems like ages ago, with Suze giving Nadya a Suzi smackdown and our hearts pitter pattering for our teen heart throbs. Now, it’s time for more Behind the Scenes…and more magic for how the Harpo team makes it all happen. Tonight, we are going to AUUUUUUUUUUUUSTRALIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! The moment has arrived!
“We are going to Australia!” Oprah tells us…it’s a caricature now. “It’s such a caricature that Stedman is now doing it.” Oprah says, “It’s one thing to say that. It’s another thing to actually pull that off.” We start off with Sheri Salata and team all in a meeting with Oprah talking about “the itinerary and plan.” Jill Van Lokeren, our favorite red head and Senior Supervising Producer, lays it out for us. “We are doing four shows in Australia. Two will be totally on tape – Oprah’s whole adventure through the continent and then two will be at the Sydney Opera house with 6,000 people in the audience for each.” Sheri tells us, “Oprah’s schedule is jam packed.” Hold on Oprah…here we go!
Here’s the itinerary for those who want to meticulously follow along. First stop, Hamilton Island, Australia to cuddle with some koalas. Next stop, a party for her fellow travelers at Whitehaven Beach in New Queensland. Then, off to Melbourne to meet and greet half the country and then…on to Sydney to the Botanical Gardens, Shows at the Opera House…and more…All in FIVE DAYS. Ok…wait a minute. So anyone who has seen the actual Oprah Shows from Australia knows that Oprah goes to a taco party and parties it up at a viewer’s house… then crashes another superfan’s family BBQ… then finds time to do a baby shower for another Aussie superfan AND she and Gayle and 320+ others climb a bridge. All this happened in FIVE DAYS? Oh, Oprah Harpo Team…you guys are AMAZING! Oprah…were you on roller skates? Ok…I digress. Back to the show.
“This is definitely challenging,” Sheri says. That’s an understatement…and a nice way to say, “OMG – What were we thinking?” 200 people from Harpo make the jaunt down under…working 16 to 17 hours a day to get things done before the actual event! Let’s get going. We have lots to cover…
Day 1 is when the viewers arrive….and Oprah joins in on Day 2 to start her journey. Let’s start shooting! “When Oprah touches down, the pace will change, the stress will change…we are on a schedule!” Sheri tells us. Basically, it’s the “this is it” moment and Sheri’s “O-No moment.” So we find out that Oprah’s path to get here to Australia came by way of Oprah picking up her Kennedy Center Award along with fellow hand holder, Beatle Paul McCartney. From dress to airplane to flight around the world…Oprah’s finally in Australia. “It is not a vacation for me. It’s a vacation for the 302 people. This is about creating this experience the people have never had nor would have had access to.”
First stop is cuddling with the koala. Oprah tells us, “I had to prepare myself for the koala thing. I’m not big on furry animals with claws.” Gayle also really really really wanted to see the koalas…so tells O, so, Oprah tells Gayle that koala’s have been known to attack. “You know, they’ve got those claws…” I’m just sayin’. Jill tells us that ultimately, it was a cute moment…but wait for it…it turns OUTSTANDING when the koala’s start getting a little frisky if you know what I mean. No sooner does Oprah say something about them being “spayed and neutered,” out loud does the – lets call it koala spooning – start up. Well, they are known to be cuddly…
Next, we are going to the beach. Now, while Sheri calls it “the most beautiful beach in the world,” I do have to insert here that I am a little partial to the beautiful white sand beaches found around the Keyes in Florida. Siesta Key…Lido Key…Casey Key…in case you are looking for a beach minus the long flight that has the white sand. Anyway, the Ultimate Viewers for the party are not here…but Oprah is. “Somebody tell Oprah don’t land…” Sheri is yelling in her mind from the boat. “We are not ready,” Sheri tells us. Oprah….don’t be early! Oprah says her first thought, as they circle around and around waiting for their big entrance, “I hope we have enough gas….I’m not comfortable in helicopters. Yes, I do have some fear…” But, she makes it…the great party entrance. “It was pretty spectacular.” Cutie Aussie Chef, Curtis Stone joins for the party…just talk to us Curtis…we love your accent!
Whisked away after the party, Oprah is now on her way to Sydney. Is anyone counting? What day is it? It is still day one for Oprah if you are keeping track. Later that night at an ‘Emergency Production Meeting’, Sheri talks about Uluru…the spiritual center of Australia…and a holy sacred ground for the aboriginal people…that Oprah is not going to. You see, the stories of back flys and unbearable heat has kept this off the schedule…until Paul Simon calls. “Yesterday, Oprah had a conversation with Paul Simon and he said, ‘You’re going to have the most amazing experience at Uluru,’” Sheri tells us. Oprah adds that during their conversation Paul told her that you cannot go to Australia and not go to the central heart of the continent that is so sacred… So, Oprah calls Sheri…and Sheri makes the change, realizing that really…it should have been planned the whole time. So, let’s go to Uluru…let’s make it fit. Somebody…start squeezing the schedule!
On the next stop in Melbourne to ‘meet half the country’ literally, Terry Goulder, Senior Producer on the Melbourne Shoot, tells us that security has been the biggest issue. “The biggest scare is that the crowd will be so large and so excited that they will rush to the front and that is a security nightmare.” Nobody wants to see Oprah squished….they just want to see Oprah. The Australian security expert is saying Melbourne is not ready…and Sheri is going to pull the shoot if we can’t be safe. Sheri’s calling 911 which is JVL, “Jill, we have an emergency!”
Day 3 of our adventure brings us Gail Grasso, our Senior Field Producer for the Uluru Shoot. Guess what, Oprah’s coming! Let’s get spiritual in the Outback. Oprah says, “It looks like where I grew up in Mississipi…the red dirt…but a little hotter than Mississippi.” Well, good thing for that hot wind we see blowing in the background…and it looks like Gayle missed out on this one. Was she back ordering room service breakfast? We all know how she loves room service breakfast. Well, she missed an adventure. “Was that 104 or 112?” Oprah asks about the heat. “It was hot.” To go along with the heat, Oprah get’s a room full of tequila and alcohol. Libby Moore, Chief of Staff at the Office of Oprah Winfrey, agrees with her boss…someone worked really hard to get this room fully stocked. “I hear you loud and clear,” Libby says. But really people, when it’s that hot, all you really want is a cool room and lots of ice for your drink of choice….it doesn’t matter where you are.
Oprah has another grand entrance…as she comes in by chopper as the ‘guide’ for her ultimate viewers. Then, off to Uluru by bus…greeted by the aboriginal elders…and all the pieces come together. Judy Trigger, an Anangu Elder, presents Oprah with the spiritual beads…and Oprah tells us, “It was a powerful experience being inside the rock…Powerful…that’s a good one.” Paul Simon, thank you! Later in the evening, they are presented with Anangu traditional performance…it was “profoundly striking” is what Oprah calls it. For dinner at Uluru…Oprah’s ultimate viewers get to sit down for an intimate dinner with her. How lucky…what a moment…what an “O” moment…
Back in Melbourne, Oprah arrives on Day 4 (technically, Day 3 for Oprah) and security has been taken care of…so we are told. Terry and Candi Carter, Senior Producer, are ready for the Federation Square event…and realize that morning that someone has leaked the entire schedule.
Inside the BTS show…Target sneaks in a commercial…as Oprah enjoys an Uluru sunset with Sheri… “This is a very special sacred holly thing that is happening. I think in this moment, we should all open our eyes and have a moment of silence and let your heart say thank you,” Oprah tells the group that were so divinely chosen to be with her…and for sharing this moment…a little ‘thank you’ to Target.
As prep with Oprah goes down for Melbourne, Terry and Candi are ready…as ready as they can be. “Everyone there is really excited to see Oprah,” Terry tells us. Oprah and the Prime Minister are trying to talk, walk and have a normal conversation…but nothing is normal about the crushing crowd and the stressed out security. “This feels out of control,” Oprah says. “This is a crazy fest thing.” Oprah survived. Terry and Candi were thankful…but Oprah says, “it’s not about gathering people in a square…”I think they should have been left with more than ‘Hi Melbourne….Great to see you,’” Oprah says. And when Oprah arrives in Sydney and meets with Sheri…she tells her this. “One of the things that was really a life changing moment for me is when we left in the car and someone said, ‘Oh my God, that was really something,’ and I said, ‘Umph…it was all about me…’ It was all about me…it wasn’t about them…we missed an opportunity to just leave a little kernel of teaching…” Oprah continues by noting that “Getting thousands of people to show up isn’t a big deal. Getting thousands of people to show up and having something to say to them, is a big deal.” Teaching opportunity lost….
“Oprah….is not pleased with our performance at the Melbourne event,” Sheri tells us. “Not pleased at all.” Sheri knows…and Sheri’s right.
“It’s a major shift in my life….10,000 people standing in a square for you. I felt great that they showed up. Wonderful that they went through the effort to get there but in the end, what was it for? To scream and yell your name? Cuz then that makes it all about you and not about them,” Oprah says. “At the end of the day, big ole egofest….so that’s huge and shifts how I look at the audiences coming…” Sheri takes those notes…it will not happen again…and I believe her. It’s not going to happen again. Australia…what will you learn? Don’t do that again…
At the Botanical Gardens, Oprah joins the party…and gives it some meaning for her ultimate viewers (minus THIS ultimate viewer). “The beauty that you see in this harbor and the energy of every person that you have encountered is just your heart being reflected back at you,” Oprah tells the group. “This season is all about the people who made it possible for me. You represent to me, as Ultimate Viewers, ambassadors of the show.” I guess that would make me an Ambassador of the OWN Network….I need a business card!
Finally, Oprah gets a surprise. Jill tells us, that an ‘O’ will light up on the harbor bridge during the fireworks. Oprah says tearing up, “I know what it took to get that ‘O’ on the bridge. It took my whole life and everything I’ve ever done or been or said or tried to be. The fact that the people of that country would think enough of me to put that ‘O’ on the bridge….huge….and I shall be forever grateful to the people of Australia. That was extraordinary…what that meant to me.”
Next week…more Oprah, more Sheri, more Australia, more O-No Moments…and more of the “you did this in how much time?” comments. See you next Sunday!