Australians go gaga over Oprah (News Feature)

By Sid Astbury Dec 13, 2010, 6:40 GMT

Sydney - The 4 million Sydney residents without tickets for the filming of the Oprah Winfrey Show were told Monday to stay well away from the Opera House as officials bent over backwards to please the visiting US talk show queen and her camera crews.

The bus terminus nearest the famous building will be closed, boats will be kept away and roads will be closed to ensure Australia's biggest city is picture-perfect for the billionaire entertainer and the 302-strong audience flown out from Los Angeles.

'People are being urged to avoid the area if they aren't going to the show,' a Transport Management Centre spokesman said.

Even unionists who had been planning public transport disruptions over Christmas are bowing to the queen of daytime television. 'It's very important that the filming of these special Oprah Winfrey shows goes ahead,' Maritime Union of Australia head Paul McAleer said.

Millions of dollars in sponsorship has drawn Winfrey to Australia for the filming of episodes that will bring down the curtain on 25 years of the Oprah Winfrey Show and prime her worldwide audience of 44 million for the transfer of the talk show to a new network.

Her public appearances have drawn crowds bigger than Britain's Queen Elizabeth or even teeny bopper Justin Bieber could. Local celebrities, and even Prime Minister Julia Gillard, have scrambled for an audience.

Gillard interrupted her holiday for a photo opportunity in Melbourne and will be with Winfrey at the Tuesday taping sessions. Also on stage at what some have been calling the 'Oprah House' will be actors Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, nature documentary presenter Bindi Irwin and singers Olivia Newton-John and Keith Urban. Bands Bon Jovi and U2 are tipped to take part, along with rapper Jay-Z.

'I've never really seen anything like it in our show's history,' said Oprah Winfrey Show executive producer Sheri Salata. 'It's amazing, it's been a joy, it's been the best producing experience of my life.'

But others are underwhelmed, saying the fawning over Winfrey is an act of national self-abasement by a country still unsure of its place in the world.

'This is basically a treatment that we usually reserve for US presidents, the pope, or Her Majesty the Queen,' Oliver Hartwich, a research fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies harrumphed.

'That reflects badly on us because it's a kind of kowtowing to an international TV superstar which no one else, apart from the international heads of state or government, would receive.'

But those critical of the red-carpet welcome were easily shouted down by those eager to share in a little reflected glory. Even Russell Crowe was uncharacteristically joyous as he squired Winfrey around the harbour on a yacht borrowed for the once-in-a-lifetime occasion. Waving and smiling, he even responded to questions from reporters who came alongside in a press boat.

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