Last show of Oprah: "Greatest Love of My Life."

No there was only a single guest on the last episode of "the oprah winfrey Show" - Oprah Winfrey.

Winfrey came out on stage for the last time to a standing ovation of the public filled with friends and family, including his long-time friend date Stedman Graham, filmmaker Tyler Perry, his fourth grade teacher Ms. Duncan and his former co-host of talk-show of Baltimore Richard Sher.

"There is no words to match this time," began to Winfrey, dressed for a pink dress with Ruffles hurtling down the front.

But a certain way Winfrey, striking a tone more environmentally friendly than the previous days when a parade of surprise celebrities welcomed the media magnate, found the words in the next hour to express its gratitude to its audienceits staff and the same God for him to fulfill his vocation.

"It is no coincidence that solitary girl who felt no great love... is not by chance that I grew up feeling genuine confidence, validation, and the love of you", she said towards the end of the showaddress public sound studio and watch him on television sets in 150 countries.

"You and this show has been the greatest love of my life", she said, choking back tears.

With only a single Rose Chair on stage, Winfrey held his court, telling the audience that, today, it would be giving away cars, nor was there any trinkets hidden under their seats. Instead, Winfrey used his last concert, 4, 561 st, to thank the public who has adopted the No. 1 talk show for its entire 25 year run.

It is on its different styles of hair and earrings "the size of towels," showing some excerpts from his childhood, when she was Chicago to host "AM Chicago" before it became "The Oprah Winfrey Show".

As early as the, discovered Winfrey she needed an audience to make magic and it fired its staff, friends and people on the street. She was soon receive feedback from its audience, citing a letter from Carrie at Anne Arbor, Michigan, who wrote the first week Winfrey went national, "watching you be yourself makes me want to be more myself.".

Winfrey, who has always said she wanted to be a teacher, said her show became its class and in some cases, it education and other times, learning. In his last hour on television, she reiterated the lessons she learned and passed on to his audience over the years.

They included find your vocation, remembering the golden rule, assuming responsibility for your life and to God or grace to work in your life.

Winfrey not hesitate from invoking God, saying that the secret to its success has always been "my team and Jesus."

"God is love," she said. "God is life and your life is still speak to you."

Winfrey implored his audience to embrace their "light and use your life to serve the world.".

Through his show, Winfrey has stated that she was able to drop the curtain on the life of the people and that they speak their truths, if they were drug addicts, drug addicts or abused. If she says that she has no regrets, the only thing she wished that she could do more to was to expose the horrors of sexual abuse of children.

One of his proudest moments, she said, singling out Tyler Perry, was when 200 men who had been victims of sexual abuse was in the audience holding photos of them than boys.

After giving a new email address, oprah@oprah.com, Winfrey said: "" I won't say goodbye, I'll just say until we meet once more, to God, be glory.""

Through the audience, she stopped to shake in his arms and embrace its balance, Graham, and others. Then she stood under the lights one last time, his hands deployed as if to soak in this last moment, before leaving.

As the flattened credits, list of its team of Harpo, who will remain in Chicago while it moves to full time in Los Angeles and its own network, Winfrey is seen kissing, hugging and crying with the members of its staff. The final image is Winfrey, with his Spaniel cocker Sadie nestled under the arm, walking the broad one.

Actors mark final show of Oprah with punch lines

NEW YORK - While many have responded to the final episode of "the oprah winfrey Show" with tears and emotion, of actors found punch lines.

On "Jimmy kimmel Live," Kimmel sings goodbye by performing the song "End of the road" with the Group R & B Boyz II Men. The melody has been renamed "it's So Hard To Say Goodbye (to Oprah Winfrey)."

David Letterman, whose tumultuous relationship with Winfrey as has long been the Chronicle, lamented previously not invited to the gala farewell to Chicago.

"" "Honest to God," said Letterman, "every day I get out of bed and think:"What can I do to aspire to Oprah?"".

Many have turned to social media to contemplate a world post-Oprah.

Among the notable observations on Twitter are the following:

? "Apparently Oprah is responsible for the life on our planet as we know it."-Kevin Nealon.

? "Miss Oprah and Osama." Is there a way to their couples for something? "- Michael Ian Black.

? "Oprah Winfrey is so powerful that it the Rapture postponed after its final show airs." - Joan Rivers.

? "It seems unfair!" "Without Oprah, how publishers will continue their business plan cross-fingers/hope-to-win-the-lottery?"-John Hodgman.

? "Jesus will probably surprise guest." "He began."-Paula Poundstone.

? "What can I say about Oprah she has not already says about itself?" - Justin Stangel, producer sitcom "Late Show CBS".

First of all, Oprah says she thought the end of the show in 2006

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Some 25 years after "the oprah winfrey Show" made its debut, the day of game changing smash ends as talk legend reflects candidly on his legacy, how it makes decisions and why his voice used to be higher.

THR: How strategic were you get (show) to work so fast?

Oprah: If I ever write a book, people would be surprised at how na?ve and unsophisticated, I was. Back in the beginning of the 1990s, I saw an article in USA Today where Larry King said that he wanted, he was my publicist. I laughed because my publicist was the intern on "AM Chicago." I asked, it would help me with mail? I was going to pay her $1 per letter, and then I started to do so much mail, I couldn't pay him more. She said: "Well, I can be your publicist." We would get all these offers magazines, and she would say: "Good Housekeeping called." My mom says you should do so because they have the stamp of approval. ?

THR: What was the greatest challenge of launch of the show?

Oprah: We have tried and tried to make the stars, and nobody would come. It's like, "who are you?". People said, "" Ofrie Okrah, what? "" My real name is Orpa. Thank God who got screwed. It is just a horrible sound, "Orpah." The first show featured an unknown woman which you guaranteed to find the ideal partner. People immediately responded to the message we tried to make. I was recently looking for the band, and in that first five minutes I indicates what is intended. I say, "we wanted to do the show for you, because we wanted you to know that you are not alone". All the things I considered the show to be reached.

THR: Is there a guest that stands out the most?

My favourite is a woman named Tererai Trent. She was born in the Zimbabwe in a village and was 11 years old, married and has three children at the time she was 18 and had buried his dream in a box of preserved under a rock. The dream was to come to America and to learn, and she recently completed her PhD last year. For me, this story expresses hope and perseverance - never give up believing in yourself. It symbolizes and embodies everything that I have tried to say on this show for 25 years.

THR: When did you first of all to the end of the show?

Oprah: I started to think to ending with the 20th year because I have hung in numbers; It is a bit toc. I like always even numbers and strong, because I grew up with a father who would say, when I asked, "can I have a sum of money." He will say, "sorry, my money is of the not even". So I began to think seriously for the 20th anniversary. And then Mattie Stepanek, a boy of 12 years of muscular dystrophy, sent me a letter from his hospital bed to give me all the reasons why I should wait until 25. It has a huge influence on me. ?

THR: You feel emotional now that the spectacle of the end?

Oprah: I keep asking, "is there something wrong with me that I am not only emotional." Everybody around me for the past 20 performances was so emotional. I had a time favorite unprecedented emotional after my last real concert the other day with my guests. I am emotional I feel a sense of relief and completion this effort was well done. I feel really well on this subject. I have not a single regret.

THR: Not even to have James Frey as a guest, when you have learned later that he embellished his memoirs, "A Million pieces?"

Oprah: Eckhart Tolle changed my thinking about what is the ego. It is transforming to life. I could call Frey and apologize.

THR: You said that you have no regrets. What problems that occurred at your school in South Africa, Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls?

Oprah: I regret that I take the time to build the infrastructure of first. But I learned a big lesson from that: schools are not subject of bricks and mortar. It is not useful to rush to come without the infrastructure in place. You are nowhere without leadership fort.

THR: Which, what is your position by replacing the former own CEO Christina Norman?

Oprah: Peter Liguori, who is the head of the operation of all discovery channels, is acting Director General. I'll take my time and find the person or persons - I am now thinking that it is not only a person - who are the best in alignment with the vision we want to grow. One of the lessons I learned from my school is that the same person, it takes to build a school is not the same person on the school. I am extremely grateful to Christina and his sacrifice for obtaining launched. We are now in the next step.

It is an envelope: "Oprah" today record final

 That's all, folks: Oprah Winfrey tapes of the last edition of "the oprah winfrey Show" today.

Sheri Salata, executive producer of talk-show Winfrey, confirmed the speculation on Twitter this morning, writing "we are ready." She is ready. :-) "in response to well-wishes a fan for the final of the show." Monday evening, Salata tweeted, "final Rehearsing the oprah @ product today... tomorrow... and then... record"

Salata also described a "different energy in the control room... sometimes intimate and quiet" on Twitter, today, saying that she and her producers colleagues was "very focused". But it offered no clues about the content of the final show.

Harpo Productions has also confirmed that "Oprah" final stages Tuesday afternoon. The Associated Press reported that hundreds of fans gathered outside the studio of Chicago of Winfrey as Gayle King, the best friend of Winfrey, mingled and spoke with the crowd.

Talk with USA Today, Salata predicted that the final moments of the recording of the final show would be very emotional for people behind "oprah."

"We will heat up a storm," she said. "Probably a little crying, taking the other into tight." And certainly feeling a sense of closure for what has been such an unforgettable chapter in our lives.

Final "oprah" airs Wednesday at 10 pm in some markets. After 25 years helming production, Winfrey gave his personal performances of third party - and to-before-last control. They surprised him with performances and appearances of such as Will Smith, Beyonce Knowles, Madonna, and Maria Shriver, among a series of other stars.

These two shows were recorded at United Center in Chicago on May 17, allowing 13,000 friends and fans of Winfrey. Part one aired Monday. part two airs today.

Say fans have gone very difficult to obtain access to the shows final Winfrey would be an understatement. A Chicago man feigned his own assault last week, a person claiming stole his passes to the "Oprah" record at the United Center because he did not disappoint his wife. They had travelled from Ontario, to the Canada, to see the show, but had no tickets.

Oprah Winfrey focuses on Fans in the final

For the last episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" registered Tuesday, talk-show Queen appears only on the Chicago scene, speak to the viewers what they have heard him for 25 years the show to perform. The final will be broadcast Wednesday.

Fans leaving Tuesday record said that Winfrey had tears in their eyes that the icon for the television, said a final thank you.

"She said: ' this is not goodbye." This is next time, "said Amy Korin, 32, of Chicago, who was in the audience.

Winfrey then kissed and hugged his partner long, Stedman Graham, and made its way through the corridors of Harpo Studios, say goodbye to his staff, members of the audience said. She kept saying, "We the done!" We did it!, "Korin said and giving its employees."

There was a single chair on the stage, but Winfrey held most of the time, said of the members of the public.

"A lot of crying and hugs, tears and hugs,"Said Korin."."

Members of the audience described a final of the series produced simply filled with a sense of gratitude.

"It was just him all the time, a summary of what she believed in, that we have him gave as spectators and that she hopes that she gave us, said Nancy Evankoe, 60, Hoffman Estates, who went to the recording with his daughter.".

In November 2009, Winfrey announced that it would end its popular show after 25 years. Tuesday, the record comes a week after a list of Hollywood and 13,000 fans Winfrey farewell in a show of double-episode at the United Center in Chicago. The shows that aired Monday and Tuesday included Aretha Franklin, Tom Cruise, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jordan and Madonna, among the other stars of television, music and films.

Registration final bare bones has had its share of celebrities in the audience including Tyler Perry, Maria Shriver, Suze Orman, and Cicely Tyson, but none of them joined Winfrey on stage. There are members of the audience 404, according to Harpo Productions.

Hundreds of stunned fans hit by their chance to obtain tickets for the final show gathered outside Winfrey television studio, Chicago, Tuesday morning.

Sarah Cranley, 32, of Chicago waited for his mother, who has travelled in Pittsburgh for the registration. Cranley said that she felt very lucky to hang the tickets at the last show and the prospect of Winfrey live did a not yet feel real.

"You think about how many billions of people around the world watching him and want to be here," said Cranley. "What are the chances?".

Mother of Cranley, Sally Mowrey, 59, said that Winfrey is a constant in his life when her husband's work transfers had his family move 17 times.

"It was something that I could, after watching Oprah," said Mowrey. "It was a thing that has not changed."

Fans said they went through the normal process of ticketing for final registration by submitting their names online. Some said that they have written letters explaining why they were Winfrey fans.

Best friend Winfrey Gayle King mixed with waiting fans and interviewed several with a camera phone. For her, the end of the show is bittersweet.

"I have such feelings on this subject," the King said fans.

The final of "the oprah winfrey Show" has remained a secret, even as Harpo Studios the publicised as a television event.

How Oprah has changed my life.

After 25 years on daytime television, Oprah Winfrey has touched the lives of millions.

Best-selling authors whose books she has chosen for her book club and the owners of small businesses whose products made its list "favourite things", can say you about the fame and fortune that followed after a mention on "The Oprah Winfrey Show".

Then there are the ordinary people who went on their daily lives when they were called to be on the show. In 25 years and 4,561 shows, Winfrey interviewed some 30,000 guests and many their lives were changed forever.

"His legacy will live on through me and his other guests who have undergone profound changes," Cheryl Hallett of Wellington, Fla., told ABCNews.com. "She is a woman and she has changed so many lives and these people have changed other lives."

In the course of one of the salons of beauty of Winfrey in 2000, the Hallett knee-length hair has been truncated to above his ears. For someone who was known to his friends for his hair, which would be life change enough. But Hallett, now 51, was about to come face to face with his alcohol problem.

She recalled "riding in the limousine and see the horizon of Chicago, I felt special,". "It was the first time that I was in a limousine just for me, and it is because Oprah has chosen my letter.". I thought, "maybe I do not have a gift for writing, it is perhaps something valuable and valid on me." I had this feeling that something was about to change. ?

Is no longer able to hide under the cover of his hair, just realized Hallett know where she had moved away and how much it has consumed alcohol to cope with the daily pain. Two months after its appearance on the show, Hallett has begun a recovery program and took his last drink. A year later Hallett, a single mother of a year, met her second husband, and together they have two children.

Hallett now use her voice to help other women through their recovery from alcohol abuse. "I get to share my story and it is a true gift, one of the largest donations," said Hallett. "And Oprah has been the catalyst of the thing."

Hallett, says that his appearance in the show gave him a sense of value and merit. "I couldn't let be for nothing," she said. "I couldn't it let go to waste."

Last week, Hallett returned to the show, 11 years after his first appearance, to talk about how his life had changed. "It was a way for me to say at his mercy."

Skipping school

Kiley Russell would also like to thank Winfrey. In September 2004, Russell, then a school administrator - Chicago area, jumped the first day of school to attend "The Oprah Winfrey Show".

It is a good thing too, because this day of good omen, Russell and all the members of the audience received a car brand new, a Pontiac G6.

Russell was in need of a new car, but she needed a new life and more. After diagnosed with lupus, a chronic immune disorder, a few years earlier, his doctor told him that she needed to change his life and control stress if ever she hoped to be in good health again.

When Winfrey told the audience, "we offer not only cars, we're life," Russell said: "he simply rang true for me, it pierced my soul."

For years, Russell had SOAP and scrub as gifts for friends and tossed the idea into a business. It now has the seed money. A week after winning the car, Russell sold and ploughed the sum of $20,000 in his fledgling business, Big Girl cosmetics.

Stars Come out to Say Goodbye to Oprah Winfrey

 Oprah Winfrey wiped tears away celebrity after celebrity him surprised during a farewell double episode recording of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" before his final.

"Thank you is not enough, but I thank you," Winfrey said the 13,000 crowd that gathered at United Center in Chicago Tuesday evening for "Surprise oprah!" A spectacular farewell. "For your love and your support, thank you. ?

The crowd gave Winfrey a standing ovation when she walked first on the scene. Then, the stars are out with producers of Winfrey making good on their promise of the greatest celebrities of film, music and television.

Aretha Franklin sings "amazing grace." Tom Hanks has acted as host for the evening. Michael Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles during the 1990s, told Winfrey that she inspires him. Tom Cruise, famous for his couch jumping on Winfrey's show, was there. Jerry Seinfeld wore a tuxedo to give a comedy routine. And Madonna said she was among the millions of people who are inspired by Winfrey.

"It advocates for the things that it believes, even if it makes him unpopular," said Madonna.

In November 2009, Winfrey announced that it would end its popular show after 25 years. Tuesday, the record will be released on May 23 and 24, before final Winfrey Show on May 25.

Tom Hanks talks about Oprah Winfrey during a constellation of stars double-registration of "Surprise oprah!" A spectacular farewell "on Tuesday 17 May 2011, in Chicago." "the oprah winfrey Show" ends his race May 25 after 25 years and millions of fans around the world are waiting to see how it will close a show that spawned a media empire.

"You always had the power and that is the message that you have made in our lives," cruise said Winfrey.

The show highlighted the efforts of Winfrey charity over the years. About 300 students Morehouse College walked along the aisles of the United Center as Kristen Chenoweth sings "For Good" from the musical "Wicked." Winner of Grammy John Legend was broadcast in a school in New Orleans and Winfrey book club was leased to get millions to read.

Josh Groban and Patti LaBelle sang "somewhere over the rainbow" Winfrey sat in a white Chair on stage. Jamie Foxx and Stevie Wonder singing "isn't she Lovely" Winfrey. Wonder followed with his own song, singing for her "Oprah please use your gifts to uplift as many hearts." Simon Cowell made an appearance. Rosie O'Donnell sings a song of Broadway style.

Winfrey's longtime partner, Stedman Graham, introduces Franklin after told Winfrey he loved him and was proud of him.

"It really amaze me that I get to be around a woman that changes the lives of people every day, which also takes its own lunch to work," Graham told the crowd. "You know what is really incredible." You have done this, love, through all the sacrifices you have made, you have the humility and amazing grace of God. ?

This is that Franklin took the stage in a white-shouldered dress than to sing "amazing grace." Later, she joined Usher for the final song of the show, "Oh Happy Day," that the glittering confetti filled the arena.

Maria Shriver, TV journalist and Kennedy heiress, appeared on the same day that it was revealed that her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, resulted in a child with a woman on his staff of household more than ten years ago. Shriver does not mention her husband during the recording.

"You have given me love, support, wisdom and most of the the truth," Shriver said Winfrey. "And I know that I am not alone in receiving these gifts for you."

The registration of the second show begins with Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who thanked Winfrey and he said it is millions and "which puts you in the status of a goddess."

Aretha Franklin sang for Oprah at the farewell show

 Aretha Franklin sings "Amazing Grace" Oprah Winfrey Show during the talk-show Queen's farewell show.

The legend of music came on the scene in a white dress, epaulettes by a for his performance. It was introduced by Winfrey's longtime partner, Stedman Graham. Franklin was one of several musical acts at the "Surprise Oprah!" on Tuesday evening A farewell spectacular "at Chicago's United Center."

Performance of Franklin was punctuated by applause from the crowd of 13,000. She danced in both directions on the stage, beating of hands and shaking his arms. Winfrey went on stage to the end of the song and the embrassés two.

Franklin underwent surgery for a condition that she refused to disclose several months ago.

Earlier in the course of the registration, Poet Maya Angelou recited a special poem for Winfrey accompanied by musician Alicia Keyes.

Oprah Goodbye: Shriver, Aretha appear at the prestigious salon

Oprah Winfrey has made a career our of surprising people but on Tuesday night, the tables were turned as hundreds of her fans and celebrity friends surprised her to say goodbye.

FromMaria Shriver to Aretha Franklin to Tom Cruise, stars paid tribute to Winfrey during the taping of two shows leading up to the talk show queen's grand finale next week.

Shriver, the former first lady of California, didn't appear to show any evidence of her recent marital troubles.

"For more than 30 years you have bestowed upon me the most amazing friendship. You have shown love, support, wisdom, and most of all, the truth …," Shriver told Winfrey, pausing for a moment after she uttered the phrase "the truth."

Winfrey responded by squeezing Shriver's hand tight, and the audience erupted in applause.

On Tuesday, the news broke that her estranged husband, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, had fathered a child outside their marriage 10 years ago.

An estimated 13,000 Winfrey fans and supporters gathered inside Chicago's United Center - just a few block away from Winfrey's Harpo Studios - for the taping of the two shows dubbed "Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular."

The NBA Eastern Conference finals between the Bulls and the Miami Heat had to be shifted to make room for the taping.

Just before 7:30 p.m. in Chicago, Winfrey took to the stage to the tune of the Black Eyed Peas' hit song, "I Gotta Feeling." What followed was a star-studded extravaganza that electrified the audience.

Winfrey was met on stage by actor Tom Hanks, who told her, "You are surrounded by nothing but love. Thank you for what The Oprah Winfrey Show has meant for our lives.

"'Now Oprah, we all know that you do not like surprises," Hanks said, to which Winfrey replied, "I'm taking it all in."

Hanks continued, "Some might say that pulling off this party is darn near a mission impossible."

At that point "Mission: Impossible" star Tom Cruise walked out onto the stage.

That set the tone for the taping of the first show.

Celebrities including Halle Berry, Madonna, Diane Sawyer, Queen Latifah and other luminaries took to the stage to pay tribute to Oprah.

There was a big production number from R&B pop superstar Beyonce – she actually had to perform it twice because of technical problems the first time around -- and a performance by country music stars Rascal Flatts.

The second show's taping began with Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett, as emcees.

The first guest they introduced was Michael Jordan, who told Winfrey that she had "done wonders" for him.

"I know you have been a fan of basketball," he said, "but I have been a fan of yours for many, many years."

Next, Smith introduced Jamie Foxx, who sang Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" -- with lyrics altered for Winfrey.

When Wonder himself appeared on the stage behind a grand piano to take over the performance of the song, the crowd went wild.

Dr. Phil McGraw and Dr. Mehmet Oz also paid a quick tribute to Winfrey.

The talk show queen helped launch their television careers.

Simon Cowell also spoke, and he introduced a very svelte Rosie O'Donnell, who performed a song and dance routine accompanied by tuxedo-clad men.

Winfrey was clearly touched by the tributes, at times appearing joyful, surprised and grateful.

She appeared most affected by the many tributes that recognize her ongoing commitment to the promotion of literacy and education.

According to the show, 64,688 children attended school because of Winfrey.

Poet Maya Angelou's recitation of an original work -- a narrative of Winfrey's past -- accompanied by soft piano music from Alicia Keyes, may have been one of the most moving acknowledgements of the evening.

Winfrey listened intently, her eyes narrowed, brows knit and chin occasionally quivering.

Of Winfrey, Angelou said this "big-eyed fat girl from Mississippi decided to show the world how to look at itself… how to change itself ... ."

She concluded: "I can and I will and I shall be Oprah, Oprah, Oprah… ."

There were 13,000 boxes of Kleenex tissues in the center – one for each audience member, a spokewoman for Winfrey's show said.

Stedman Graham, Winfrey's partner, may have prompted the use of many of those tissues when he paid his own personal tribute.

"I love you for making a difference in my life," he told Winfrey, adding: "It amazes me that I get to be around a woman who changes people's lives every day and still takes her lunch to work."

Aretha Franklin's appearance on stage seemed to have shocked Winfrey the most.

The music icon sang "Amazing Grace," following it up with a rousing gospel number that had the audience surging to its feet.

Oprah thanked everyone for taking her to a place she'd never been before, saying she would "have to watch the tape and process" what had happened.

"It feels like the rapture," she said.

The second taping ended with a performance from R&B star Usher, who sang "Oh, Happy Day" with help from Franklin.

Eager fans had started lining up outside the United Center early on Tuesday to catch a glimpse of arriving celebrities and witness the end of an era.

Cathy Deters, 52, of Cincinnati, said she drove to Chicago without a ticket, but someone outside the stadium gave her one.

"I don't think anyone could replace Oprah Winfrey," Deters, an energy broker who was waiting with hundreds of other fans, told The Associated Press. "Not many people will have the chance to experience this."

In the days before the taping, Winfrey's producers were promising "the biggest names in movies, music and television."

"Celebrities from film, television and music feel a deep appreciation for the support they have received from Oprah and the show over the years," Sheri Salata, the show's executive producer, told the AP. "Oprah will be very touched by that gratitude."

The guest lineup was a surprise to Winfrey.

"As most of our viewers know, being surprised is not one of Oprah's favorite things," Salata said. "In the spirit of our farewell season, she is making a rare exception, and we intend to make the most of that opportunity. It will be something to see!"

In the moments before the taping began, producers warmed up an already energized audience.

One audience member, a man from Winnepeg, Canada, went up on the stage and proposed to his girlfriend. She said yes, and the crowd cheered wildly.

Harpo Productions got more than 154,000 ticket requests for seats to Tuesday's event. Tickets were free and winners were determined by lottery.

The two shows taped Tuesday will air May 23 and 24.

The content of the final episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which will air May 25, remains a closely guarded secret.

Winfrey announced in Nov. 2009 that she would end her popular daytime talk show after 25 years. Since then, she has pulled out all the stops.

On the final-season premiere of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Winfrey surprised her audience with the news that she was sending them all on an all-expenses-paid eight-day trip to Australia.

The supersized surprise was presented with the help of John Travolta, who stepped out of a Qantas Airlines jet mockup to help make the announcement.

Winfrey has also brought back some of her favorite guests, including Diana Ross, Chris Rock, and President and First Lady Michelle Obama, as well as some of her most controversial -- writer James Frey and Inyanla Vanzant, the show's onetime relationship expert.

"Oprah is in great spirits, energized and taking in every last bit of these final days," Salata told the AP.

"The producers are a little teary-eyed -- it's hard to say goodbye," Salata said.

Legions of loyal fans are also in a state of disbelief that the woman who has been a daytime constant through four presidents, the Sept. 11 terror attacks, two wars and several recessions will no longer be there.

"She's one of us," Marianne Douglas of Rhode Island told "Good Morning America" anchor Lara Spencer. "She's our ultimate girlfriend."

Of course, Winfrey will continue her magazine and her new television network OWN, which launched in January. But it's unlikely that there will ever be anything like "The Oprah Winfrey Show" again.

Some fun facts:

The first national episode, "How to Marry the Man/Woman of Your Choice," aired September 8, 1986.

The average number of Americans who watch "The Oprah Winfrey Show" each week is estimated at 40 million, and the show is distributed to 150 countries outside the United States.

Total number of shows, including the finale: 4,561.

Total number of guests over 25 seasons: about 30,000.

The celebrity guests who appeared most often were Celine Dion (27) and Chris Rock (26).

Chaz Bono opens to Oprah to become a man

 After years of struggle with his sexuality, Chaz Bono opens on the transition to a man on "oprah" today

"Life was always so much more difficult", he told Oprah Winfrey on his former life as chastity Bono. "It felt like my body has been literally also betray me.".

"Tit threw you," said Winfrey. "That" Bono grumble. "You have this image of yourself and all of a sudden your body is exactly the opposite of what you feel."

Bono, the son of 42 years of expensive and the late Sonny Bono, made a documentary on its passage, "Becoming Chaz", which is broadcast on Oprah Winfrey OWN Tuesday. The film created at the Sundance Festival in January, which Bono attended with his partner, Jennifer Elia. Dear was absent.

"Oprah," Bono revealed that the expensive saw the film.

"She really liked much." "But I think it was probably difficult to see", he said. "She finally obtained is the thing that makes me happy."

Dressed in a softened blazer, shirt checkered pants and dress, on "oprah", Bono looked like a better version of himself that the man that floundering, insecurity in his documentary, which barrels through men's clothing store, one as an elephant in a China shop.

In "Becoming Chaz" Bono is desperate erase all signs of her femininity. He injects himself with testosterone. It binds his chest so tight, that it has difficulty in breathing. "I'll be very happy to get rid of these", he said before finally going under the knife to remove her breasts.

Despite his insistence to get rid of her breasts, Bono told Winfrey that he does not want to male genitalia.

"At this point, I really have no project aimed to bottom surgery," he said. "I feel really good, I feel like a man now, and I am really happy."

No one seems more comfortable with the change of Bono more expensive. The two appear together in a scene at the end of "Becoming Chaz", after that the credits start rolling. But the majority of the entries of the Cher in the movie is done via a single-camera interview in which she referred often to his son as a woman.

"I said, you know, can not you just do it quietly." This was not his plan, "she said." "If I do not accept him, what happens? ... I am concerned about the drugs that she be taken to keep this. ?

"Oprah," Bono said that expensive now regularly speaks of him as Chaz.

"Now, everything is so easy and without effort," he said about his new life. "I feel like I am on the same pitch that all everyone."

Questions linger about the end of "oprah winfrey" show (AP)

CHICAGO - Oprah Winfrey gave to the world of poets and politicians, actors a list and musicians and subjects of talk-show which defined and reflect American culture of 25 years.

As the "the oprah winfrey Show" ends, with 16 episodes left of May 4, his millions of fans around the world are waiting to see how it will close a show that has designed a media empire.

Winfrey producers plan a constellation of stars, double registration on 17 may at United Center in Chicago. The shows will be released on May 23 and 24, as episodes of second and third to the last of Winfrey.

The show is dubbed "Surprise oprah!" A spectacular farewell. "Winfrey hate surprises, producers say, but she agreed to this event.

But for fans, the questions remain.

Who will be at the United Center, this Tuesday evening? That will be retransmitted by satellite or deliver a message of farewell registered?

Winfrey has a stable of friends of celebrities who appeared several times on his talk show. John Travolta. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Jennifer Aniston. Chris Rock.

Could the Black Eyed Peas perform, as they did when Winfrey stopped Michigan Avenue in Chicago in 2009?

Then there's the Presidents and world leaders: Bill Clinton. George Bush w.; Nelson Mandela. The President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have already appeared on a special program broadcast Monday.

And Winfrey has other very respected friends that might be possibilities: Maya Angelou; Sidney Poitier; Barbara Walters. Not to mention the protégés of Winfrey, who promoted it to their own celebrity of television, such as Mehmet Oz, Phil McGraw and Nate Berkus.

Kelly Brittain, a mother of 41 years three and Assistant Professor at East Lansing, Michigan, looked Winfrey for decades. In 2000, she participated in a record on the phenomenal graduates. Audience members received mortar caps; Brittain hers stores in a box of memories.

"Somehow, I know that the producers, they will absolutely"wow"she," Brittain said.

There for a major cultural event, he would have said Bill Carroll, an expert on the daytime television for the Katz television market in New York.

"It will be top-of-the-top of someone who is available to go to Chicago, that day," said Carroll. "It will be spoken and talked and looked and talked about."

Harpo Productions has received more than 154,000 of seats in the event ticket - the capacity of the United Center is about 20 000 people. There was a lottery for seats.

"For a national and international public, which is a small number,"said Marianne Jennings, a professor at Arizona State University, who did research on the industry of the ticket for decades."

Tickets for the Chicago record could be even more coveted that the seats for the Super Bowl or world series, said.

"This is a unique event," said Jennings. "It is something that we seized on this subject.". It is something about being there with the crowd, be there for the story. ?

History of talk-show Winfrey is small: 30 000 guests, 4 500 episodes, and 283 items named her "favorite things" in the famous annual giveaway.

But there is still a more important question: what will be Winfrey for the final may 25? Harpo does not speak, nor is the Queen of talk show.

Experts suggest that the eruption of the Chicago celebrity means that the final will be in studio Winfrey for quieter, more intimate occasion, perhaps even without an audience.

"If I were a visualizer for a long time, I would want the show to put an end to a place where I am more comfortable with it and more familiar," said Janice Peck, author of "" the age of Oprah: cultural icon for the neoliberal era. ""

Viewers are looking for a sincere connection after having daily interaction with Winfrey for 25 years, said Peck.

"Long time fans will feel cheated if it does not honor in a way that history," Peck said. "They want to be crying." They want to feel something, some powerful emotional departure. ?

Samantha Howsare, 22, of Pittsburgh, who watched Winfrey since she can remember and named his goldfish "oprah" when she was 3, stated that she does not know that Winfrey could interview or that could give Winfrey away to make it worthy of the final.

"I don't want to feel that it will be on tomorrow," said Howsare. "I don't want it to be minimized in any way and if she played until it is the last episode right, then it would get many people to cry, and it would be a good thing.".

A model to consider would be final episode of Johnny Carson as host of "the tonight Show" in 1992, said Carroll: there are no guests and after his traditional monologue Carson showed a montage of past performances.

"For the greater part of the end of the show he sat on a stool and only directly talked to people at home", said Carroll. "That was so class for it."

Brittain is among fans who hope that Winfrey will remain on television, thinking that there may be a promise of an annual Oprah Winfrey special or other appearances.

"What TV would be without Oprah on radar?" Brittain said. "It is difficult to understand." Now used this source of global inspiration, infinite possibilities of the impossible? ?

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Online:

http://www.Oprah.com