Oprah Winfrey: Fans gather for Michigan Avenue show

Oprah Winfrey: Fans gather for Michigan Avenue show

Thousands of Oprah Winfrey's fans gathered on Michigan Avenue to help the talk show host celebrate the 24th season of her show with a public taping on Tuesday. The taping included performances from the Black Eyed Peas and Jennifer Hudson.

"Hello Chicago," added Winfrey as she came on stage to a cheering crowd for a taping that will shut down the famous downtown street known as the Magnificent Mile for its upscale shopping due to traffic jam from early Monday through Wednesday morning.

Oprah further said, "Isn't this the most fabulous city in the world? I see you all the way down the Magnificent Mile."

The Black Eyed Peas sang their famous single "I Got A Feeling" as the crowd performed a choreographed dance. Hudson, who is from Chicago, performed her song "Spotlight" while Winfrey stood on the side singing and dancing.

Hudson told the crowd, "It feels good to be home."

Diane Stimson lined up at 5:30 a.m., nearly 12 hours before the taping started. Forty three year old Chicago resident called Winfrey an inspiration.

Stimson said, "She worked her way to the top, and she made it." "She gives us all hope."

The production company of Oprah Winfrey namely Harpo Productions, said that it would cover all costs for police, paramedics and sanitation at the outdoor taping, which also featured Rascal Flatts, James Taylor and magician Criss Angel. "The Oprah Winfrey Show" normally is taped at the Harpo studios on Chicago's near west side.

Both Harpo Productions and the Chicago Police Department estimated the crowd at 21,000.

Quite a number of people said that they wanted to come because of the difficulty in getting tickets for the regular tapings.
The special outdoor event took place on a three-block stretch of Michigan Avenue near the Chicago River, with two blocks of audience members. The taping was free and open to the public.

It also came just weeks before the International Olympic Committee will announce if Chicago will have the winning bid to host the 2016 Summer Games. During last year's season premiere of Winfrey's show, nearly six thousand fans crammed into Chicago's Millennium Park as she celebrated over one hundred and seventy American Olympic medalists from the Beijing Games.