Charice Pempengco - Note to God - Sings for Oprah

Singing sensation Charice Pempengco appeared on Oprah Winfrey's show may 18 2009 to debut her new single "Note To God" with a powerful performance aside David Foster her Mentor.

KFC amends free chicken deal after Oprah promo

The Oprah Winfrey-fueled free chicken give-away that caused pandemonium this week at Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants has been amended due to what the fast-food chain called an "overwhelming response."

Roger Eaton, president of KFC in the United States, said restaurants would no longer immediately redeem the free coupons for its new grilled chicken meal after Oprah's chat show promotion caused long lines around the nation.

"The lines of customers wanting to redeem their coupons have been out the door and around the block, so we're unable to redeem customer coupons at this time." Eaton said in a statement issued late Thursday.

KFC said millions of Americans had downloaded free coupons after the offer was featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and Web site on Tuesday, driving traffic to levels unseen in the brand's 50-year history.

Eaton apologized to customers for the changes to the scheme and said those who already had a coupon could get a rain check form to enable them to use it at a later date.

Winfrey, 55, is regarded as the most influential woman on U.S. television, driving popular opinion in areas such as books, pop culture and even politics through her support for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Louisville, Kentucky-based KFC has more than 15,000 outlets in 80 countries around the world, and its corporate parent is Yum! Brands Inc.

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE5474U520090509

Elizabeth Edwards to appear on Oprah Winfrey show

Elizabeth Edwards tells talk show host Oprah Winfrey that it's a "complicated question" if she still is in love with her husband, former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen John Edwards, after his admitted affair.

In an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to air Thursday, Winfrey asks Edwards, "Are you still in love with him?"

Edwards responds, "You know, that's a complicated question," in an excerpt provided in advance to The Associated Press by Harpo Productions.

Winfrey also asks Edwards, "Is it a day by day thing?" And Edwards says, "Neither one of us is out the door so I guess it's day by day, but maybe it's month by month."

The talk-show host visited the Edwards family at the Chapel Hill, N.C., home where the couple live with their children, Cate, Jack and Emma Claire. Winfrey interviewed Elizabeth Edwards about her relationship with her husband, his affair and her battle with terminal cancer. The interview will appear on Winfrey's television show and there will be a companion piece in the June issue of "O" magazine.

Elizabeth Edwards' memoir "Resilience" is to be published this month.

A Harpo spokeswoman said the only caveat to the interview was that Winfrey could not mention John Edwards' mistress, videographer Rielle Hunter, by name. Winfrey also spoke with John Edwards, however excerpts of his interview were not provided.

John Edwards went public with the affair in August after the National Enquirer reported he was the father of Hunter's daughter. He has denied paternity.

Elizabeth Edwards addressed that speculation with Winfrey.

"That's what I understand," Edwards said. "I've seen a picture of the baby. I have no idea. It doesn't look like my children but I don't have any idea."

She also describes Hunter as being different from both her and her husband.

"We're basically old-fashioned people," Edwards said in "O" magazine. "So, this was a pretty big leap for him. Maybe it's being so different is what was attractive."

Edwards was laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign when he hired Hunter to shoot videos of him. He said the affair with Hunter began and ended that year, although Hunter was seen on the campaign trail until the final days of 2006.

Edwards wrote in her new book that news of her husband's affair made her cry, scream and throw up in a bathroom. She told Winfrey she had asked her husband for one gift when they were married 31 years ago.

"I wanted him to be faithful to me," Edwards said. "It was enormously important to me."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WINFREY_ELIZABETH_EDWARDS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-05-05-05-38-30

Winfrey defends record of her South African school

Oprah Winfrey acknowledged in a newspaper interview published Saturday that she has made several mistakes at her elite South African school, but said she remains proud of its success.

The recent expulsion of four girls and suspension of three others was the second scandal to hit the Leadership Academy for Girls, which opened in 2007 to groom bright children from deprived backgrounds for a brilliant career. A dorm matron is currently on trial accused of abuse and sexual assault.

"I have made several mistakes and one of them was being overprotective of the girls, which has led to an impression that the school is isolating them from society," Winfrey was quoted as saying in the Weekend Argus.

She said she had also underestimated the extent of homesickness among girls at the boarding school.

Last month, four students were expelled and three others suspended. South African media at the time said they were accused of trying to force students into relationships and to engage in sexual contact.

Winfrey herself hasn't given details of the misconduct. But she said in the newspaper interview that it was "insulting" that the family of one of the expelled girls had complained to the press even though she had been warned before about her behavior.

"Those girls in their own testimony during the (disciplinary) hearing said they knew they were breaking the rules and that they deliberately broke the rules," the talk show queen was quoted as saying.

The institution just outside Johannesburg opened with a blaze of publicity in January 2007 with about 150 girls in 7th and 8th grades. The Academy is expected to grow by one grade each year until it reaches full capacity in 2011, with approximately 450 girls in grades 7 through 12.

Winfrey poured $40 million into the 28-building campus, which is spread across 22 lush acres. It has computer and science labs, a library, theater and wellness center, all protected by strict privacy. Each girl lives in a two-bedroom suite - a far cry from their humble surroundings at home.

It's the fulfillment of a promise Winfrey made to former South African President Nelson Mandela and aims to give poor girls a quality education and prepare them for leadership positions in a country where state schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of white-minority rule.

"The majority of girls are thriving, really fulfilling the dream and vision I had," Winfrey told the newspaper. "They really have exceeded any expectations I had for them."

"In spite of everything that's happened, what keeps me inspired and hopeful is the heart of every girl, because they are wonderful, they are magnificent."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_SOUTH_AFRICA_OPRAH_SCHOOL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-04-11-14-45-15

Oprah Winfrey: my Rihanna, Chris Brown show 'a huge, teachable moment'

Oprah Winfrey's live show about "dating violence" and Chris Brown's alleged beating of Rihanna was one of those TV moments when Oprah becomes a nationwide town meeting, in which Winfrey uses her extraordinary outreach and influence on America to try and shed light and counsel on a cultural issue. Dedicating the hour to "all the Rihannas in the world, and all the young men who would think of hitting a woman," Winfrey didn't shy away from arguing with young members of the audience who expressed sympathy for the male violence of which Brown is accused.

After a report from Entertainment Tonight correspondent Kevin Frazier that Rihanna and Brown are recording a duet and may write a book together about domestic violence, Winfrey told one teen her take on the Rihanna-Brown situation: "If you go back to a man who hit you, you don't think you're worthy of being with a man who won't."

At Winfrey's side was Tyra Banks, who'd given over her own talk show to the same topic earlier in the day, and repeated a sentiment she used there: "There's no excuse for a man to put his hands on a woman, ever, ever, ever." She also talked about a relationship she'd been in, in which she felt herself a victim of "emotional abuse." Banks intruded too often into the interviews Winfrey conducted, it seemed to me, but she did make a valuable point when one teen expressed disappointment that Rihanna apparently hasn't abandonded Brown and therefore wasn't a "role model." Banks reminded the audience that Rihanna is "a girl... an entertainer," not a role model, and shouldn't have to bear this added pressure.

Winfrey's presentation was most interesting when interviewing teens in pre-taped moments and live via remote locations such as Boise, Idaho, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Declaring her show a "huge, teachable moment" for America, Winfrey also interviewed a pregnant young woman, Britney, whose boyfriend, the father of her child, was in jail for attacking her. This interview was at once electrifying and queasy-making.

The hour skipped around a lot, with Winfrey showing a clip from a 1993 show she did about a girl whose boyfriend killed her, and then brought the mother of that girl onstage to talk with Britney and her parents. This seemed a stretch, since this woman, not identified as any sort of professional and speaking as she put it, based on "what little I know about this situation," couldn't offer much in the way of useful advice. As always, Winfrey was sincere, careful with her facts, and offered a lot of websites and phone numbers for viewers in similarly troubled or dangerous situations to contact. She concluded by calling out, "God bless, Rihanna, Chris!"

Did you watch? Do you think Oprah is a useful forum for the discussion of these issues?

http://watching-tv.ew.com/2009/03/oprah-winfrey-o.html?iid=top25-Oprah+Winfrey%3A+my+Rihanna%2C+Chris+Brown+show+%27a+huge%2C+teachable+moment%27

Oprah dedicates Thursday's show to Rihanna

"He will hit you again." That was Oprah's warning to Rihanna on her talk show last Friday while announcing that she will do an episode about domestic violence this week "dedicated to all the Rihannas of the world." I certainly look forward to hearing what she has to say -- and I hope Rihanna tunes in as well. Of all the people advising her these days, I can't imagine anyone has better words of wisdom to offer than the mighty O. What do you think, PopWatchers? Should Oprah get involved? Seems pretty bold, as even the slightest quote on this subject gets reported everywhere. Can she pull it off without being unfair to Chris Brown given that he has not yet been convicted? Should we worry about that at all? And if the reports that the troubled couple has reconciled are true, wouldn't you rather see them appear on the show together so they can justify their love?

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/03/oprah-dedicates.html?iid=top25-Oprah+dedicates+Thursday%27s+show+to+Rihanna

Oprah Winfrey has a warning for Rihanna: Chris Brown "will hit you again"

Oprah Winfrey has a message for pop princess Rihanna, who prosecutors say was beaten to a pulp last month by boyfriend Chris Brown: "He will hit you again."

Former Manhattan sex-crimes prosecutor Linda Fairstein's warning is starker: He also could kill you.

Fairstein compared the fist-happy crooner to O.J. Simpson, who repeatedly beat his wife without consequence before she was slain in 1994.

Rihanna's reported reconciliation with Brown after her Feb. 8 pummeling sparked an outpouring of debate, controversy and motherly advice.

"Love doesn't hurt," Winfrey said on her show Friday, while announcing she will dedicate a program this week to discussing domestic violence.

"I want to do a show about it, dedicated to all the Rihannas of the world."

Speaking directly into the camera, Winfrey said, "If a man hits you once, he will hit you again. He will hit you again."

Sex crimes expert Fairstein warned Rihanna - as 21-year-old Barbadian singer Robyn Rihanna Fenty is known - that she risks not just another bloodying, but her very life.

"Many of the circumstances in her case were like the early warning signs in the O.J. Simpson case," Fairstein said.

She pointed to several "red flags" that suggest Rihanna could be in the same danger as Nicole Brown Simpson was 15 years ago, getting hit repeatedly but not pressing charges and then reconciling with the former running back.

The allegation that Chris Brown choked Rihanna while saying "Now I'm really going to kill you" is a particularly bad sign, Fairstein said.

"Choking behavior is a very interesting factor. It's hands on, face-to-face. It's a very intimate type of violence," she said.

New police techniques that assess an offender's potential lethality based on a list of warning factors should be used in this case, Fairstein said.

The Daily News reported this weekend that Rihanna is torn about whether to testify against Brown next month.

According to a police affidavit, the couple began squabbling after Rihanna found a text message from one of Brown's ex-girlfriends on his cell phone as they were driving through Hollywood.

Brown then allegedly punched her repeatedly, tried to push her out of the car, bashed her head against the window, bit her ear and fingers, and choked her until she nearly passed out.

Brown, 19, entered no plea last week to two felony charges of assault and making criminal threats. He is out on $50,000 bail and returns to court April 6; his celebrity lawyer, Mark Geragos, is reportedly trying to work out a plea deal.

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/03/08/2009-03-08_oprah_winfrey_has_a_warning_for_rihanna_.html

Oprah introduces her 'new baby,' Sadie

Promos for Friday's edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show promised viewers would "meet Oprah's new baby" – and the TV queen delivered on her vow. She showed off Sadie, her new blonde cocker spaniel puppy.

The audience let out a collective "aww" when the dog was brought out on stage wearing an orange and pink polka-dotted jacket.

"The dog chose me," Winfrey said when pal Gayle King asked how she selected the adorable pup at a Chicago shelter on Sunday. "She was on my shoulder, nuzzling."

The talk show host showed a variety of photos of her new pup – including ones of her eating, wearing a pink Ralph Lauren sweater and napping with a stuffed bunny.

Winfrey and her longtime steady, Stedman Graham, adopted Sadie at the PAWS shelter, a no-kill facility where the animal-rights advocate has sponsored a room in honor of her dog Sophie, who passed on last year.

"Thank you for my new love PAWS," Winfrey said as she cuddled Sadie. She urged viewers to consider adopting from a shelter where many people are giving up pets in these tough economic times.

This past week has been a sleepless one for Winfrey, who said that the puppy’s crate was actually in her bed during Sadie's first night in her new home. "We've had a rough week, I haven't slept," she said.

After introducing the puppy to the world, Winfrey brought out Sadie's three brothers who are all available for adoption at PAWS. Co-host Ali Wentworth held a pup and pleaded on camera to her husband George Stephanopoulos, begging to take one puppy home.

Sadie joins the other members of Winfrey's menagerie, golden retrievers, Luke and Layla. Winfrey's other beloved cocker spaniel, Solomon, also passed away last year.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28528257/

Oprah Winfrey sharing cover of `O' with first lady

After sharing the cover of her magazine with her slimmer self a couple months back, Oprah Winfrey is for the first time sharing it with somebody else: first lady Michelle Obama.

Winfrey showed off the cover of the April issue during "The Oprah Winfrey Show" broadcast Friday. The media mogul had gone solo on the "O" magazine cover for nine years.

In the issue that will hit the newsstands March 17, Winfrey interviews the first lady about topics ranging from her decorating philosophy to how she hopes she can help other women.

In the interview, Obama talks about her first weekend in the White House and how the Obama family sees it as their responsibility to make the White House what she calls the "people's house."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/fronts/ENTERTAINMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME