Original Air Date:
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Brand New Harpo Hookups - Dinner for America:
As a special Harpo Hookup for home viewers, Oprah opened the episode by announcing that KFC would be providing a free meal for everyone at home! A downloadable coupon would be provided on Oprah.com for 24 hours and could be used to try the restaurant's new grilled chicken.
A Hookup from Harpo and Saturday Night Live:
The next Harpo hookup was for a 19 year-old college student, Jackie, from Michigan State University. A straight-A student and member of the school's comedy troupe, Jackie had to drop out of school when it was discovered that she had a rare form of cancer. The organization Gilda's Club, created for a former SNL cast member, granted Jackie's wish to attend Saturday Night Live with Justin Timberlake as host. As an added surprise, Jackie's friend Peggy wrote into the Oprah Show to make her dream even more special.
Jackie was very surprised when Oprah called her onstage and introduced 3 current SNL cast members on Skype - Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis. The trio acted like they were Skyping in from NYC, but were actually backstage and came out to meet a speechless Jackie. To add to Jackie's dream, Andy stated that she would also be invited to spend time with the cast while they rehearsed during the week and get to meet host Justin Timberlake.
Bernard LaChance's Dream to Sing:
Bernard LaChance has always had the dream to sing and share his music with the world growing up in Quebec, Canada. Without a manager, agent, or record deal, it would seem unlikely that Bernard would be able to achieve his dream at the level he would like. Taking matters into his own hands, Bernard has been able to sell 30,000 albums on his own sell out a number of concerts Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto. With nothing but a CD player and t-shirt printed with a theatre seating plan, Bernard was able to turn people passing by on the street into fans.
Renting the Chicago Theatre for his US debut, Bernard's wish was to be able to have Oprah in his audience. With a YouTube video expressing his dream, Bernard took a chance that Oprah's team would watch - and his dream came true! While selling tickets outside the theatre, Gayle King pulled up and invited Bernard to perform on the show since Oprah would be out of the country during his concert.
On the show, Bernard shared how he had given up the hope the day before that Oprah would respond to his invitation. Gayle's surprise made Bernard feel that his 15 years of work were worth the effort.
With his parents always behind him for support, Bernard was thrilled when Oprah surprised him and included his mom and dad, Claude and Andree, via Skype since they were unable to fly to the show. Bernard took the stage to end the show and sang "The Impossible Dream."
Shaq and the Boy Who Won't Stop Growing:
Back in November of 2008 Dr. Oz introduced viewers to Brenden Adams, a 12 year-old boy who can't stop growing because of a genetic condition. Shaquille O'Neal heard about Brenden's story and wanted to do something to help. Shaq invited Brenden to Phoenix to see a game, hang out and have clothing specially made for him. Oprah showed footage of Brenden's special weekend in Phoenix on the show and revealed that since the trip, Brenden has started to learn to play basketball.
will.i.am Makes College Dreams Come True:
With college costs rising and the economy struggling to get back in shape, many parents are concerned with how they will afford to send their children to school. will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas wanted to do his part to help kids go to college, especially those being raised by single mothers like he was. When asked to gather a group of kids for him to choose from to receive his first i am scholarship, Oprah introduced viewers to Jaiquann, Elijah and twins Darien and Barien. The teens are high school track stars and all were accepted into their dream schools, but each struggled to figure out how to attend.
The boys were invited to the show under the impression that they were appearing to talk about the economy, only to find out that will.i.am was there to present each of them with a 4 year scholarship covering their tuition, fees and books. What are the boys responsible for? "The only thing you have to worry about is succeeding and showing the world that the youth is the future of America and the world. The only thing I ask for you guys is to prove that single parents are the strongest people on the planet."
