Episode 31: Fridays Live with Shaun White
Lindsey Vonn from Minnesota, is here by satellite after winning the women’s gold for downhill skiing. The crowd go wild. Oprah asks Lindsey if it has sunk in- she says no, not at all. She was so overwhelmed with emotion after the event, but it’s amazing. she put the medal on again last night and she can’t believe she has one it seems so surreal. Oprah asks where she’s keeping it? On her nightstand right next to her bed. It is true that she cried for two hours afterwards. Yes, she says it was crazy and she couldn’t stop, she couldn’t say a sentence, there was too much emotion, too much going on, she couldn’t control it. She was thinking that everything she had worked for her whole life had come true. That she finally did it after so much pressure and expectations was more than she ever hoped for. Oprah said we were all heartsick yesterday when she fell, but Lindsey feels good for the Super G. She was disappointed when she fell, she was skiing well and felt that she could have been in contention for a medal, but that’s life. She feels good for tomorrow and she’ll do her best. Oprah says that they have been talking about Lindsey posing for Sports Illustrated. She asks if it’s scarier to be in her swimsuit or speeding down a mountain? Lindsay says in a swimsuit certainly, as you are totally exposed, everything is hanging out there. Oprah says she’s looking good girl, looking good. Thank you Lindsey, and good luck tomorrow. Oprah has some good news from the Hudson Bay Company, not only does Oprah have the mittens, everyone in the studio audience has the mittens. The crowd give a standing ovation, as women distribute the mittens to everyone.
Shaun White is in the studio! He’s known as the Flying Tomato, the animal, the undisputed master of the half pipe. The 23 year old is one of the superstars of the games, he started snowboarding at age 6 and turned pro at 13. He started to win and win, beating people twice his age. Shaun first won gold in Turino and now he is flying high with multi-million deals, video games, the whole lot. His gravity defying stunts and his signature red hair, make him one of the most recognisable athletes in the Olympic games. He is a two time gold medalist, he flew all night from Vancouver, come in Shaun. The crowd goes insane. They hug. He gives Oprah the medal to hold and the crowd shouts USA. She says it’s very heavy; he doesn’t know how much it weighs. He says that what is interesting about the medals is that they are all cut from one piece and if you put them together again there is a picture. They agree that’s cool. Sean says that Matt got Oprah ahat and he did one better and gave Oprah an official Team USA snowboarding jacket. She says thank you, the crowd applaud. Oprah says that Shaun’s signature move is the Double McTwist 1260, she asks him to talk them through it as they watch it. As he takes off he says that it’s all about commitment, the whole trick is blind, he can’t see where he going until the very end. They play it again and slow it down. He has to know he’ll land it before he takes off, right here he is trying to spot his landing. He’s upside down. The edges are marked with blue and he prays he’s on the inside of the blue, not the outside. Oprah asks him how it feels at that moment. He says it’s hard to describe- you plan and dream for this day and everything builds up, It’s like reading a book, once you’ve read a couple of chapters you don’t remember what you have just read. He’s just in it, he can’t describe it. He knows how the bubble at the end feels. Oprah says that it is such a dangerous trick and he really had the gold wrapped up, so why risk it. He’s been working on this trick for 2 years, it’s been his best friend and worst enemy. At the X-Games, he had a spectacular crash.. the crowd whoop. He took a good hit to his cheek and had to bounce back. A lot of people asked why he got back up, but he had to. He doesn’t give up easily, he got back up, the crowd goes wild. He said it did hurt, it was not his favorite time. He says he has to get straight back up or else it will affect him mentally. He ran immediately back to the top and did the trick. O says that he is the definition of getting back up after a fall. She asks how much he trains- he trains 1-2 hours a day where he does intensive stuff. Oprah asks if he trains in secret. He says that with the Olympics coming up they wanted it to be special so they did the big thing out in the Colorado wilderness. Some of the crowd cheer. Oprah says hello. He was with Red Bull and they did Project X and built a half pipe in the wilderness, only accessible by helicopter or snow mobile. They added a foam pit, the icing on the cake, so he could try tricks and safely land. There were moments learning the trick in the foam and then you actually have to do it… and his hands were shaking.
He says he didn’t think anyone waas watching his air guitar solo during the medal ceremony. Oprah says that everyone feels a great connection to him, and he says he feels connected to us. Oprah asks when he knew that this was his dream. He took every step towards his dream and it happened. Oprah asks if everyone was always supportive. When he first started doing snowboarding, there was no money, no Olympics, no X Games but his parents recognised his talent and pursued it. His mom runs away when he competes because it is too hard to watch. When he is spinning around, he is preparing for the next turn, it’s a mental preparation to find the next wall. He says he’s relaxed and at the top, he has fun and cracks jokes, but at the start gate it’s like a different person, he gets the confidence and, like a horse in the start gate, he’s ready to go. Oprah says she will never get the feeling he has. He says they’ll get her up there. Oprah says no. Oprah says that millions of girls have a crush on him. He says he had a girlfriend for 4 years who was really supportive of him, but he hasn’t really had time to date or anything. He’s on the road all the time, it’s hard to date him. He has two golds, which is nice, beyond what he can fathom. He’s thinking of 2014 a bit, why would he not want to experience this again? He has met Joe Biden, now he’d love to meet the President. Oprah is pretty certain that is going to happen. Thanks to Shaun and congratulations.
Big news on Wednesday, a judge released 8 of 10 missionaries held in prison in Haiti, where they’ve been there for two weeks. This is what happened. On January 29th, 10 American missionaries were arrested trying to leave the country with 33 children that they claimed were orphans. They were headed for an orphanage in the Dominican Republic and were charged with abduction and thrown in jail. Haitian authorities launched an investigation and learned that some of the children had parents. But those parents testified that they had willingly handed over their children in the hope of giving them a better life. So on Wednesday, a Haitian judge freed 8 of the 10, and yesterday they came home. Allegations have been made about the group leader, Laura Silsby, with questions about her intentions and financial motives . Jim Allen and his wife Lisa join the studio by satellite from Amarillo Texas. Oprah asks why Jim went to Haiti. After the coverage of the devastation on TV there was a real need for people to help and he has construction skills and experience to help the Haitian people. The trip fell into his lap, and with 2 days notice he was on his way to Haiti. When he first left he didnt know what to expect, he knew he had some skills and just wanted to help. He says that they travelled around different orphanages in Port-Au-Prince, they met the director of two of the orphanages they visited. They brought out the kids one by one, and said they had no mother or father and could the group take them to take care of them. They thought that they were taking the children to a temporary orphanage in Dominican Republic. It was a 45 room hotel and they were going to take care of the kids there. He was going to be there for 3-4 weeks then other teams were coming in behind them. He found going to jail to be quite a shock and not what they intended. Oprah says as someone who also works in other countries to help children, she can’t imagine how it is to try and help but be thrown in jail. Jim says that it was hard in jail, but they treated them as well as they could with what they had. They slept on a concrete floor but they had one hot meal a day which was actually good, but there were millions of people out in the street. It was bad for them, but better than for the other people. Lisa, Jim’s wife, was not too worried that he would be coming home soon, but she was concerned with the situation. They couldn’t communicate until Jim could use the attorney’s phone. Oprah says that there are allegations that the group leader planned to make a profit from the kids, to charge big fees for getting them placed. He doesn’t know anything about that, he got no indication of that at all. He hadn’t met the others, except for two, until he was at Miami airport. but it seemed that people were legitimately concerned about helping the children. Oprah asks if there is any truth that 8 of them signed a note saying that they had been misled by Laura and handed it to the press. He says no, not at all, there is no truth in that. He had no ill feelings towards the Haiti authorities; it was a shock and hard to process but they were treated well. The legal processs is very different to here, but he felt that as soon as the story was told and the facts come out, then they’d be home. It was great to sleep in his own bed. Thank you both.
People magazine calls Lady Antebellum country music’s hottest band and just last month they won a Grammy. They play a song. Oprah says we’ll be right back. Footage plays from Madison WI asking Hilary from Lady Antebellum if she wants to play on Oprah, she screaches and cries. The first time they heard their single on the radio, Hillary cried too. Oprah grew up in Nashville, and went to East Nashville High School , and back then, country was country, and what happened? Dave says that they are still writing about the same things, they try to write honest songs about things that they have been through. They are excited that people are gravitating towards them. They write together and sometimes bring in a co writer. Dave will strum the guitar, the other two will mumble something and lay it down. Oprah says that heartbreak makes a lot of good music. Amen to that says Hillary. Lady Antebellum are currently on tour with David McGraw. They are ready to take the pledge, no texting and driving. Sean White has signed his no-phone zone pledge. Thank you very much everyone, have a great weekend.
WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:
Oprah says that she has a big head.
It’s scarier to model fro Sports Illustrated than it is to speed down a mountain.
The Double McTwist 1260 has been Shaun White’s best friend and worst enemy for the last 2 years.
Shaun White wants to meet Obama, Oprah is sure it will happen.
Being jailed in Haiti is bad but not as bad as being out on the streets.
A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:
The Olympics are awesome, winning gold feels great, there is some stylish souvenir clothing, most of which Oprah now owns.