another one year projectThis year we follow the words of Oprah Winfrey

It’s Friday. He’s one of country’s biggest superstars, a self-described hillbilly rockstar; one of his biggest hits is called  She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy. Fans just love this good old boy from Tennessee, take a look. Kenny Chesney started playing music seriously in college when he got a guitar for Christmas and practiced hard hoping that one day he’d hear one of his songs on the radio. We all know how that turned out- he is now country music’s biggest star with 8 Entertainer of the Year Awards and 30 million albums sold. He has sold more concert tickets than any other person on the planet. He hopes to get even closer to his legions of loyal fans by singing his heart out and sharing his thoughts in his new movie, “Kenny Chesney Summer in 3D.” For all you Chesney nuts, this one is for you, coming to theaters on April 21st.

Yay! Shouts Oprah, Kenny comes into the studio and the crowd scream. He shakes some hands on his way in and hugs with Oprah. The crowd keep screaming. We ought to make this a ritual, says Oprah, you were here last year for your birthday and now you’re here again. It’s been almost a year, says Kenny. How’s the year been, asks Oprah? It’s been great says Kenny, there’s been a whole tour and he got off the road in September and thought he’d take a year off, but not only is he in the film but he made it. And you have to be present for that, says Oprah. Yes. Kenny says that he and his fans have a unique relationship, its a very unique love affair. The crowd whoop. Oprah says that it is an interesting thing; she feels the same way, that she has a relationship with her fans. Kenny says that there are a large number of people who grew up with him and were there when there was nothing. He watched the montage the Oprah Show did and says that you separate it from your perspective and to see what that looks like is interesting. Oprah asks what it does look like to have thousands of fans screaming his name and some are throwing their panties- no one has ever thrown their panties at Oprah. When people are doing the wave and throwing their panties, how does it feel? That’s alot of fun right there, says Kenny. So many nights he wants the audience to see what he sees and feel what he feels, it is so amazing. One of the things putting the movie together was how much fun and how passionate the fans are and how much they care- it showed him how deep it really goes. Oprah asks about his pre-show ritual. He always goes to the top of the stadium or the arena; the people in the back row are as important as those in the front. It’s important to see how far he has to go to touch the people in the back, to make them feel that they are in the front row. He talks to the audience in the back row in the studio and Oprah says that they have some good seats back there. She says that she is putting on an accent talking to Kenny and he says that he doesn’t think that he has an accent. I think you do, says Oprah. Kenny is from Tennessee.

In this scene from the final stop of the summer tour, the fans get to see what they mean to KC- when he can’t find his voice, they sing it for all of us, he narrates. Songs and dreams and people do matter. That’s such a beautiful moment says Oprah. Kenny says that everything he ever felt in his life he felt right then. The song lyrics contained every emotion and he couldn’t sing. He and everyone knew that this was going to be it for a while, he wasn’t going to tour as much, and he was so exhausted he didn’t know if he could continue, but he feels different now.

Oprah asks is he has time for relationships when music is his life- is that why his relationship with Renee Zellweger failed? Yes, that and he panicked. Kenny looks at his life as a box, at least musically. Everything that he put in the box- guitar playing, friends, career, songs, success, awards all went in the box and it grew to a beautiful house. You protect that house. This is the first time he has talked about this, he protected the box. Oprah asks if the marriage is inside or outside of the box? Kenny laughs and says that Renee is a sweet soul. Oprah says that she never married, she was relieved that she was asked, but felt that the idea of doing it made her panic too. Kenny always had the idea that marriage would make him lose his identity. Oprah identifies with that. Kenny hasn’t found anyone bigger than that yet, he hopes it happens. Oprah ask if he has the time to give to a relationship. Right now, he is busy running a radio station, doing his lives and other peoples lives depend on him- people are building houses and having babies based on him not getting tired. Oprah asks if he is in a relationship right now, then calls him on it when he glosses over the question. Yes he is.

They show a clip from the movie celebrating his grandmother’s first ever flight- on her grandson’s airplane. Oprah asks if he has any dreams left, if he has new dreams. He’d like to get better, have a kid. Oprah says it’s interesting that he said he’d like a kid, as he can have one any time. Would he like to settle down? Does that cause him anxiety? He doesn’t think it causes him anxiety- five years ago it would have, but now music willl always be part of his life and he can see himself settling down. Oprah asks what makes him happy when he is not on stage. He loves water, he loves to be on his boat. He likes to get up, put on Bob Marley and watch the sun move in the sky. Oprah asks when someone last ticked him off. He says that he went on TV once and someone asked him about Rene Zellweger. He laughs and laughs, the crowd clap. He couldn’t resist, he says. He doesn’t get mad easily but people know if he is upset. He does the stare, he doesn’t blast them. Oprah doesn’t blast them either, she becomes an iceberg.

Dr Brian Stern an oral surgeon from Columbus Ohio introduces Crystal Johnson, his office manager who is Kenny Chesney’s biggest fan. She decorates the office for his birthday, she has a full size cut out of Kenny. She has a tiki bar in his basement. Crystal thinks they are having a presentation about their website filmed, but Kenny comes on the computer and tells her he appreciates his birthday party and will send along some key lime pie. He tells her to take the day off and come meet him in Chicago at the Oprah Show the next day.  Crystal screams and cries, she says “I love that man”. In the studio she gives Kenny a birthday hug and kiss and tells him that she loves him. He says he loves her too. She celebrates Kenny’s birthday every year. This is a really good year, says Oprah. He has his guitar with him and is taking requests. He sits next to Oprah singing. The crowd applaud. He takes another request from a woman who says it brings back wonderful memories of a trip she took with her mother 4 years ago. The crowd applaud. To hear all of Kenny’s hits and experience the thrill of his life up close and personal, go see his film in the theater- it’s up for two weeks starting April 21st. Thanks Kenny.

Ok says Oprah, whats on your list of things to do before you die? One thing for Kenny was to take his grandmother on her first plane ride, Oprah has always wanted to go to the Pyramids and to officially be a teacher. What’s on your list? Watch this and be inspired. 4 years ago four disillusioned friends from Vancouver, Canada asked themselves what do they want to do before they die. With cameras rolling, they made a list of 100 things, got a purple bus and got to work. In Dallas, Ben gave a toast at a stranger’s wedding. In LA they entered a dance competition. Duncan told a joke on late night TV and they all wanted to experience the miracle of birth so they made it happen. They helped delivered a baby in Memphis. Everywhere they go they ask strangers what they want to do before they die. Queen wanted to visit her mom’s graveside. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina her mom died from a water-borne disease. She was in the Superdome and was bussed to Denver. Queen was in a hotel with the rest of her family. Touched by Queen’s story, the friends worked in a restaurant to earn the money to fly Queen to her mom’s final resting place, the cemetery in Denver. They find the headstone amongst the thousands, Queen just wants her mom with her.

Please welcome the guys from MTV’s The Buried Life, Duncan, Dave, Johnny and Ben. The crowd applaud. That’s a powerful moment says Oprah. Yes they say; they just met Queen on the street in Memphis, They found the woman whose baby they helped deliver on Craigslist. They worded their ad carefully saying that they would support her. Her boyfriend was afraid of blood- they looked like they were too, says Oprah. They said it was terrifying, Oprah says isn’t it amazing too? Yes, the most amazing experience of their lives, one of them says. Oprah asks how they came up with this- is there one master list? They started this 4 years ago from their garage. Doing this started out 3 years ago, before the TV show, but #53 on their list was to make a TV show, so they decided to just do it. The crowd applaud. Oprah is curious how many people have “come to the Oprah Show” on their list. Many of the crowd put up their hands and cheer. Oprah says it’s a bucket list- check, done that. What does The Buried Life mean, she asks? It sounds dark, they say but it is not. One of them read the poem by Mathew Arnold in English Class and it just struck them. You have your life where your things to do can kill you, so they decided to celebrate life rather than be buried by it.

The boys from The Buried Life took to the streets of Chicago two days ago. It’s windy, they ask strangers what they want to do before they die. Eventually they meet Tamika a mom of two working in Ben and Jerry’s on Navy Pier. Her dream is to get over her debilitating fear of heights- she has never been above the 16th floor of any building. She gets bubbles in her stomach when she goes above the 10th floor. If she could conquer her fear of heights she would go everywhere and go in all the buildings. They offer to help Tamika to make this a day she’ll never forget. She is undecided but agrees to do it for her kids. They take her to the 3rd tallest building in the world, the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower. That’s kind of high she says, they have big hugs. She thinks it is too high. They say they understand that this is a big thing so they will take it slow, they take her to the 103rd floor. At first she didn’t want to get out of the elevator. Their goal is to get her to walk on the glass skydeck, overlooking the city. An hour later she still isn’t sure, the crowd rally behind her and she does it. She says that it feels amazing, she’s on the glass.

You did it shouts Oprah. She asks Tamika to stand up and asks her how it felt. It felt wonderful, but Tamika is not sure she would have stood on the glass if the crowd had not been there cheering her on. Oprah asks Dave about checking off #95. They were trying to check off playing basketball with Barack Obama. Wow, says Oprah. They went to DC and tried everything that they could but by the end of the episode the President’s Assistant, Reggie Love, told them that they couldn’t do it. A week ago they went back to DC because Reggie said that they could come see the basketball courts. They went and were shooting around and all of a sudden, Reggie goes, I think we have company and Barack Obama walks over and says that he heard that they were in town and wanted to shoot some baskets. The President said that he was pretty busy, had this little healthcare thing going on, but he could shoot some baskets. He’s really good too, they say. They played with him for ten minutes, then he had to head back to the office. That is so cool, so cool, says Oprah.

Oprah says that the technically savvy guys of the MTV Generation could be ambassadors for their generation by signing the No Phone Zone Pledge. They agree and say that they can hand them out when they hit the road in summer. They are signing all three pledges and says they know how important it is and they are happy to do it. Oprah thanks them, says that what they are doing is so inspiring and she is delighted that they have been picked up for a second season. Goodbye everybody.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

There is a country singer called Kenny Chesney who is apparently extremely popular.

Kenny says that he and his fans have a unique relationship, its a very unique love affair.

No one has ever thrown their panties at Oprah.

If one of the items on your Things To Do Before I Die list  is to play basketball with Barack Obama, your chances of success are raised if you are filming a hit MTV show. Also, he is good at it.

Likewise if four of you and a TV crew want to be present at the birth of  a stranger’s baby, write a carefully worded Craigslist ad offering “support”. The MTV hit show bit probably helps.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Kenny Chesney and his fans have a unique love affair. He even loves those who celebrate his birthday and have a life size cut out of him in their tiki bar basement.