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

It’s Friday everybody, shouts Oprah. Two weeks ago life had a ginormous twist in store for Jackie and Gilbert. It all started when Jacki asked her husband what he wanted for dinner. He was going for dinner and got ten lottery tickets. She works overnight at the local TV station. A wire came out that someone had won the lottery in her home time. She called her husband to get the ticket and everyone was crying. Her boss says that it’s never good when you get a call at night, she said that they won the lottery and was it ok if she left early?

Jacki and Gilbert come out and meet Oprah. The odds were 1 in 175 million, they won $266 million. Wowser kazowser says Oprah, that is amazing. Jacki says that it is amazing. Jackie worked as freelance, averaging $40,000 a year. Oprah asks if people are coming out of the closet to ask for money. Gilbert says that he’s already told his family not to bother, the answer is no. The crowd laugh. Oprah says really. Oprah asks if they had the conversation about what they would do. They said that they had dreamed of winning $50,000. They wanted to buy a nice house, like in the magazines, an “Oprah house.” They like to travel. Oprah says that they can do it all now, they need to dream bigger dreams. Oprah’s advice is that everybody will come and ask for help, and that they get to decide who they want to help and who they don’t want to help and then they get to make the plan, otherwise it is overwhelming. You can’t say that you don’t have it anymore. Jacki wants to keep working for now, they don’t have the money yet, so she needs to pay the bills but she knows their focus will change. Gilbert says that they can decide what to do now with the money for the greatest good. Jacki says that being on Oprah is more her dream than winning the lottery. Oprah is really flattered and sees that they are stable, happy people and she hopes that it can bring them joy. Oprah says that there is great property in Santa Barbara. She thanks them and they thanks her.

Oprah says she loves it when nice things happen to nice people. Hang on to your britches, everything about her next guest is big, from her hair to her personality. Dolly Parton is a national treasure who grew up dirt poor in the Smokey Mountains. One of 12 children in a one roomed cabin with no electricity or water she was born with the voice of an angel. She graduated high school on a Friday night and by Saturday morning she was off to Nashville. She went on to conquer all of showbiz- television, movies, Broadway and her Dollywood theme park has been thrilling fans for 25 years. She is a one-woman empire and has written over 3000 songs including I Will Always Love You, one of the biggest songs of all time.
Dolly comes on stage and the crowd scream and scream. She drove in from Nashville on her bus and all of her homes are fine, but they are working so hard to help after the floods in Nashville. She has started a relief fund through Dollywood, the crowd cheer. Oprah has family in Nashville and says that many people feel that the crisis is not getting enough attention. Dolly is good, she is here with all her sequins. She says that she would never be seen without make-up unless she was electrocuted in the bath. She has been married 44 years and together for 60, the crowd applaud. Oprah thinks that it is interesting that we never see Paul, Dolly respects the fact that he doesn’t want to be in the limelight. Oprah asks if they have an open marriage- Dolly says that it means that they are both free to be themselves, but they would kill each other if there was any infidelity. She knows he loves her for her, they met the day she went to Nashville before she was a star. Oprah says that Dolly came from a one-room shack. Dolly says that coming gradually into money, she finds it hard to spend. She thinks about every dollar, she’d rather get a whole bunch of clothes from Walmart than one $5000 outfit. She says that she’ll still look cheap, no matter what she wears. It costs alot of money to look this cheap, says Dolly.

They play a duet of Oprah and Dolly in 1987 singing This Little Light of Mine. Neither of them had watched it for a while. Oprah said that she was lip-synching. Dolly is 5’ 1”. She once lost a Dolly Parton look-alike contest when she lived in Santa Fe. She over-exaggerated everything and thought it would be so much fun. Next to all the 6 foot drag queens she looked like a little gay midget. She was lost in the shuffle and she lost her own drag-queen night.

She has celebrated 25 years of Dollywood, her 150 acre theme park near her childhood home in the Smokey Mountains. Her financial advisors told her not to buy it as it was too risky. She says that they do wonderful work down there. They have the Dollywood Foundation where they have an Imagination Library where they give books to children once a month from birth to kindergarten. They are giving their 25th million book away, which Oprah says is amazing.

Standing outside the Oprah studio is Dolly’s tour bus. Oprah says that it’s like a double-wide. There are three bunks and she has her own shower. All her wigs are in the cupboards. She loves to travel by bus where she does all her work and reading and praying. She has a little prayer alter. Oprah has a prayer chair for morning prayer and meditation, with her prayer ornamentations. Sometimes she’ll pray in bed like Dolly. Oprah says that the chairs are so small, she has the same cross as Dolly. Dolly usually cooks, she is on a low-carb diet right now so she has cheese and quiche. She eats what she wants at the weekend, after a no-carb week. She hardly ever checks into hotels anymore, she loves the bus. She’d love to take Oprah on a trip sometime.

Dolly has sold over 100 million albums and has had 25 number one singles, here she is with a guitar and her biggest hits. Dolly says that she wrote 9-5 with the sounds of rubbing her acrylic nails together. She asks the audience wearing false nails to help her out.  She then sings 9-5 followed by a verse about celebrating 25 years of Dollywood and hoping to make a million dollars after being on Oprah.  She tells Oprah about how Elvis was set to record I Will Always Love You but that they wanted her to sign away the rights and she wouldn’t. She gets money every time the song is played. Oprah congratulates her for the decision not to sell, even to Elvis. Dolly says that she cried for days. She then goes on to dedicate I WIll Always Love You to Oprah, saying that she will be dearly missed and that she is one of the most amazing women in the world. Oprah cries as Dolly and the audience sing to her. Dolly stands up and Kenny Rogers joins her on stage for a duet. The crowd go wild.

Oprah asks Dolly what the best thing is about working with Kenny, and she says everything, plus she loves his gravelly voice. They joke about who has had the most liposuction and Dolly says that at one point she was going to install a liposuction machine on Kenny’s bus. They laugh. As a 71 year old, he has 5 year old twin sons who he says are about to break him. Oprah asks what he has learned from them and he says that the other day he spent the day telling one of them not to throw balls inside, get off the table and on and on and on. At bed time, his son turned around and said, “Daddy I am really getting tired of you.” He says that they are like Dolly, they are blatantly honest. Kenny says that Dolly is one of those rare, wonderful people, who is what you see. Kenny says that we are all three people- who you think you are, who others think you are and who you really are. The closer those three are together, the longer you can last in this business. He says that if there is an example of someone who is all those things, then Dolly is one of them. Kenny is celebrating 50 years in showbusiness with a TV special. Dolly is on his show and he is on her 25 year Special. Dolly says that they just can’t be separated. Oprah thanks Kenny and Dolly.

The June issue of O Magazine is all about saying yes to life and getting in touch with your wild and adventurous side. They could count on Ali Wentworth to spend the day at Cirque de Soleil having a photographic shoot on a high wire, dangling over fire and never losing her cool. Read the June issue and do something unexpected. Well done Ali, says Oprah. Here is one of our all time favorites, The Gambler, with Kenny and Dolly says Oprah. Kenny sings and Oprah stands with Dolly. Oprah sings with the other two. Dolly says that Oprah knew every word, to the verses too. Oprah says bye everybody and don’t text and drive.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

If you win the lottery, you can now do it all. You need to dream bigger dreams.

Oprah’s advice is that everybody will come and ask for help, and that you get to decide who to help and how, otherwise it is overwhelming.

Dolly Patron would rather buy lots of clothes from Wal-Mart than one expensive outfit.

Oprah has a prayer chair, both she and Dolly Parton sometimes pray from bed.

We are all three people- who you think you are, who others think you are and who you really are. The closer those three are together, the better.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Even Oprah thinks it ridiculous that a recent lottery winner said that being on Oprah is a bigger dream for her than winning the lottery.