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Oprah's Big Give
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Starting tomorrow Sunday March 2 at 9pm and continuing for 8 weeks total is Oprah's Big Give. This series has the production talents of Amazing Race creator/executive producer Bertram van Munster as well as Oprah's full support, so it's likely to be good. Oprah's desire is for contestants to "give big or go home". The contestants were chosen by the judges and are "everyday people" who will be introduced in the first show.
The judges are:
1. Jamie Oliver, noted chef
2. Malaak Compton-Rock, wife of comedian Chris Rock
3. Tony Gonzalez, NFL football player
The host is Nate Berkus (who?), design guru. He has experience as the host of the "Oprah and friends" channel on XM radio and also for makeovers on Oprah's TV show. I never heard of him, but no matter. He'll distinguish himself by his performance as host or not.
There are celebrity helpers who will show up at some point:
1. who else but reality show host Donald Trump
2. that potrait of elegance on the dance floor John Travolta
3. former Friends star and now movie star Jennifer Aniston
4. race car driver Danica Patrick
5. Jada Pinkett-Smith, a legitimate actress in her own right (before being wife of and mother of)
6. Natalie Cole, inheritor of the voice from her legendary father
7. former tennis star Andre Agassi (I don't think he is winning any tournaments these days)
There is a challenge each episode to give away Oprah's money. The givers are judged on creativity, leadership, and accomplishments and, just like in the Amazing Race my favroite show, the lowest performing person (or team in AR) is sent home. At the end, the person deemed the "biggest giver" wins $1,000,000 but they do not know that while competing.
The first episode preview shows that contestants are paired up into 5 teams, given a car and told to "go" with 5 days to complete the task.
marigold:
Oh this seems interesting, I'll definitely watch this.
I like Nate he's a very compasionate person.
I like his designs and know of his tragic loss he endured during the tsunami in Sri Lanka.
So I'm glad to hear he is hosting the show.
Thanks I didn't know it was going to be on tomorrow.
georgiapeach:
Heee... in the course of tracking TAR, I inadvertently also found some film permits for this --for in the Atlanta airport during the time TAR was also filming. Have NO idea what that means...but here you go!
marigold:
Oh cool, Oprah's Big Give website has a video preview to view.
Here is the link: http://abc.go.com/primetime/oprahsbiggive/index?pn=index
As the competition tightens, big Hollywood stars join "Oprah's Big Give," raising the stakes and turning up the heat. Celebrity guests include Jennifer Aniston, John Travolta and Jada Pinkett-Smith, tennis legend Andre Agassi, skateboarding idol Tony Hawk, racing star Danica Patrick, plus more.
Thousands of hopefuls auditioned to compete in "Oprah's Big Give." The ten contestants were discovered in auditions held in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Nashville and represent all walks of life, from a pageant queen and a pre-med student to a paraplegic and a young dot-com millionaire. They include:
Angelo, 30, a West Point graduate and Iraq War veteran from Ann Arbor, MI
Brandi, 23, a pageant queen from Chicago, IL
Cameron, 22, an entrepreneur and dot-com millionaire from Roanoke, VA
Carlana, 38, a paraplegic, author and media executive from Glendale, CA
Eric, 37, a former model who now works as a disaster relief worker from Boston, MA
Kim, 39, an NFL marketing specialist from Brentwood, TN
Marlene, 37, a train attendant from Chicago, IL
Olussegun "Sheg", 23, a pre-med student from Nashville, TN
Rachael, 31, a singer and actress from Los Angeles, CA
Stephen, 43, a real estate developer from Bedford, NY
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The 10 contestants were introduced with no more information than shown above. There is one twist that I had not appreciated. I thought that the teams were giving away Oprah's money. That is not what happened in episode 1, based in southern California. Individuals were paired up into teams of two and each was given one of these assignments:
1. a widow with two young girls whose husband had been murdered at a retail store and needed money to live and to finance the girls' education
2. a diabled Marine with wife and children who was leaving the Marine Corps and needed housing
3. a woman running a major program for retarded children and adults with minimal funding who needed a larger space for the program and musical instruments
4. a homeless woman with children 16 and 14 who needed housing and transportation
5. a young African American doctor who had $200,000 in medical school bills to pay off
I noted that the doctor should never have been included in this list. Most medical school graduates have loans in that range to pay off, so it's not that special. They also have the skills to do it within about 5 years of increasing income. There must have been a more needy case in Southern California to make Oprah's show.
One team (Marlene and Kim) distinguished themselves the first day by being unable to find the Marine's home. They went on to obtain a number of gifts for the Marine, but they were all developed by the contacts of Kim.
Sheg and Carlana were in big trouble from the start. They decided in desperation that a fashion show might raise money for the doctor, so they organized one. It was a poor idea and totally unsuccessful but a $50,000 commitment came in from Jamie Foxx that saved them from having essentially no results.
Rachael and Angelo got the homeless family. Rachael raised $40,000 at just one church service by appealing for donations and singing to support her request.
Brandi and Cameron had the woman running the retarded program. They ran a fine campaign but raised only a total value of $43,000 in gifts, which proved to be the lowest of all teams.
Steven and Eric got the widow and did a splendid campaign which had tremendous emoptional extra value beyond just the value of the gifts they raised. All the other teams made a big deal out of the monetary equivalent of their gifts (particularly Brandi and Cameron, who also ran a fine campaign with great emotion). I hope that the final winner is not determined by who raises the most dollar equivalent gifts.
When it came time to tally up who did the worst, the judges focused on basically two candidates, Carlana and Marlene. They gave Marlene the boot because she had failed to contribute anything to the team effort. The theme of this show is apparently "Give Big or Go Home". I am reminded of the Celebrity Apprentice where Omarosa has practically no star power and few big dollar contacts. Does that mean that she has no justification to be on the show? No it doesn't although there are other good reasons for her to never have been on the show. I think these individuals came into the Big Give with disparate skills and contacts. To hold them to the same precise standard is not appropriate. However, in Marlene's case I believe that she was the proper choice to get eliminated. She did not have many resources to bring into the competition, but she did a mediocre job of using what she had and that is not good enough for Oprah.
I saw the judges hard at work throughout this episde, but I ask the question "What does host Nate Berkus do during the episodes?" Does he have to make the clues up and put them in the envelopes? Does he make the transportation arrangements? (Somehow I don't think that he does either one.)
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