I just received a letter from a very nice guy who said he got a call to be in the audience when they film Bette’s appearance on Oprah Jan 22, 2008. So Jack may be right about them filling the audience with Bette fans. If anyone else has been contacted, please let us know.
The only thing I don’t understand is why they put that link up again?
Will there be something else…?
Anyway, congrats to Jack and T and anyone else who made the cut.
Love. Don
I made the cut for the audience as well! Not sure what’s going to come of it, but I hope there’s a give away or something since I’m flying from NYC to be there at such short notice!
Not that I’m complaining though!!!
Congrats Macaire!!! You did it! Going to see her is the prize as far as I’m concerned.
I’m curious…are they paying for your plane ticket and room…???
LOve, D
Congrats Jack and Macaire!! I’ll be joining you in the audience from NYC as well. 🙂 I couldn’t believe it when they called me. I am beyond excited!!
Mr. D – I can tell you that they aren’t paying for my room or ticket. I don’t mind though. I’m just so excited to be in the audience. And spend my birthday with Miss Midler no less!!!
Thanks again for all you do! ~Teran
I’m heading there too, all the way from Nova Scotia!!
Super excited!
Little wierd that half the show is Martin Lawrence though. The audience can screen a new movie he has coming out on Monday evening. Not a big fan, but should be fun.
I think Bette deserves the whole hour however!!
Peter
PS, just the tickets, travel and accommodations are on your own dime.
Nope. Damn! Thank God my mom has the money – otherwise I wouldn’t get to go!!
I also did a follow up email to the same producer who had reached out to me initially. She was very nice but said that she doesn’t have any additional information to share at this time. Damn! I tried!
This is awesome. There must be more that we will hear from I Bette (ha ha)….well, I thought for sure they would pay for all of it, but that’s just my own thoughts.
I hope ya’ll all have a blast…try to meet each other…and, since all I think about is myself…come up with a signal to say Hi Mister D…LOL
Have a blast…and no vomiting from nerves!
Love, Don
I know you are coinfused about the Oprah link being taken down then put back up again but just FYI, I saved the link and even after you said it had been taken down I was still able to access it and send another email so (I am not positive) I don’t think it was ever really taken down. I hope that makes it a little less confusing. About the show: I got the email to send in pics etc. but no invite to the show. . . yet! I have told everyone in my office to dress nice all week for when Oprah shows up to surprise me!
Thanks for that info…I can buy that. And LOL about getting your office coworkers to dress up.
I hope she does show up…LOL Take pics!!!! 🙂
Love, D
So…when is the show going to air?
I agree with what everyone is stating…I too have been selected to be a memeber of the audience…and seeing Bette is prize enough for me! She is such an amazing lady! My advice, everyone needs to remember this anticipation because the feeling inside will never happen again.I am so excited! Great website BTW, Mr. D 😉
Thanks Mary”Bette”
Well, that’s a good way to look at it….everybody wanted to see Bette and Oprah….and this is much more of an intimate settimg you’ll see her/them in…so go on with your bad selves!!!! 🙂 Congrats to all. I’m getting emails from other BetteHeads, too, so there should be quite a few in the audience…you can outscream the Martin Lawrence fans….:-)
Love, Don
Little Philly Ms. M — only the great O knows and if you try to find out and spoil her plans, she’s gonna give you a pontiac programmed to drive you off into the Atlantic Ocean where we will never see you again….unless we win an Oprah cruise….and we’ll wave fondly, but uncaringly at you…:-)
Call Me Thursday!
Love from your true boytoy,
Don
i didn’t get selected for the audience. oh well. 🙁 i can’t wait to see the show though!
Hey Rebel Prince:
At leasr you have a good attitude about it. But I don’t think the contest or whatever it is is over…if it is, you tried and that’s good enough. Some people give up before they even try.
Love, D
Ironically, as more and more details begin to surface regarding the upcoming show featuring “Bette Midler” we also learn that Oprah is planning to launch her own network in 2009. I’m just as skeptical of that endeavor and what it will ultimately feature, as I am of the show next week in which Bette will be making an appearance.
The FIRST warning bell that went off was that they are only giving her HALF a show? What’s up with that? How can they possibly compare the two artists and place them together on the same stage? Bette Midler’s career is nearly four times the length of Mr. Lawrence, and who’s to say that either of their fan bases are a fan of the other? I personally don’t care for him or any of the others who came along right behind him in the same breath. Don’t tell me they couldn’t find Cedric the Entertainer’s phone number, and that Will Smith wasn’t available for the day. Or they couldn’t have given George Lopez a call.
I think it’s a MAJOR disservice to Miss Midler that she is sharing the hour, PERIOD. She is the STAR and she will be here long after the rest have faded away. When Celine was on the show this past November, they gave her the whole hour. And so why couldn’t they do the same for Bette?
Yes, I did prepare a video. But now I’m beginning to feel that my point of view or anyone else’s, who’s sincere and thoughtful regarding the qualities that have endeared this lady to us, throughout the years is of no interest to Oprah or her staff. As sincere as the intention seemed to be, I’m beginning to feel it was merely the “hook” by which to pull you in. I had a feeling when this whole idea was proposed that it wouldn’t be taken seriously. Or at least approached with the same level of level of admiration that I hold for Miss Midler. Personally, the 30 plus years that I’ve followed her is worth more than the 15 minutes that Oprah has decided to give her for this appearance. Maybe I’m wrong but when you divide the hour in half, and then take out the commercial breaks, there isn’t much time left. Certainly not enough to be considerate of the true meaning of what it means to admire this lady, as much as we do. I don’t mean to come down so strongly on Oprah but when she asked to hear from Bette Midler Biggest Fans, what did she expect?
I had this feeling early on that this could go a couple different ways and I was partly right. When this was announced, I thought “how can you honestly pick one person over another, when COLLECTIVELY a lot of us share the same experience?” The more I thought about the situation, I began to realize that it would be kind of impossible. And so they’d more than likely highlight one or two individuals and spotlight whatever angle they wanted to sensationalize. Which can be a bit scary, actually. Because I don’t think anyone wants to look like they’ve been cast in a slightly foolish light. Especially when they are honestly speaking from the heart about what this lady means to them.
Truly, being in the same room with Miss Midler for any amount of time is a moment to be treasured and it will surely touch the hearts of those who are there. But I’m skeptical of how sincere the producers really are and if they understand what this moment means to those who are there. I hope they LISTEN sincerely to the people they have chosen to be there and HONOR the feelings they are expressing.
I think we all agree, they aren’t giving Bette near enough time and so she will only be able to scratch the surface of what she’d like to mention. Personally, I have a feeling this has more to do with this being ANOTHER plug for “O” magazine and the ONE and a HALF page article on Bette. Once again, they could have devoted a little more space to her in the magazine and really focused on her many interests. So far, I’m seeing this as “two strikes.” Not enough time on the field.
Next month when Dolly Parton’s new cd is released it will be interesting to see if she is given the WHOLE HOUR and how they present HER biggest fans.
In one of the previous messages, someone mentioned that maybe the link for Bette wasn’t taken down from Oprah’s website. I believe it was pulled. Because I double checked the other day to see if it was still there, and it was gone. I think they had a little trouble filling enough seats because they weren’t going to pay SOME of the expenses for people to make their way to Chicago. So they put it back up to see if they could come up with a few more responses. Which gave me a little hope that I might still receive a call from them. I think it’s extremely tacky to ask people to respond and then when they do, and they are chosen that they weren’t willing to pick up a little bit of the tab. Especially considering the short notice in letting people know when the show was going to be taped, and then expecting them to pay a higher price than normal for a plane ticket.
I do admire Oprah, I like her. But lately I’m beginning to see more and more of what happens to be the trend in our society “of what to do” creeping into her show. I think she’s losing a little bit of her objectivity in some areas and so I’m beginning to question “the angle” of some of the things she is featuring. Certain people seem to visit her show more than others. Certain movies are recommended, books, products, etc. etc. Which brings me back to the idea of her launching her own network and how she plans to present “her single vision” and not allow a lot of the other things we see all the time from channel to channel, come filtering into her network. I really don’t want to see that happen. We’re already getting enough of it and frankly I’m incredibly turned off by it all.
I wish those well, who are going to be there next week. I hope they prove me wrong on a few points because seriously, I feel Bette deserves the very best.
Jeff
I have been to tapings before (never Oprah’s) and sometime they tape two shows in one afternoon to make up for days off (MLK Jr. Day? etc) and could actually be taping an hour with Bette and an hour with Martin (ugh!) Lawrence. I am optimistically hoping this is the case as I too can NOT believe they would split up an hour between The Divine One and, well, an idiot basically. Who knows? I haven’t been invited to the show either but I am trusting that is because Oprah’s camera crews are going to show up here any minute to tape my sincere joy at being asked to be on the show! Lord I hope so because otherwise I will have worn this girdle all week for nothing!
As I read these comments, I feel better about not being picked. When I put the effort into the taping, I had a vision of being one of two or three guests on the show with Bette and Oprah, as a guest of the show on the show’s dime, not sitting in a studio audience. I have sat in studio audiences for Bette tapings a few times now, and nowadays I don’t even take time from working and get on the subway to go. I’ve met Bette, and I’ve been to several of her live shows now, and I honestly would not have been willing to pay for my hotel, plane ticket, and show ticket just to sit in the studio audience.
Also, if they are doing two different shows, nobody is going to get to be in the audience for two tapings. they always want different people to give the illusion that it is a completely different day.