“What exactly does she do?” “Didn’t Tom Cruise go crazy on her sofa?” “Doesn’t she give away cars every week?” “Isn’t she one of the richest women in America?” “Didn’t she run for president once?” Germans ask these kind of questions when the conversation turns to Oprah. Most Germans would not recognize the world’s most popular and influential talk-show-star if she were drinking a beer next to them at the Oktoberfest. The Oprah show has been broadcast in almost 150 countries worldwide; Germany isn’t one of them. Unless you count a small selection of her shows on a very obscure network.

Most of the Germans who know a little bit more about Oprah’s life do admire her success and her breakthroughs in areas once hardly conquered by women and African-Americans. However, many find her way of repeating the message of ‘living your best life’ overly zealous and way too preachy. Some say the show is totally useless - judging mostly without having seen it for themselves. For a lot of Germans, the whole Oprah thing is just too self-indulgent.

I watched a lot of Oprah shows. I cried over the touching testimonies of  studio guests, I cringed over the uncritical promotion of  “The Secret” and I did remain uncomfortable with the sometimes preachy style. But I was happy to have an excuse to watch the final three Oprah episodes this week. After all I have a few stories to write for German public radio! So I cried and cringed again. The last show--even though announced as a love letter to the audience--was, for me, too much about Oprah. It was just Oprah, by herself, without any studio guests, lecturing. But - I still LOVE Oprah’s message that everybody has a story to tell. Everybody! And I was glad she reminded me - once again - to listen to my heart and to live the life that lights me up. There will never be a show bidding farewell to a German TV-star that will come close to this Oprah good bye in style or star-power. And this wasn’t even a true good bye. She is moving on to her own channel where she will have her own show, right?

I know I will be happy to have an excuse to check out how and what Oprah is doing there!

Tittlepicture: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/