Just got back from the Elton taping of Oprah! He was incredibly gorgeous... as usual... in a shocking blue suit, with a wild print shirt. He sang FOUR songs! Your Song, Something About The Way You Look Tonight, Bennie And The Jets, and the ballad version of Crocodile Rock. All were simply smashing! The sound in the studio was excellent.
He seemed very happy and relaxed. They talked about Tantrums & Tiaras. Oprah asked him why he has tantrums.... he explained that it happens sometimes when he is tired... Oprah didn't seem to connect with the concept of tantrums - so Elton looked out to the audience for support and said, "Everyone has tantrums sometimes don't they?" The audience agreed, at least WE knew what he meant! They showed the bit from the film in which he is having a fit and swearing every other word saying he will never do a video again. He laughed at himself and said -- I always say that... I'm never doing this again... I'm never doing that again. He was funny throughout the show. He also confirmed once again that he hates making videos. He said that bands should not make a video to go along with EVERY single...
It is very hard to know exactly what parts they will air. It took about 1 hour and 20 minutes including the breaks. Elton was talking to her during the breaks, but we couldn't really hear what he was saying. AND YES she did let the audience ask questions! AND YES *I* asked a question!!!! It was actually a comment... deciding what question to ask Elton in front of the world is like eating one potato chip. SO, I stood up and said, "I've been madly in love with you for 24 years (I figured that would sum it up nicely!)... and I've followed you all over to see your concerts (I meant to say that I have been going to all of his shows in/near Chicago since 1974, but it didn't come out right... it was amazing that I could speak AT ALL!)... and thanks to you I met my husband." Oprah asked if we met at a concert. I said no, actually I met him at a hotel while he was playing Funeral For A Friend -- and doing an excellent job! He looked at my husband (to my right) and gave him a thumbs up (Adorable!) It was just SO AMAZING to be able to say these things to him! I don't think they will air this because it wasn't a question... but he had just finished saying that it is important to let people know that you appreciate them while you CAN!
A girl asked if she could shake his hand either during the show or after... Oprah said no, it wouldn't be fair because everyone wants to touch him! She got THAT right! They gave everyone a copy of the new CD as they left (pretty nice!)... and there was a camera from WLS TV interviewing people as they came outside. One girl they aired said "...I've seen him twice" (No comment!)
Did anyone else go to the taping? This is going to be a FANTASTIC show. (Wed. Sept. 24th 9am central)
-Candle
I've been trying to remember some of the things that Elton said that were not aired on the show yesterday...
One thing he said was that only one in every 100 (or something like that) videos is good (that's for sure... I won't even watch a video unless it's EJ's... they're all so bad and self-absorbed!)... and that bands should spend that money working on themselves instead of putting so much into a video. Oprah asked him if he was going to the Stones concert that night at Soldier Field... he said no, but he did talk to one of them on the phone. He said he will be doing shows with Billy Joel next year.
He said that spending time with someone is much more important than giving them gifts... his mother would rather that he spend 10 minutes with her than buy her something. Someone asked him what he likes to sleep in... he said, "A bed." :) He also said that he'd be singing Goodbye Yellow Brick Road again!
I'm surprised that they cut Crocodile Rock... they also cut a lot of the audience questions... it didn't even look like they were "officially" rolling for most of them... including mine... but I'm not sure! They must have it all on tape SOMEWHERE... but, he was standing at the edge of the platform in front of my section when I spoke to him, so maybe they couldn't get a good shot of him at that point. It would have been REALLY nice to have a document of me SPEAKING TO HIM!!! I called the show yesterday to beg for that minute of tape (if it ever existed in the first place)... but of course they said that it was probably "gone." Then they said that it was POSSIBLE that they would air stuff that wasn't on this show at a later time... ??
-Marilyn (Candle)
Return to September 24 1997 Oprah Winfrey Show details.