Gladys Knight and Celine Dion sing live to the former daytime talk show queen as Oprah receives her Crystal Pillar Award via taped clip from Chicago.
- Jun 20, 2011
AceShowbiz - Oprah Winfrey is off the air for now, but she is still in the hearts of daytime show viewers. Thus, the 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, which was just held on Sunday, June 19 in Las Vegas, presented a tribute to the former host of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" during the live ceremony.
Gladys Knight opened the tribute by singing "That's What Friends Are For" as scenes from Oprah's daytime talk show were shown. The Empress of Soul then introduced Dr. Mehmet Oz who said, "Oprah, thank you for being the dean of Oprah University and teaching me the fundamentals of hosting."
Barbara Walters then appeared via tape, saluting Oprah for being "unique and unsurpassed." She added, "This I know for sure, nobody deserves this award more than you, my dear friend." Dr. Phil, meanwhile, thanked the 57-year-old beauty for being "a friend to my family".
Gladys later introduced Celine Dion who was set to sing live from her sold-out show in Las Vegas' Caesar's Palace. She performed "Because You Loved Me" which is one of Oprah's favorite songs. "I'm honored to be able to participate in this wonderful tribute to my dear friend Oprah!" so the singer stated.
Also delivering her message to Oprah was Ellen DeGeneres. "For the past 25 years, the world has been lucky to call you a friend," she said. "I will miss you and I love you." Meanwhile, John Travolta took part in the tribute through an old clip in which he gave a toast to Oprah at her 50th birthday party.
Oprah then appeared with her staff via a taped clip from Chicago's Harpo Studios to accept her Crystal Pillar Award. "We are sorry we couldn't be there to celebrate. On behalf of the entire team, we thank you for honoring our show, we thank you for 25 years," she said.
"This show has served as a platform to enlighten and entertain our millions of viewers...it has been a phenomenon that [none] of us could have imagined in our wildest dreams," she continued, before humbly adding "None of this would have been possible without the support of the best team in television. Thank you!"
The 2011 Daytime Emmy Awards was hosted by Wayne Brady and aired live on CBS. "The Bold and the Beautiful" took home Outstanding Drama Series title for the third time in a row, while "General Hospital" and "The Young and the Restless" were among multiple winners.
The show additionally presented Lifetime Achievement Award to long running game show hosts Pat Sajak of "Wheel of Fortune" and Alex Trebek of "Jeopardy!". The two shows were tied as Outstanding Game Show winner.
