Oprah Saves Rascal Flatts for Last
Fifty minutes. That's how long I had to watch Oprah Winfrey's big kick-off show before I got what I wanted: Rascal Flatts.
There was so much hype about this show. Oprah's 24th season kick-off party was all anyone was talking about this week, at least in Chicago. But all I cared about was Rascal Flatts. (No offense, Oprah.) I wasn't able to go when they taped it on Tuesday (Sept. 8), because the crush of humanity made it impossible to get within a three-mile radius of the part of the city where it was being taped. So today, I watched what I missed.
And now I know why it was so crowded. It was, according to the voiceover, the biggest audience in Oprah show history! And they had a record-breaking singalong! Oprah seemed to reserve her highest praise for Black Eyed Peas and this flash mob thing they did. (Team Oprah had hired a some choreographers to teach 800 regular folks to dance, and then they taught their dance to 20,000 other regular folks.)
Then there was the shout out to Mayor Daley for making this Oprah lovefest happen. Then Criss Angel did a magic trick. Then Jennifer Hudson did an little funk and Motown medley. Then James Taylor offered his spin on Motown with "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)." Clearly, Oprah was saving the best for last.
Rascal Flatts finally came on at the very end, when the sun had started to go down, and sang "Summer Nights." There were no teeny French bikinis that I could see, but true to the lyrics, everybody did look sexay. With Jay DeMarcus on bass, Joe Don Rooney on guitar and Gary LeVox on vocals, it was flat-out perfect. Making me wish I'd temporarily overcome my claustrophobia and pushed my way up to the front of the stage.
©2008 Country Music Television, Inc., a Viacom company. A division of
rascalfan says:
they rock!!
SWIFTLYHERE says:
I saw James taylor live years ago and I wasn’t a fan when I went. But I went out of there a huge fan he has some awesome songs.
MiaT says:
I am with ya here Alison ! I taped it. I did think the dancin thing was cool. But I knew they would be last.
amy says:
they were awesome!!! then again arent they always!! Love those guys!!!
Abby says:
Are they ever gonna come to the UK??!! Pleeeaaassseeee!
Tracy says:
Rascal Flatts ROCKED it on Oprah! They sounded great! Loved watching them on TV.
To each their own! says:
Tim Mcgraw is better than Rascal Flatts anyday!
Happen to love Oprah too.
Toni says:
Taylor should have opened that NFL kick off.
Randy says:
Please help me to understand……..just which part of Rascal Flatts has ANYTHING AT ALL to do with country music
(even commerical radio country music!)??
Debra says:
The legendary James Taylor was the best part of the show wish he could have performed more!!! The flash mob was amazing as well it almost looked computer generated it was so good!!!
sierrafina says:
James Taylor was the best and he is a legend something the BOY BAND will never be. Can’t wait till they lose the Group award at the CMA’s to the great COUNTRY band Zac Brown band.
Redmaz says:
As I recall Alison, you have referred to Rascal Flatts as a band before. I see you only mentioned three of the band members. Based on the picture above there are at least two more members of the Rascal Flatts band, because I see a drum kit, and what looks like the leg of a B3. Why the disrespect for at least two other members by not mentioning their names?
katlyn says:
Rascal Flatts are amazing!!!