Losing Winfrey would be big blow for Second City

CHICAGO – Step outside Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios and into the near west side neighborhood that's been home to her television talk show for two decades, and it's easy to get a sense of what she's meant to Chicago.

"I used to live across the street from Harpo and when I moved there it was me and cross-dressing crack addicts and Harpo. And now it's strollers and little white dogs all over," said Paul O'Connor, whose job has been to sell the city to businesses looking to relocate and those wondering why they should stay.

Along with the upscale condominiums and pricey restaurants that replaced the rundown apartments, abandoned warehouses and vacant storefronts, it's a sentiment that helps explain just how nervous people in Chicago are about Winfrey's announcement that next season, the 25th, will be the last for "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

"Chicago's going to find out that she's a real engine to hotel rooms, flowers, limo drivers, you name it," said Joel Nickson, who owns Wishbone restaurant just down the street. "Even when she's not doing the show, we see people all the time taking cabs out here, taking pictures in front of the place."

Media analysts will discuss the millions of viewers worldwide who have eagerly watched Winfrey's show, tuned in others she told them to watch and read books she told them to read. The story in Chicago will be what she's meant to Chicago.

It's a story that starts in the neighborhood that people visited just to see her show — then they'd go off to explore the rest of the city. It's from the neighborhood that Winfrey bragged about Chicago, reminding all those who knew she could take her show just about anywhere that she wanted to be right here.

"Isn't this the most fabulous city in the world?" Winfrey yelled to more than 20,000 fans who crowded Chicago's Magnificent Mile in September for the taping of this season's premiere.

Without Winfrey, some wonder.

"What's this town going to come to?" asked Ann Coddington, 41, of Richmond, Ind., who was at Harpo Studios to see the show Friday morning. "You think of Chicago, you think of Oprah."

Winfrey hasn't said she's leaving Chicago, but there are indications it's possible. She is widely expected to start up a new talk show on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, which is set to debut in January 2011. OWN hired "Oprah" co-executive producer Lisa Erspamer this month as its chief creative officer. She is expected to move from Chicago to Los Angeles in January.

Nobody suggests Harpo Studios' neighborhood will revert to the pre-Winfrey years, when it was all but impossible to catch a cab and there was no place to order a latte much less a nice meal. But the studio stands as a reminder of what has been, and what could be lost.

It was here that celebrities came from all over the world when they had something to say — from Tom Cruise's declaration of love for Katie Holmes, memorably accompanied by a jump on her couch, to Sarah Palin's appearance on the show to kick off her book tour.

"It's our little piece of Hollywood, our big piece of it," said Bob O'Neill, the president of the Grant Park Conservancy.

Winfrey did more than set up shop in Chicago: She gave other companies reason to do so.

"She is part of the cultural infrastructure which provides a rich intellectual and cultural life to the city and that is absolutely critical for corporate decision making," said O'Connor, who now works for the Chicago Metropolis 2020 civic group after leaving World Business Chicago, a not-for-profit economic development corporation that worked to attract and keep businesses in Chicago.

Once the businesses are here, Winfrey has even been part of the effort to persuade employees who might be reluctant to pack up and move their families.

"Oprah and the sports and the 5,000 boats on the lake and the museums are all part of the rich mix to help (companies) bring talent here and make that transition." O'Connor said. "You cannot underestimate that."

Now, though Winfrey will tape in Chicago for at least another 18 months, the studio will stand as a reminder of all that is plaguing the city, from the staggering economy to the lost bid to host the 2016 Olympic games to losing two major trade shows in recent weeks.

"A lot of bad things are happening," said O'Neill, who was troubled enough even before Winfrey's announcement about the spate of bad news that he helped organize a "Chicago in a funk?" symposium. "Her leaving brings a lot of negative publicity."

Jackson moonwalk glove sells for $350K in NYC

NEW YORK – The shimmering, white glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his trademark moonwalk dance in 1983 was auctioned off for $350,000 — plus tax — on Saturday.

Winning bidder Hoffman Ma of Hong Kong will pay $420,000, including taxes and fees, for the rhinestone-studded, modified golf glove Jackson wore on his left hand for his moonwalk on Motown's 25th anniversary TV special.

The glove was the top item in a collection of Jackson memorabilia on the block at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. Its pre-auction estimate was $40,000 to $60,000.

"It was a fairly good discount," said Ma, a 36-year-old Jackson fan who bought the pop-music treasure on behalf of the Ponte 16 Resort Hotel in Macau.

As the price of the glove soared, fans roared and squealed — echoing the kind of frenzy that accompanied the late pop star when he toured the world.

"That's what death brings upon celebrity," said Brendan Doyle, a college student munching chicken fingers from a plate in his lap. "Jackson's death was such a tragedy at such a young age that it pushed up prices."

The pop icon, who died June 25 at 50, had given the glove to Walter "Clyde" Orange, of the singing group the Commodores.

A jacket that Jackson wore on his 1989 "Bad" tour fetched $225,000 — 20 times its low estimate of $8,000.

The sale, held by Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions, also included a fedora Jackson wore for the moonwalk. It sold for $22,000, against a $2,000 high estimate.

New Yorker Linda Derogene said she was willing to spend up to $5,000 for a material link to the performer she's idolized all her life, but never got a chance to see in concert.

"I can't even tell you what it would mean for me. It would be like a dream come true," she said as she waited to bid on something she could afford.

There was no doubt that Jackson dominated the auction dubbed "Music Icons" — of more than 300 items belonging to stars from Elvis Presley and the Beatles to Mariah Carey. The musicians' clothing and instruments filled the small Rock Cafe stage, with two giant photos of Jackson on either side and a huge picture of his famed glove at the center.

Buyers paid the gavel price, plus a 20 percent auction house premium for items over $50,000, and 25 percent for those costing less.

Warrant shows Jackson's doctor waited over an hour before 911 call

LAS VEGAS: Michael Jackson's deathbed doctor waited over an hour to call for help when he realised the pop star wasn't breathing, and could not be found for hours afterward, according to a search warrant unsealed Friday.

The documents, which police filed to support their request to search a Las Vegas pharmacy in August, provide new insight into what went on at his Los Angeles mansion on June 25 when the 50-year-old "King of Pop" went into cardiac arrest and died.

The warrant states that personal physician Conrad Murray of Las Vegas told authorities in interviews days after the death that he administered the powerful anesthetic propofol only after trying many other medications to help Jackson sleep, and after Jackson's "repeated demands/requests" for the drug.

Jackson then went into cardiac arrest within 20 minutes of that injection, while Murray had stepped out for a bathroom break, the doctor told authorities in an interview a few days after the death.

By Murray's own account to police, he did not call for help until 12:22 pm, more than an hour after he realised Jackson wasn't breathing.

Phone records showed Murray on his mobile for 47 minutes with three different callers from 11:18 am to 12:05 pm, a period during which Murray said he was conducting CPR.

"Murray did not mention this to the interviewing detectives," the document stated. Police have not disclosed to whom they believe Murray spoke in those calls.

Police found pill bottles for at least eight different sedatives by Jackson's bed or in his home and, in executing the pharmacy warrant, traced the origin of the propofol to a purchase by Murray at Applied Pharmacy Services in Las Vegas on May 12.

Murray, 56, has not been charged with a crime, but the details in the unsealed documents show authorities were suspicious of his behavior even as they took Jackson to UCLA Medical Center to try to revive him.

Murray was asked to sign the death certificate but vanished from the hospital premises.

"Upon arrival at UCLA Medical Center, neither the coroner's investigators nor detectives could locate Murray to re-interview him," according to the documents, and repeated attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.

- AFP/yb

'New Moon' Breaks Midnight Box Office Record

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Twi-hards turned out in record numbers early Friday morning to catch the first showings of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," outperforming boy wizard "Harry Potter" who previously held the title of midnight box office king.

According to box office numbers released by Summit Entertainment, "New Moon" pulled in an astounding estimated gross of $26.27 million, while playing at 3,514 theaters.

Fans showed up to theaters across the country in their best Edward, Bella and Jacob costumes. They were also not shy about screaming and hollering with giddy joy at the appearance of a shirtless Taylor Lautner and the first sight of Robert Pattinson on the big screen.

"New Moon" surpassed the previous midnight box office champ, "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince," by for than $4 million.

Rounding out the top five biggest midnight openers of all-time are "The Dark Knight" with $18.5 million, "Star Wars: Epsiode III - Revenge of the Sith" with $16.9 million and "Transformer: Revenge of the Fallen" with $16 million.