By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN WEST — Oprah Winfrey brought her television talk show to Radio City Music Hall for a live taping on Friday morning — and DNAinfo was in the audience to experience the Oprahmania.
Oprah filled Radio City's 5,300 seats to capacity with screaming women (and a handful of men) who traveled from around the country to see the talk show host live in New York.
“I spent four months checking the website to see when tickets for the Radio City taping were going to be available and when they finally were, I got them for my friends and I and surprised them with a 6 a.m. text message when I got the confirmation!” said Oprah enthusiast Annie Sheehan-Kerber, who traveled from Minnesota with her girlfriends for the show.
“The energy was very good in the room,” audience member Skye Young, who traveled from Maryland, said of the live show.
The show featured Oprah’s team of experts — her “pups,” as she called them — that she has brought into the limelight over the years, including psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, cardiac surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, interior designer Nathan Berkus, and financial adviser Suze Orman.
Dr. Phil decided to practice what he preaches to his fans about taking steps to make real change in ones life by shaving his signature mustache for the first time in 40 years while on live television on stage at Radio City.
“It feels awfully drafty,” Dr. Phil said of his clean-shaven face. Although McGraw’s wife Robin was only a few feet away in the audience, Oprah took the opportunity to plant a big kiss right on Dr. Phil’s lips before a commercial break.
Other segments included a “Mother-Daughter Fashion Show” in honor of mother’s day this weekend, which featured actresses Vanessa Williams, Jane Seymour, Dale Haddon, Cybil Shepherd, and Susan Lucci along with their respective children.
The show ended with a conversation with and performance by Christina Aguilera, who, after four years away from the spotlight, is back with her new album, “Bionic.”
“My favorite part of the show would have to be Christina Aguilera’s performance,” Young told DNAinfo.
“It made me excited for her new album!”
