A Farewell Spectacular for Oprah Winfrey!

Only one person can unite as many VIP personalities in a single event. When that one person calls ...  everybody ... and I mean everybody... drops what they are doing and runs. No, it is not the President of the Unted States. And no, it is not the coveted Acadamy Awards' Oscar statue.

The diva of American TV, Oprah Winfrey is making televsion history this week by gathering stars and legends of the arts to celebrate her two last episodes (she couldn't mange to fit it all in one) after 25 years of showtime!

Oprah makes you think.

She makes you laugh.

And she’s certainly able to make you cry.

It's no secret—Oprah does not like being surprised. But, in the final days of The Oprah Winfrey Show, she makes an exception for her producers.

After months of secret meetings and careful planning, Oprah's dedicated team is ready to stage the greatest, grandest surprise ever. All Oprah knows is where to go—Chicago's United Center—and what time to show up.

As Oprah steps onto the stage and makes her 4,559th appearance on her show, she's greeted by an audience filled with her friends, family and more than 10,000 loyal viewers. There was an English playwright who once said, "There's no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved." That's what tonight's show is all about.

Suprise after surpise unravels as Oprah greets star after star: Tom Hanks, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Diane Saywer, Beyoncé, Will Smith, Maria Shriver, Madonna, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Usher, Patti LaBelle, John Legend, Queen Latifah, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Michael Jordan, Maya Angelou, Jerry Seinfeld and more.

"It's no secret that millions of people are inspired by Oprah. I am one of those people," Madonna says. "She's a self-made woman who has been at the top of her game for 25 years—and she is still kicking ass! ... She has balls and a wealth of compassion. I have learned so much from her."

Celebrities aren't the only ones who have surprises in store for Oprah. The United Center audience brought along some of their "favorite things" to present to the guest of honor. Every person in attendance bought at least one children's book, which will be used to stock empty library shelves at KIPP Believe College Prep in New Orleans. This school lost all its books during Hurricane Katrina, and when a tornado came through two years later and ripped out an entire wall, the repairs used up the school's library funds, leaving no money for books.

Of course, literacy is an issue close to Oprah's heart. Back in 1986, Tom Hanks says, no one would have guessed that a daytime talk show could inspire people to read, but The Oprah Show did just that. It's been estimated that Oprah's Book Club has helped sell 30 million books.

After an hour filled with farewells and surprises, Oprah tells her friends, the audience and viewers at home that she feels the love. "You have made it possible for us to stand for 25 years," she says. "Your presence in front of your television set and your presence here tonight honors me in the deepest way possible."

The Farewell Oprah Winfrey Show runs today, May 25, 2011. 

Farewell and Thank you Oprah.

I am dedicating this post to my Cuban and my Mexican friend who used to get together at lunchtime in Madrid, Spain to watch "The Oprah Show" on Dutch Cable TV! That just shows you how Oprah crossed boundaries, believes, nations and races in the pursuit of her dream: Changing the world!