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A grateful Oprah wraps up her show
AP
Photo
In this photo provided by Harpo Productions Oprah Winfrey waves as her show taped for the last time Tuesday, May 24, 2011, in Chicago. The show, which aired Wednesday, was all about the one thing that made her a billion-dollar success: the unique connection she made with millions of viewers for 25 years.
Associated Press
CHICAGO
Oprah Winfrey ended her famous talk show Wednesday by telling her viewers of 25 years that they weren’t saying goodbye. “I won’t say goodbye; I’ll just say until we meet again,” Winfrey said.
She hugged and kissed her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, and shook hands with audience members before walking through the halls of Harpo Studios in Chicago, hugging and crying with her staff.
Winfrey shouted, “We did it!” The last shot of the finale showed Winfrey walking away with her cocker spaniel, Sadie.
Earlier, Winfrey walked on stage to a standing ovation from her studio audience. She thanked the viewers for watching for a quarter of a century.
“Twenty-five years, and I’m still saying, ‘Thank you America,’” Winfrey said. “Thank you so much. There are no words to match this moment.”
Winfrey told viewers that sometimes she was a teacher, but more often her viewers instructed her.
The final “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which was taped in Chicago on Tuesday, opened with a clip from her first show.
Winfrey was the only person on stage with little background music and very short flashback clips.
Some fans across the country planned parties for the finale. Sharon Evans, 53, of Chicago had pancakes with her mother and girlfriends.
“She was very subdued today, and I appreciated that she was taking that last hour not to showcase any celebrities or favorite things,” Evans said. “It was truly what she said — a love letter to us.”
Tuesday’s taping came a week after Hollywood A-listers and 13,000 fans bid Winfrey farewell in a double-episode extravaganza at Chicago’s United Center.