Empire Serves as Entertainment Producer for Oprah's Legends Weekend

When Oprah Winfrey decides to throw a party, she turns to World-leading event designer Colin Cowie to pull off something magnificent. When Colin Cowie needs entertainment for his amazing fetes, he turns to Empire Entertainment as his preferred entertainment partner.So it was certainly no wonder when Ms. Winfrey decided to throw her most brilliant and spectacular party to date, that Empire received the call to produce the talent, handle all of the logistics, and stage manage the events for this three-day extravaganza.

The event was Legends, a weekend designed to honor African-American Women who are legendary in what they do and are not only inspirational in Miss Winfrey's own life, but to millions of people around the world. Some of the Legends were Coretta Scott King, Tina Turner, Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks. And to not only did Oprah want to honor legends but opted to honor the next generation of women to reach Legendary status with all of their achievements, who Oprah affectionately referred to as the Young'ens. Young'ens included Oprah, Halle Barry, Alicia Keys, Angela Bassett and many others.The festivities kicked off on Friday afternoon (after several days of advanced preparation) with a brunch in a magnificent gazebo on the grounds of Oprah's Montecito, California home called the Promised Land. The women dined on a delicious five star meal. Just after lunch and before dessert, the ladies needed to be entertained. Who better to entertain some of the most amazing minds and wonderful women, than the very cute and extremely talented, John Legend. John flew in that day from overseas to perform his hit songs "Live It Up" and "Ordinary People" solo at the piano.The brunch was amazing, but the event on Saturday was designed to top it. The event was held at the beautiful Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara. The main ballroom and surrounding areas were transformed into an elegant, modern and stunning space for The Legends White Tie Ball. Empire was on hand to stage manage the entire evening, working together with sound, video, projection, lighting and talent to ensure a seamless and smooth running evening. Empire's Production Manager, Jim Corrieri, called the show. The evening featured speaking by Oprah Winfrey and Illinois Democratic Senator Barack Obama.

The Young'ens headed to the stage together to read the Legends a beautiful poem. In the background, a 25-piece orchestra led by conductor Gil Goldstein played throughout the event. Guests and honorees were treated to additional entertainment by jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, Bebe Winans who performed a special song that he wrote especially for the occasion called "A Legend" not long after Bebe's performance Michael McDonald and his band hit the stage, and once they finished getting everyone off of their feet and some guests up on the stage, everyone remained on the dance floor for DJ Frankie Knuckles who spun tunes until the wee hours of the morning!The event closed with a Gospel Brunch on the grounds of Oprah's home. Guests were treated to beautiful Gospel Music led by Bebe Winans and a custom band that he put together with Musical Director, Tony Coleman. Such Gospel greats as Wintley Phipps, DeNetria Champ, and The Hawkins all performed and had guests singing in what was a glorious revival of music. The gust list for this weekend was star-studed and included attendees ranging from Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, John Travolta and Barbara Streisand to Usher, Diana Ross and Tina Turner.

Empire is a leading producer in securing and managing talent logistics for events around the world, and we are honored to be a part of such a memorable event and experience.