Two episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show will be shot at the Sydney Opera House, dubbed the ‘Oprah House’ by local press. The shows will air in January 2011, in an effort to encourage American visitors to travel for the end of summer in Australia. Tickets for the two episodes’ filming will be given to 6,000 Australians through a ballot on Oprah's website.
Former tourism minister John Brown defended the US$3 million bill, which will be funded jointly by the federal and State government. ''You couldn't possibly quantify the success that you're going to get from this. The publicity that Oprah will bring to Australia, all around the world, is something you couldn't buy,'' he said.
''We've spent hundreds of millions of dollars over 30 years without much effect,'' Brown continued. ''I must say that honestly, no matter who was in government, who was minister, it's not been highly successful. ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’ was a AU$180 million absolute disaster.”
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I wonder why he classed "Where the bloody hell are you?" was a disaster? By all usual measurements it seems to get a "bloody hell" of a lot of PR around the globe. It's not like you can count entries to the country at airports as a measurement! Certainly Oprah will give Australia and much needed pick-me-up with Americans.
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