OPRAH'S BIG GIVE - Give big or go home!

Oprah's Big Give headed to Denver this week to spread the love and the cash, and the contestants got a new challenge:  find somebody or some group that is deserving in Denver and help them out to the best of your ability within 48 hours.  Each contestant got a car and $4,800 of seed money, and the countdown began.

Stephen, Eric, and Cameron were smart - they joined forces, pooling their creativity, talent, and manpower to help out an orphanage.  The three of them pulled in $293,000 in two short days, which is very impressive.  The gal that runs the orphanage seemed impressed - she looked like she was going to have a heart attack from all the excitement, which was sweet.  I mean, I'm glad she didn't have a heart attack but it was nice to see how touched and overwhelmed she was.  The three guys really came out on top this week.  And hey, even though the challenge was issued to the individual contestants, host Nate Berkus never said that teaming up was against the rules...

Speaking of Nate Berkus, I was wondering where I had heard the guy's name before, so I Googled him.  Turns out Berkus is a famous designer and interior decorator who has been on Oprah's show several times.  He was vacationing with his partner in Sri Lanka in 2004 when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit.  Berkus survived, but his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea was swept away and has long been presumed dead.   Little bit of sad trivia for you there.

Right, back to the challenge.  The big twist at the end was that the contestants had to give away the cars they were driving.  Simple, right?  Well, this added wrinkle in the challenge proved to be  contestant Angelo's undoing.

Angelo, a former serviceman, chose to help out a wounded vet and his family.  With the assistance of a very helpful and generous restaurant manager, Angelo arranges a mini-gala for the vet in the restaurant, where he presents the guy with some cash to help out his family.  Fair enough.  But then - and I couldn't believe this - Angelo turns around and surprises the restaurant manager by giving the Oprahmobile to him!

That was a head-scratcher.  Angelo's rationale was that he wanted to reward the restaurant manager for being so generous and giving.  But isn't the whole point of the Big Give is that charity and helping those in need is its own reward?  And what about the veteran who Angelo was supposed to be helping?  If I'm remembering this right, Angelo gives him just under $5,000 - and then turns around and gives a car that is worth over $5,000 to some other guy?  I'll bet the veteran's family could have used a new car.  That  just wasn't good thinking on Angelo's part.

It cost him, too.  The judges decided that Angelo would not continue on to the next round, and Jaimie Oliver in particular cited his bizarre decision regarding the car as the main factor for giving Angelo the boot.

What do you guys think?  Did Angelo deserve to get kicked off the show?  Did you think giving the car to the restaurant manager was a huge mistake, or understandable?   I'm thinking huge mistake.

--Dave Campbell

 

Comments

[Ken]

That WAS a huge mistake, Dave. A manager of a national chain that probably already has charitable programs built into it's business, provides a tax break, and got positive advertising for his store, and the biggest thing of all - none of that was his own money! He didn't really give a whole lot, especially not enough to get a car - instead of the guy they were trying to help out! And what about this - they gave them $4800 to start with, but didn't Angelo only give the serviceman $4600? Where'd that other 2 bills go? Did he give that to the manager too?

Now everyone knows I watch an Oprah show. Sigh.

[Jennifer, aka JC]

I was just watching a late night re-run of today's Oprah show and Nate Berkus was giving decorating tips. At the very end, Oprah said, "Who wants a date with Nate Berkus?" I thought, "Obviously!" and then I realized she wasn't kidding...but then I couldn't hear how or where I was to upload my video. Please advise, as I think Nate Berkus needs to go on a date with me! ha-ha. Actually, I'm serious. :)

[Compassion is dead]

Rachael should have gone home. She is selfish and undeserving to receive any praise for doing nothing but trying to promote herself.

She does not listen and she is selfish and we are really sad that this show has such screwed up values. You should all be ashamed of your selves. We are very angry. Very angry. I don't know what else to say. You should all be fired.