TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
8 Questions With: Marie Osmond
May 6 Who better to help select America's favorite mom, via NBC's 'Teleflora Presents America's Favorite Mom' special (Sunday, 7PM ET), than Marie Osmond, singer/dancer/actress/entrepreneur/talk show host and mother of eight? Osmond, who co-hosts the special (coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Mother's Day) with her brother <A href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/donny-osmond/54360" target="_blank">Donny Osmond</a>, talks to AOL TV's Kimberly Potts about everything from her upcoming return to the talk show wars and her and Donny's Las Vegas variety extravaganza to the <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/miley-cyrus/474330" target="_blank">Miley Cyrus</a> scandal and the very special gift her daughter gave her for Mother's Day.
8 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/marie-osmond/54364' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Marie Osmond</font></a>
<b>1. How did you get involved with the <a href="http://www.nbc.com/Americas_Favorite_Mom/vote/" target="_blank">NBC/Teleflora Mother's Day special</a>?</b> NBC contacted <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/donny-osmond/54360" target="_blank">Donny</a> and myself, and we initially said no, we don't have time for this, because we're doing a world tour and we're getting the shows ready, and we're trying to get the Vegas show started. But when we saw the script we fell in love with it, because it's America voting. And it's nice; it's a wonderful way to see all the different kinds of moms that are out there. I've always said, God just didn't make one kind of flower, He made lots and lots of different kinds of flowers, and there are lots and lots and lots different kinds of moms.
8 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/marie-osmond/54364' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Marie Osmond</font></a>
<b>2. What are your favorite memories of your mom?</b> The thing that she did for me more than anything is, when I would come home from 15-hour workdays or 17-hour workdays, the first thing she would say is, "Come on, it's time to learn to make bread," or "We're going to learn to sew." And I did look at her, like, are you kidding me? But she never wanted me to love my work more than I loved being a woman or being a mother. And so for me, she was an amazing woman. She actually passed away on Mother's Day. And I always joke that it's because, with all those boys, she wanted them to remember the date!
8 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/marie-osmond/54364' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Marie Osmond</font></a>
<b>3. How do you celebrate Mother's Day? Do you get eight cards and eight gifts, or do your kids pool together for one big card and gift?</b> Well, the little ones kind of pool together. I usually get IOUs. I actually called one in about two weeks ago. My little ones [gave me an IOU] for 20 minutes for a hand and neck massage. I called it in and they're like, "Aw, not tonight!," and I went, "Yep, tonight." And then my 21-year-old, she was funny. She went to her doctor and she says, "Here's one Valium. It's your emergency for when you just can't handle it, Mom. You're so busy."
8 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/marie-osmond/54364' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Marie Osmond</font></a>
<b>4. What will the format of your new talk show be -- and will you miss having <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/donny-osmond/54360" target="_blank">Donny</a> as your co-host?</b> Well, if Donny were going to host with me, it has to be an hour and half show, because men take longer to get to the point [laughing]. It's going to be chit-chat. You know, I just think that [women] compete instead of complete each other. We kind of isolate ourselves as women, with the Internet and cell phones and garage door openers, and even dryers and washing machines. Our mothers use to hang their clothes out on the line to talk to each other. So I just think my show is going to be a fun way to bring community to women.
8 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/marie-osmond/54364' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Marie Osmond</font></a>
<b>5. Do you think the fact that you learned to be an entertainer, rather than a celebrity, accounts for your career longevity?</b> I do. [<a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/donny-osmond/54360" target="_blank">Donny</a> and I] kind of grew up with that, performing with <a href="http://music.aol.com/artist/sammy-davis-jr/1053443" target="_blank">Sammy Davis Jr.</a>, <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/bob-hope/33168" target="_blank">Bob Hope</a>, <a href="http://music.aol.com/artist/dean-martin/1002601" target="_blank">Dean Martin</a>. <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/ethel-merman/48578/main" target="_blank">Ethel Merman</a>. My job, our job, is to make people happy, and I think we look at it a bit differently than, you know, let's get buffed and let's do this, and what do I get for that? Not that that's a bad thing. But I think it's that work ethic, that we learned from people like <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/milton-berle/81579" target="_blank">Milton Berle</a> and <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/lucille-ball/3574" target="_blank">Lucille Ball</a>, that it was their job to take away people's stress. Personally, I feel so blessed that I have been a female in my business for as long as I've been.
8 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/marie-osmond/54364' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Marie Osmond</font></a>
<b>6. This is the 25th anniversary of the Children's Miracle Network, your charity, isn't it?</b> It is, and it's the largest children's charity of its kind. We help 17 million kids every year, and we've raised about four billion dollars for children, and 100 percent of it has gone to the kids. Those are things, where you can give back, that make you feel good. In 100 years, no one will know who I am, but they're going to know the Children's Miracle Network, hopefully.
8 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/marie-osmond/54364' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Marie Osmond</font></a>
<b>7. You've been successful as a child star and as an adult. Do you think young stars today, like <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/miley-cyrus/474330" target="_blank">Miley Cyrus</a> and <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/britney-spears/301848" target="_blank">Britney Spears</a>, face more pressure than kid stars have in the past?</b> I think it's a multitude of things. And I can only speak for myself, but, for example, <a href="http://television.aol.com/news/story/_a/cyrus-has-help-from-celebrity-friends/20080430161509990001" target="_blank">the Miley thing</a> -- her dad stepped out [of the photo shoot]. My parents never, never left us alone. We always had some form of a guardian with us that would represent what they would have done. But, in [Miley's] case, her dad stepped out, and that's when it happened. How do you say no to somebody like Annie [Leibovitz] when you're a little girl? It's an interesting thing that happened with her. I think, if your kids are going to be in that kind of business, then you need to make it your business to be there for them and help them figure it out.
8 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/marie-osmond/54364' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Marie Osmond</font></a>
<b>8. What should we expect from the <a href="http://www.harrahs.com/EventsDetail.do?locationCode=FLV&detailName=donny-marie-detail&eventTitle=Donny and Marie" target="_blank">Las Vegas show</a> you and <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/donny-osmond/54360" target="_blank">Donny</a> are creating this fall? Will it resemble your <a href="http://video.aol.com/video-search/query/donny & marie show" target="_blank">1970s TV variety show</a></b> I think you'll see a little bit of everything. Even the kitchen sink. It's going to be a fun show, and we chose the Flamingo because the room is managed like old Vegas. We've worked all those hotels. You know, everybody has their <a href="http://music.aol.com/artist/elvis-presley/1004448" target="_blank">Elvis</a> Las Vegas story. Elvis adored my mother. He'd spend hours on the phone talking to her. And every time we'd go in there, there would always be this gigantic bouquet for my mom, and he would tell us, 'Don't isolate yourselves like I did from the fans.' So, Vegas has a lot of love for our family, and Donny and I want to go in and do that real old-style Vegas show, [with a lot of] one-on-one with the audience. It's what we love to do.
