Sydney: Movie heart-throb Hugh Jackman got a black eye while making a dramatic entrance to Oprah Winfrey's hit TV show on Tuesday, sailing onto the stage by zipline from atop Sydney's "Oprah House".
Jackman's mishap came as the TV legend filmed the star-studded double-episode finale of a whirlwind Australian tour - along with rapper Jay-Z, rock group Bon Jovi, Australian couple Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, Russell Crowe and U2 frontman Bono.
Crowds of fans lined the Sydney shore to catch a glimpse of Winfrey, who earlier named herself Australia's new global ambassador, saying her much-touted visit would reap huge rewards for the country's image and tourism coffers.
Famous for doing his own stunts in the X-Men films, Jackman, 42, burst onto the stage of Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure from the top of one of the Opera House sails, zooming over a delighted audience on a harness.
But the spectacular stunt went sour when the "overexcited" Jackman said he got distracted by the view and forgot to apply the brakes, slamming into lighting rigging overhanging the stage as he waved to screaming fans.
"Bono was meant to do this but they couldn't afford the insurance," the stunned star joked as he lowered himself to the stage, sporting a black eye.
Taping of the show, before an audience of 6,000 Australians at the newly-dubbed "Oprah House", was suspended while Jackman was rushed offstage by a clearly starstruck paramedic who hugged him before tending his eye.
"It doesn't hurt," he assured the crowd, which included his frightened young son Oscar. Jackman emerged with a dressing under his clearly bruised and swollen eye after a brief break to sip wine and chat with Winfrey.
"God he hit that hard," the talk-show diva exclaimed after Jackman left the stage, calling after him: "Go put some ice on that!"
Winfrey earlier said of the episodes - her first tapings outside North America, capping off her show's 25th and final season - "I have named myself an unofficial ambassador for Australia and I have the biggest mouth on earth."
"Let me just tell you - this is the truth: It is immeasurable what four hours of a love festival about your country, broadcast in 145 countries around the world, can do," she said, referring to her legendary selling power.
"Aren't you glad I liked it?"
Winfrey, whose endorsement of books can trigger massive sales, said it had long been her dream to visit Australia and she had brought 302 of her loyal US audience members with her as a thank-you in her show's final year.
After years in the spotlight, she said she had never seen anything like the reception she had received in Australia - from the thousands cheering her in Melbourne in a welcome not seen since Princess Diana visited in the 1980s, to the 'O' lighting up the Sydney Harbour Bridge during her stay.
Crowds thronged Sydney's harbourside from dawn hoping to catch a glimpse of the superstar, and many wore hats and shirts emblazoned with her name. More than 350,000 people entered the lottery for tickets to her two shows.
Australia paid up to $5 million to lure the talk-show diva Down Under, a government minister said on Tuesday, but pundits claim the exposure could be worth more than ten times that amount.
"What I know for sure is that what will happen is that people... who had never even thought about Australia, didn't know where it was... will have the seed planted in their hearts," Winfrey said.
Winfrey's Harpo Productions spent nearly $7 million on the trip, and four Australia-themed episodes of the show will screen in January 2011.
The 56-year-old said her show had been a wonderful phenomenon but the time to end it had come, and while there would be "ugly tears" at the final taping, she had no regrets.
"I really don't believe that it's going to leave a hole in my heart," she said.
