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OPRAH WINFREY: Madonna, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks made appearances at the taping of the final edition of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in Chicago Tuesday night.

Winfrey decided to end her iconic talk show after 25 years so she could concentrate on her OWN cable television network.

Dozens of stars and thousands of fans turned out for the taping of "Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular" at the United Center. The two-part special is to air May 23-24. The final episode of the show is to be a regular installment and will air May 25.

Among the performers for the "Farewell Spectacular" were the Black Eyed Peas, Kristin Chenoweth, Josh Groban, Jamie Foxx and Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, Beyonce and Rascal Flatts, the Chicago Tribune said.

Also dropping by to salute Winfrey were Rosie O'Donnell, Maria Shriver, Simon Cowell, Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Jordan, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, Diane Sawyer and Katie Holmes.

"Oprah Winfrey, today you are surrounded by nothing but love. Your studio wasn't big enough to hold it all, so here we are," the Tribune quoted Hanks as saying to Winfrey in front of the enthusiastic crowd at the United Center.

RALPH MACCHIO: Ralph Macchio became the latest celebrity eliminated from "Dancing with the Stars" Tuesday night.

"I will never forget how the fans have driven us through every week. It inspired me. I would run here every Monday for us to present what we worked on," Macchio said upon learning his fate. "I loved that and my gratitude is overwhelming."

Turning to his partner Karina Smirnoff, he said: "You have inspired me in so many ways. ... I am proud to have been your dance partner and even more proud to be your friend."

Macchio, a former teen idol known for his roles in "The Outsiders," "Teachers" and the "Karate Kid" movies, suffered a ruptured cyst on the back of his knee earlier this month.

Going into next week's finals with their professional dance partners are Kirstie Alley, Chelsea Kane and Hines Ward.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: Arnold Schwarzenegger's former press secretary says she never suspected the married film star was having an affair while running for governor of California.

Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he and broadcast journalist Maria Shriver, his wife of 25 years, separated after she learned he fathered a child with a household employee, who left this year after working for the family for two decades.

Sheri Annis, Schwarzenegger's press secretary during his first political campaign, spoke exclusively about the news with MSNBC Tuesday.

"I was his spokesperson at the time. Listen, if he concealed it from Maria, he certainly concealed it from me. Maria had his back on every occasion and it was known that she was always looking out for him. So he did a very good cover-up job on this one," Annis said.

"And I take no pleasure in today's news. I hate to see it for any family, but especially someone who I knew and really did enjoy working with and for. And I saw a marriage that was -- it was a partnership, a real partnership, political partnership, entertainment partnership. They worked together well at the time."

Annis went on to say Schwarzenegger "was always quite professional" with her.

"I would receive these questions, have you been -- has he ever made an advance toward you or whatnot, which he certainly never did because everyone knew he was potentially running for political office at the time. We were sort of feeling our way to see if he might go in that direction," she said. "I never saw any inkling of this. He never pretended to be a squeaky clean candidate. So that's the difference here between he and other candidates and other figures. But I had no indication that something, a bombshell like this was waiting."

LISA EDELSTEIN: Cast member Lisa Edelstein will not return for the eighth season of the U.S. medical TV drama "House," a show source told The Hollywood Reporter.

The actress who plays Dr. Lisa Cuddy chose to leave the series rather than accept a pay cut to return for another season after her current contract expires, the insider said.

Her co-stars Omar Epps and Robert Sean Leonard agreed to accept reduced salaries for Season 8 as part of the Fox network's cost-saving measures, the entertainment industry trade newspaper said Tuesday.

It is unclear what will happen on the series to Cuddy, who is romantically involved with Hugh Laurie's character, Dr. Gregory House.