Shania Twain's 'Oprah' Interview Showed the Potential in Her 'Why Not' TV Debut

COMMENTARY | Shania Twain granted Tuesday her first interview in over five years to Oprah Winfrey. The interview served as a bit of a trifecta for Twain in that it was her first interview in forever, it coincided with the release of her memoir From This Moment On, and it served to promote the Sunday debut of her new "docu-series" on OWN. "Why Not? With Shania Twain" will air for the first time Sunday, May 8, at 11 p.m. ET.

Twain's "Oprah" interview did a lot more to establish the tone of the country and pop superstar's career going forward than currently available footage from "Why Not?" has. In the interview, Twain was a mix of factual, firm, and brutally honest. When she told Winfrey and the studio audience that she threatened to move to the other end of the planet if Mutt Lange ever had their child Aja in her former friend Mary-Anne's presence, audience members cheered in a manner to suggest they would offer no better to a former friend who betrayed their trust by having an affair with their husband.

The comment was so straight-forward and blunt in a world of double-talk that there was little to do but cheer at the frankness of the statement. If "Why Not?" continually displays this level of honesty mixed with a bit of straight talk, it could end up being much more interesting and sustainable than initial previews of the program suggested.

While Twain's divorce and her husband's affair were discussed on "Oprah" and will undoubtedly offer many different sound bites during "Why Not?," the show looks to be focused entirely on Twain visiting the hard times of others and learning from these moments in an effort to free herself from thoughts that have led to her being physically unable to sing onstage. For fans of Shania who are used to seeing the songstress sing and give an all-out performance to the 10th power, this concept may be a bit hard to accept, but for those who have felt that they have lost their voice "spiritually, emotionally, or physically," the show could be a balm and win Twain a great deal of fresh support.

Where will this support lead? At this point it is hard to say, but it looks like Twain may intend to pull a Celine Dion and headline a Vegas show at Caesar's Palace. She is definitely popular enough to sustain a show of her original material for an extended period of time, and depending on how the ratings issue pans out for OWN after Winfrey infuses the network with her full-time presence in September, a Vegas show could easily end up outliving the already struggling network.