IN the end it didn't matter that Oprah Winfrey was a no-show on the podium. The party crowd was in the Denver Broncos stadium for one reason - to acclaim Barack Obama.

An estimated 80,000 people poured into the Mile High stadium, some as early as 1pm - the big O spoke at 8pm. The concession stands were doughnutted by eager Obamaites wanting to snap up the latest T-shirt or badge or doll with the big man's face on them. Dollars were changing hands at an amazing rate.

Junk food was all around with people carrying their nachos, popcorn and giant sodas to their seats.

This may have been serious politics but it was also light entertainment.

One of the things that has most surprised me during the convention is how moving it is to see people taking so seriously the swearing of allegiance to the flag and the singing of the national anthem. It really means a lot to them.

There were lots of speakers, most of whom the audience happily ignored as they engaged in private conversations and took in the baking sun. There were lots of rhetorical flourishes from those on the podium. Bernice King, daughter of the great civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, insisted the "dream" that her father had spoken of 45 years ago had finally been realised with the nomination of a black man for president.

As the day wore on and Sheryl Crow came and went and Michael Macdonald came and went, one of the high points for the exuberant crowd was Stevie Wonder singing Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours.

As the O hour approached, the excitement grew with the audience engaging in Mexican wave after Mexican wave.

Then, after Obama the movie, there was a pause and with no introduction the man suddenly appeared from nowhere to a huge roar and a shimmering array of camera flashes.

Sitting next to some rather excited Coloradans my ears were frequently blasted with shouted phrases to the dot on the stage like "Tell it like it is" and "You got it. You got it".

Inevitably, given this was the 45th anniversary of Mr Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech, Mr Obama mentioned the great man and suddenly his voice and demeanour changed into evangelical tones.

Once his speech ended with the obligatory firework display it was a rush to get to the media shuttle to take me back to my workstation at the Pepsi Center.

While Oprah left Denver with the candidate she wanted, the talkshow host departed the stadium minus her eyelashes. Describing the Obama's words as "transcendent", she admitted that she was so moved to tears by his acceptance speech that "I cried my eyelashes off. It's the most powerful thing I have ever experienced."