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Forum nameThe Lesson
Topic subjectLooks like Mary was trying to upstage Diana
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=2777084&mesg_id=2777289
2777289, Looks like Mary was trying to upstage Diana
Posted by dafriquan, Mon Feb-11-13 10:13 AM
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown_25:_Yesterday,_Today,_Forever#The_Supremes
>
>Motown 25 was a showcase for the highly anticipated reunion of
>the Supremes: Diana Ross, Mary Wilson (original member
>Florence Ballard had died in 1976), and Supremes replacement
>Cindy Birdsong. Four of their greatest hits were to be sung
>that night, including "Someday We'll Be Together", "Baby Love"
>and "Stop! In the Name of Love", however this reunion was cut
>short. Richard Pryor opened the segment with a fairy-tale
>story of 'three maidens from the Projects of Brewster' which
>was then followed with a montage of various Supremes' video
>clips. Diana then started down the center aisle of the
>auditorium with her hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
>
>When Ross finished, she made a brief speech about 'the night
>that everyone came back' (although, as stated above, some
>artists were not invited, and some had died). After the
>beginning chords of "Someday We'll Be Together", the svelte
>Wilson strutted on stage in a dazzling fire engine red sequin
>gown and was greeted by a thunderous applause which quickly
>upstaged Miss Ross. Ross became frustrated when Wilson and
>Birdsong did not drop back but moved with her as she walked
>closer to the edge of the stage. By this time Ross was so
>confused and bewildered that Wilson took over the lead vocals
>which prompted Ross to push her. A few moments later, Motown
>labelmates such as Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and others
>quickly filled the stage for an impromptu finale. Although
>producer Suzanne de Passe had instructed Diana to introduce
>Berry Gordy after leading the finale, (a fact unknown to Mary)
>Wilson decided to do the honors, by calling Berry down
>herself. This led to Diana yelling at Mary "it's been taken
>care of". Wilson also made a brief tribute to Ballard, who
>Gordy had removed from the group years before. By the time the
>reunion aired on May 16, the Ross altercations had been
>excised from the special, but they were widely reported
>(including an article and pictures in Us Weekly), and the
>performance resulted in bad publicity for Ross.