Motown 25:
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Yesterday, Today, Forever (Part 5) —Check it out!
Diana Ross in a “Lady Sings The Blues” clip opens Part 5 and more clips of Motown produced movies follow with Billy Dee Williams narrating...
Part Six starts out with Richard Prior’s telling of “The Motown Story, A Fairy Tale” which includes mention of the “Maidens of Brewster” --Refrring to The Supremes, of course... A montage of Supremes clips follows and Diana then started down the center aisle of the auditorium with her hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" then invites Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong onto the stage to do “Someday We’ll Be Together”
and by the end of the segment (and the taping) all the Motown Stars present, including Berry Gordy are onstage joining in on the tune
What was cut out of the taping was the scene when 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…
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 and the performance resulted in bad publicity for Ross.
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 and the performance resulted in bad publicity for Ross.
The following are a couple of the many reports of the incident (easy enough to find--U.S. News & World Report ran a story on it...):
However, the most entertaining part of the production was never shown to the public: the notorious Supremes reunion, when Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong unexpectedly upstaged Diana Ross. Ross – who rejected a multi-song medley in favor of a single number – was initially confused as Wilson and Birdsong strayed from the choreography of their rehearsed routine and Wilson boldly took the lead vocals on “Someday We’ll Be Together.” But when Wilson closed the number by inviting Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. to the stage, Ross reacted violently. Just what happened next has been in dispute – some sources say that Ross physically pushed Wilson down the stage, while other sources say that Ross merely pushed away Wilson’s microphone while she was speaking. The videotape of the segment has never been publicly screened, but the news of Ross’ hissy fit confirmed her reputation as an imperious diva and the incident soured Wilson and Birdsong from doing any further reunions with Ross-- FILMTHREAT.COM
The first attempt at a Supremes reunion of Ross, Wilson, and Birdson, occurred at the taping of Motown 25 in 1983 and ended in embarrassment when Ross pushed Wilson's microphone away from her face. Though the segment was not aired, it was widely reported and seemed to confirm the old image of Ross as the pushy leader. Despite the author's protests to the contrary, Wilson's depiction of Ross further damaged whatever relationship the two might have had...
—The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)....
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MOTOWN 25: Today, Yesterday and Forever
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