A Birthday Celebration and a celabration of Mary Wilsons life

[Roberta75]

Real great guest line up. It would have nice to have seen Miss Ross and Susaye and Lynda and Jean Terrell and Dionne Warwick and Rita Coolidge on the list

[Roberta75]

Bigger photo

[lakeside]

Bigger photo
The Vandellas and the The Andantes....but no former Supremes????

[Roberta75]

The Vandellas and the The Andantes....but no former Supremes????

unless the FLOS have a virtual gig that night id have thought Scherrie and susaye would be there.

[Roberta75]

Wheres the first Lady of Motown Dr Martha Reeves?

[RanRan79]

I'll be tuning in!!

[RanRan79]

Just reminding everyone that this is tonight. Hope many of you tune in.

[carlo]

I will be tuning in as well!

[thanxal]

I will be there. Loved the video with Freda that ended with Scherrie. How sweet.

[captainjames]

Still not ready to watch something like this. Love you Mary.

[RanRan79]

Just finished watching. Must say I'm extremely surprised that Mark Bego was not the most annoying person involved in this. Greg Dunmore...this dude pissed me off, especially when Stevie was on. There's a point where it sounds like Stevie's gonna play and sing but Greg cuts him off to do this inappropriate "Mary can hear you, what do you want to say to her" moment that I think took Stevie out of the moment. Greg forever talked over guests. The lady did also, at times. I just didn't find her to be as annoying as he was. This was not the most well done live, but it's hard to be too hard on them considering what they had to work with, like other people's cams and mics from home. I have other criticisms, but I'll leave it at that.

Going beyond the negatives, it was so good to hear and see so many who came to talk nothing but Mary. It was particularly good to see the Motowners. Also good to learn there's more to come from Mary. We as fans owe her so much. I hope her family is doing well.

[DWSheffer]

I agree Ran, I know Stevie was ready to give us a performance when he got cut off. Who knows what he was going to sing for us....Stevie is so in the moment and sings from the heart it could've been a great highlight. I agree though it was nice to see the other artists and I did really feel like we were a part of a group of friends getting together talking about another friend that had just passed away. I just wish many more of the people were given a bit more time to share some memories. The audio was obviously a big issue, but I made it through the whole celebration.
Darin

[thanxal]

Just finished watching. Must say I'm extremely surprised that Mark Bego was not the most annoying person involved in this. Greg Dunmore...this dude pissed me off, especially when Stevie was on. There's a point where it sounds like Stevie's gonna play and sing but Greg cuts him off to do this inappropriate "Mary can hear you, what do you want to say to her" moment that I think took Stevie out of the moment. Greg forever talked over guests. The lady did also, at times. I just didn't find her to be as annoying as he was. This was not the most well done live, but it's hard to be too hard on them considering what they had to work with, like other people's cams and mics from home. I have other criticisms, but I'll leave it at that.

Going beyond the negatives, it was so good to hear and see so many who came to talk nothing but Mary. It was particularly good to see the Motowners. Also good to learn there's more to come from Mary. We as fans owe her so much. I hope her family is doing well.
Ran, I have to agree with you. Greg Dunmore was super annoying, too loud, and cut off the guests, but not as bad as the fact that no one understood the echo problem and didn't mute the studio.

This actually made me quite sad. Mary deserved a much better produced tribute. I'm glad someone did something, but I hope she gets a well-produced tribute. Perhaps Diana or Berry could see to that as a gesture of magnanimity.

[carlo]

I sadly have to agree with everyone on Greg cutting off the guests, especially Freda Payne and Stevie Wonder. That was pretty hard for me to stomach.

In all fairness, it is difficult to host these live events, especially considering there's always the potential for tech/audio problems [[as was the case here) and it's also difficult to manage a program containing so many guests. They probably could have benefitted from having a better technical consultant on-hand and perhaps they also just had too many guests to fit in. It was evident to me that the hosts in the studio [[Bev and Greg) needed to turn down their background volume, in order to eliminate the ongoing echo. They tried their best. Hopefully we will all get the opportunity to attend an in-person celebration of life for Mary in the future

[Roberta75]

Heres the best tribute ive seen for Mary. No cutting off no yelling just classy speeches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Pv_7mH_bk&t=140s

[kenneth]

I think the hosts were trying hard to overcome the technical glitches which I’m sure they knew about. And there were so many interruptions and false starts that they really had a lot of work to overcome it all. I found Stevie Wonder’s tribute the most moving, and he was very overcome with emotion at times understandably. I wish we could’ve seen Duke; at least I couldn’t, I could only hear him. I’m sure they wanted to do this on her birthday to get the maximum mileage And exposure they could, to try and garner as much interest in it as possible. But it probably would’ve been better had they spent a couple more weeks organizing it and making sure they wouldn’t have the tougher technical challenges that they did. But although I thought it was a little long and very challenging to sit through at times, there were some wonderful moments and it was obvious that they were all there for Mary.

I tried to think of it as not so much an entertainment event for our benefit, but really like a memorial is meant to be, the sharing of thoughts and memories of the person who has passed which is meant to benefit not only those watching but also those doing the presenting. And that way I try to overlook some of the glitches and slow starts.

[carlo]

Greg Dunmore...this dude pissed me off, especially when Stevie was on. There's a point where it sounds like Stevie's gonna play and sing but Greg cuts him off to do this inappropriate "Mary can hear you, what do you want to say to her" moment that I think took Stevie out of the moment.

This moment bothered me the most.

[RanRan79]

I tried to think of it as not so much an entertainment event for our benefit, but really like a memorial is meant to be, the sharing of thoughts and memories of the person who has passed which is meant to benefit not only those watching but also those doing the presenting. And that way I try to overlook some of the glitches and slow starts.

I cancelled my plans for tonight because it was my intention to treat this as Mary's "homegoing". With no funeral to attend or any other moment to make Mary's passing seem "final", I viewed this as the time to say goodbye. Some of the tech stuff can certainly be overlooked and understood, but talking over folks, interrupting memories...it's hard to ignore. As Al says above, Mary deserved better.

But when weeding through the crap, there's some really great stuff there from the people who have known Mary as far back as the Primettes days. I enjoyed the recollections. I would never expect Diana to participate in such an event, but I sure would like her to maybe do a video where she shares a few memories. Jean and Lynda as well. [[Susaye, and especially Scherrie, have done great video tributes.)

None of Mary's family participating leads me to believe that they are still utterly devastated, as might be expected. When people pass closing in on 80, there's a tendency to think they lived a long life and thus the sadness isn't as thick as it was when, say, Florence passed away. But Mary was so vital up until the end that I suspect even her family didn't see it coming. I'll be praying for them. I know how it feels to lose a vital member of the family unexpectedly.

I'm glad though, that Soulful Detroit offers us fans a place where we can come together in our grief over someone many of us have never even met. I appreciate many of you so much.

[RanRan79]

This moment bothered me the most.

It was the most cringy moment of the night. Totally inappropriate.

[Roberta75]

I cancelled my plans for tonight because it was my intention to treat this as Mary's "homegoing". With no funeral to attend or any other moment to make Mary's passing seem "final", I viewed this as the time to say goodbye. Some of the tech stuff can certainly be overlooked and understood, but talking over folks, interrupting memories...it's hard to ignore. As Al says above, Mary deserved better.

But when weeding through the crap, there's some really great stuff there from the people who have known Mary as far back as the Primettes days. I enjoyed the recollections. I would never expect Diana to participate in such an event, but I sure would like her to maybe do a video where she shares a few memories. Jean and Lynda as well. [[Susaye, and especially Scherrie, have done great video tributes.)

None of Mary's family participating leads me to believe that they are still utterly devastated, as might be expected. When people pass closing in on 80, there's a tendency to think they lived a long life and thus the sadness isn't as thick as it was when, say, Florence passed away. But Mary was so vital up until the end that I suspect even her family didn't see it coming. I'll be praying for them. I know how it feels to lose a vital member of the family unexpectedly.

I'm glad though, that Soulful Detroit offers us fans a place where we can come together in our grief over someone many of us have never even met. I appreciate many of you so much.

Mary was a survivor and deserved a better tribute than this. Mary buried a child which is the absolute worst thing that can happen to any parent. She picked up her life and moved on although you never ever get over losing a child cause its not supposed to happen that way. Im sure Marys family are devastated as im sure they havent seen there Mom and Grandma in almost a year cause of this terrible pandemic which probably makes losing her even more painful. AS a Supremes fan Marys passing has hit us hard as she proudly carried the Supremes torch. Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness now that Marys gone, but in time our memories are filled with smiles and joy as we remember her.Shes with the Lord now and singing with the most amazing heavenly choir.

[floyjoy678]

I didn't get to watch, I fell asleep early but I have been watching the tribute videos from the fans, etc. I don't see why people like Berry, Smokey, Diana or Martha couldn't be a part of it. If Stevie could, they could. Its not like anyone has a busy schedule these days. But instead of continuing to complain, I will continue to celebrate Mary's life. Am looking forward to purchasing her album.

[milven]

Heres the best tribute ive seen for Mary. No cutting off no yelling just classy speeches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Pv_7mH_bk&t=140s

Yes, this one was better.

[milven]

....It was evident to me that the hosts in the studio [[Bev and Greg) needed to turn down their background volume, in order to eliminate the ongoing echo....

Exactly. It made it so unlistenable and annoying. And to an earlier comment, Mark Bego finally came across as subdued and not annoying. Technically, he seemed to be set up the best for picture and sound.

As for tech problems during this pandemic, they are unavoidable. Even the professional network shows like THE VIEW or news programs like MEET THE PRESS have them. But they usually are fixed quickly and they don't have as many as this had.

MARY WILSON LONG LIVE YOUR LEGACY

[kenneth]

Roberta75, could you give us a prayer for Mary? Maybe you already have another thread but I haven’t seen it.

[Roberta75]

Roberta75, could you give us a prayer for Mary? Maybe you already have another thread but I haven’t seen it.

This is for Mary and her family and her fans.

God, I pray for healing and comfort for the family and friends and fans of Supreme being Miss Mary Wilson as they are dealing with this terrible loss and heavy heartache.
I pray that everyone find refuge in You in the midst of our collective pain. May You continue to give us all the strength and faith to keep going. To push through these dark moments and Lord please let everyone know You are with them every step of the way. Please replace our tears with memories of Mary Wilson and her music and let there come a time soon when our tears are replaced with smiles when we think of Mary.

Please dear Father in Heaven welcome Mary to your heavenly house and let Mary know how much we love an miss her, and let her voice be heard in your heavenly choir.

We ask this with humility and grace dear Father and entrust in you the beautiful soul of Mary Wilson.

Amen.

[kenneth]

Roberta, that was just beautiful. Thank you so much. My mother always prayed the way you do and that prayer made me think of her also. God bless.


Kenneth

[Roberta75]

Roberta, that was just beautiful. Thank you so much. My mother always prayed the way you do and that prayer made me think of her also. God bless.


Kenneth

May God always bless you too dear.

[kenneth]

May God always bless you too dear.

Thanks! I needed that. In fact, I always need that!