Diana Ross Central Park Concert 1983

[smark21]

Last night I watched Diana Ross' 1983 Central Park concert on NYC's PBS station. I've never seen it before. I thought it was a shame that the first night performance was not shown in its entirety. Instead it was just clips. Still, we got to see Diana Ross at her best as a performer and trouper. The bond she created between herself and the audience against the elements was amazing to witness. It's no wonder that performance has become a legend in the history of 20th Century American Show Business.

However the second night was a mess. Ross' ego was on overdrive. Too much diva preening, especially early on, as she seemed more into showing off her admittedly great body rather than singing her songs. And trying to force the audience into sing a longs on seemingly every other song. If the audience isn't spontaneously singing along, then the performer should just get to work and sing the song. However her performance of Endless Love was brilliant. I don't like that song much, but she put aside the antics and got down to work on that song and put everything she had into it. A truly great performance of a schmalzy song. But overall the second night was not Ross at her best and what was on display that night is the essence of why Ross can be such a polarizing performer with some people loving her and others loving to hate her.

[jobeterob]

Good review Smark.

There was a time when Diana, like Whitney, overdid it. The attention, the hits, the movies, the adulation overtook both of them for a while and the result was the preening and some show of ego.

Luckily for Diana, her going offtrack didn't last long and she raised 5 great children, which was more important than it all and which so many of her colleagues failed at. And as people age, they all realize love is what really matters and how you treat people is huge. One of her wonderful moments which isn't always remembered is Michael Jackson choosing her as alternate guardian of his children ~ that said it all in terms of character.

[carlo]

All of the footage from Day 1 will be included on the DVD. I am guessing PBS simply chose not to air it. I know that Day 2 includes a montage of clips from Day 1, so perhaps that's what PBS aired? Our station will be broadcasting the concert next Friday.

[ralpht]

If you guys missed it, here is a video Russ and I did a while back with him discussing that concert which he engineered.
http://youtu.be/QlkrPMRBJS8

[skooldem1]

Her performance of Mirror Mirror is GREAT. That performance captured the excitement of that day.