Reflections on Billie Jean at Motown 25

[nomis]

..I was thinking of this performance after it came up in the Jackson vs Gaye vs Wonder thread..
..First off its a spectacular performance but as you go older sometimes your views change on things..
When I was a kid whenever there was a party in my neighbourhood people would beg me to do my MJ impression,He was my idol but a couple of things struck me thinking about Motown 25..
...first off its a lip sync in a live show,an amasing lip sync but still a lip sync never the less,thats why Marvins performance means more to me now,he like everybody else was live couldnt Micheal have sung live over the instrumental track?
..Its an Epic label track at a Motown Celebration.! at the time it didnt strike me as unusual but it does now,apparently MJ put his foot down and wouldnt perform unless he could do this track,,and that really highlights the decline of Motown in the powerstakes - Depasse and Gordy had to agree to his terms where once upon a time Motown set the rules..
..Its Micheal setting the rules with his new found power..there would be much more of this to come in the following years [[i.e. Days of Thunder soundtrack,MTV performances etc.)
..and the show captures Micheal at the stage where he shouldnt have messed with his face anymore..Hes got his face done but he still looks handsome the paleness and heavy eyeliner hasnt arrived yet..if only,if only he had left his face alone after this point..
Having said that its a performance that is a lesson in drama,impact,emotion and of course dancing..it was MJ at his peak and will live on film forever..

[topdiva1]

The performance for it's time was flawless - and has remained so in that context.

[stephanie]

I was impressed with his performance but I have seen much better in MGM musicals. I like Michael Jackson and he is one of the most talented people on the planet but I was not up in arms over this performance like everyone else I believe he just stood out and it was great. What amazed me more than anything on film was the Nicholas Brothers. My favorite part of Motown 25 was seeing Mike perform with his brothers THAT to me was better than Billie Jean.

[nomis]

..you can imagine Diana demanding "Pieces of Ice" to be included or Marvin saying he wouldnt sing anything but Sexual healing..but from Michael ? Suzanne and Berry had known him since he was a little kid..and now the roles where reversed and Michael was calling the shots over a reunion show...

[smark21]

I was impressed with his performance but I have seen much better in MGM musicals. I like Michael Jackson and he is one of the most talented people on the planet but I was not up in arms over this performance like everyone else I believe he just stood out and it was great. What amazed me more than anything on film was the Nicholas Brothers. My favorite part of Motown 25 was seeing Mike perform with his brothers THAT to me was better than Billie Jean.

Don't forget, though lipsynched, Michael was still dancing live. Movie musical numbers could be re-taked until it was absolutely perfect. There is a whole different type of "magic" worked for a live performance.

[captainjames]

This performance at that time was off the hook !!! Michael was at his best and eventhough the moonwalk had been around Michael made it all his own.

[arrr&bee]

Billie jean??heck i'm still pissed that david and eddie didn't sing with the temps on that show[yes i know why but they still should've been invited to perform]!

[Kamasu_Jr]

This performance at that time was off the hook !!! Michael was at his best and eventhough the moonwalk had been around Michael made it all his own.

Because it has been constantly used in documentaries on MJ and we saw it a lot last year, to me it's become somewhat of a cliche. I've seen it so many, many times. He did much better things after Billie Jean & Motown 25 in my opinion.

[1382hitsville]

Amazing performance. Wasn't this performance voted at nr 8 as the most memorable TV moments in history in the poll held in the year 2000? The only dissonant is Tito. When Michaels solo performance starts, he lingers on, as it seems he did not know how to leave the stage....

[dickiemint]

This performance is what really boosted the sales of the Thriller album, Michael was shrewed enough to know that the TV viewers would straight to the shops after the show aired, and that was the only current song on a show full of oldies.

[midnightman]

Michael did that as a businessman thinking about how this would help generate boosting, not only for Motown but for his own album and it worked.

I still think it's one of the greatest performances of all time and I knew it was lip-synced. Clearly you can hear the album track lol

He and his brothers gave a great performance too.

I actually think of the performances on Motown 25, Michael's, the Jackson 5's, the Temptations/Four Tops, DeBarge/High Inergy and Marvin Gaye were the best of the performances. Of course, we-know-who's "reunion" performance was the lowest lmao BUT this is about Michael.

[marv2]

..I was thinking of this performance after it came up in the Jackson vs Gaye vs Wonder thread..
..First off its a spectacular performance but as you go older sometimes your views change on things..
When I was a kid whenever there was a party in my neighbourhood people would beg me to do my MJ impression,He was my idol but a couple of things struck me thinking about Motown 25..
...first off its a lip sync in a live show,an amasing lip sync but still a lip sync never the less,thats why Marvins performance means more to me now,he like everybody else was live couldnt Micheal have sung live over the instrumental track?
..Its an Epic label track at a Motown Celebration.! at the time it didnt strike me as unusual but it does now,apparently MJ put his foot down and wouldnt perform unless he could do this track,,and that really highlights the decline of Motown in the powerstakes - Depasse and Gordy had to agree to his terms where once upon a time Motown set the rules..
..Its Micheal setting the rules with his new found power..there would be much more of this to come in the following years [[i.e. Days of Thunder soundtrack,MTV performances etc.)
..and the show captures Micheal at the stage where he shouldnt have messed with his face anymore..Hes got his face done but he still looks handsome the paleness and heavy eyeliner hasnt arrived yet..if only,if only he had left his face alone after this point..
Having said that its a performance that is a lesson in drama,impact,emotion and of course dancing..it was MJ at his peak and will live on film forever..

No stuff? Michael did his thang! No complaints here.

[marv2]

This performance is what really boosted the sales of the Thriller album, Michael was shrewed enough to know that the TV viewers would straight to the shops after the show aired, and that was the only current song on a show full of oldies.

Not only that. It had to be good......real good! There have been performers that had national television audiences like the Super Bowl, American Idol, etc,etc. but their music and performances stunk which did not lead to increased record sales.