The Wiz wasn’t so wonderful for Black cinema

[RanRan79]

I remember watching this with my parents lmao

To say Stephanie stole the show is an understatement. I think Kool and the Gang [[with JT) came after her LOL

Hard to follow that up [[though they did their best, who can beat Celebration? HELLO! Lol)

Oh yeah, there's no following that. You put all your hope into people forgetting about "Home" and just celebrating. Lol

[RanRan79]

What an introduction to the world. Seeing that performance of her at just 19 years old, you can tell Whitney was destined to be where she eventually got to... singing "Home" like THAT?! I wonder how Stephanie and Diana felt watching that lol

I've always loved this performance of "Home". I even ripped the audio years ago. Whitney killed it. Yet, I honestly think it lacks the "soul" of both Diana and Stephanie's versions. I'm not talking "soul" as in "she aint Black enough", but instead that thing that really connects to the song. Whitney comes across technically proficient, but it also comes across like a high school girl performing in the school's talent show. She kills it, elicits a standing ovation, all the kids talk about it the next day, but it was just a performance. To me Diana and Stephanie sing the song like they're living it and thus their versions are preferable for my taste. Just my opinion. But like I said, I was wowed enough by Whitney's version to rip the audio. Definitely a great performance.

[RanRan79]

Oh man, I know you heard the 1974/75 studio version Stephanie gave of this song. I don't know how long she held the note at the end. Maybe 17 seconds?!



As for Diana, yeah, that Somewhere performance from '73 was spell binding. Diana can hold some notes too!

Oh of course! I bought the soundtrack back in the 90s. Stephanie was impressive throughout. And on "Be A Lion"...oh man. I wonder if Stephanie ever performed "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"? I was initially disappointed in Gladys Knight's version, but it eventually grew on me. I was very disappointed in Whitney's version. I was expecting to lose my breath but came away with a "meh" feeling. I always wanted to hear Aretha cover it. But Stephanie? I have to believe that's a song she could've stretched out on.