Smokey: Anyone upset about J-Lo participating in Motown Grammy tribute is "stupid"

[Boogiedown]

Yet another aspiring "producer" heard from...LOL...No offense intended, but I'm ROTFLMAO...Do you think for a minute that J-Lo decided what to wear and how the performance would be structured, what songs to include and what dance moves she and the plethora of chorus dancers would perform, etc???...LOL... I was involved with NARAS on one of these Grammy segments, and trust me...they do it THEIR way with their own producers, choreographers, directors, costume designers,etc...Beyond perhaps consulting Berry Gordy and Smokey on the selection of talent for the segment...NARAS has their own people working for the months leading to the actual show on these Grammy segments...so I don't understand your point that somehow J-Lo planned, choreographed, or directed that segment???...No way...she may have had some input on certain elements once rehearsals started, but you're giving her WAY too much credit for the way the segment was presented...

Stu , I think you are making my point, the Motown music was being used simply as a vehicle to present J-Lo , not the other way around , which should have been the essence of the project.

And no offense, I know nothing about NARAS but they sound like awful people to dress a fifty year old woman in bedroom costumes and force her to parade around a stage like that.

[StuBass1]

Stu , I think you are making my point, the Motown music was being used simply as a vehicle to present J-Lo , not the other way around , which should have been then essence of the project.

That's on NARAS...It was a Grammy show...not a Motown show, although with the Diana Ross segment, a lot of Motown representation was involved, and they did promo the upcoming Motown Special quite a bit during the telecast...Don't forget...they have an entire Motown special coming up...taping tomorrow night for an April telecast...I believe they selected J-Lo because they believed she would be a good fit and of course, bring in viewers they want... Ratings were about the same as last year, nothing great but not horrible... I also assume that they did not want to overexpose the artists included in the Motown special they are doing... I can divulge now [[that I'd not given the details for before this) that they planned a segment to honor The Funk Brothers in 2005 after I did the nomination for their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. They proposed a segment with Stevie Wonder and Michael McDonald backed by the Funk Brothers...Why Michael McDonald???... That was NARAS decision. Michael agreed immediately, but Stevie ducked and dodged...actually running out the back door when some folks came to personally appeal to him to participate...NARAS don't mess around and didn't try to find a replacement for Stevie...They saw the segment a certain way and when Stevie refused to participate [[which was quite disappointing to me personally) and I learned of the details after it was too late...they ditched the segment and instead put in a Luther Vandross tribute [[Luther was ailing but had not yet passed at that time)… NARAS does things THEIR way... I did receive a nice note from Neil Portnow, but they don't beg anybody...they move on, which made me understand that much better why they ultimately told Ariana Grande to go pound sand when she insisted on doing things her way, claiming she could put a number together overnight. Sorry...they don't work like that Missy...