Discuss! I like both versions, but prefer the one by the Jackson Five. But to each his or her own! Which version do you like and why? Or do you like both like me?
[Edited 11/23/07 16:25pm]

Jackson 5 off top. Mariah's alright but it's too campy, lol. Least IMHO. With the original, you can hear the instrumentation behind it and five brothers in harmony was perfect plus I loved the clavinet played in that one. Either way, Willie Hutch was probably PROUD of himself when this song hit number one (since he was one of its writers).

Well duh! The original of course! Mariah did good but she was no...little Michael Jackson!

SexyBeautifulOne said:

I will say this: little MJ had so much soul!

i enjoy both versions. however Mariah's backup singer Trey ruins it for me. so Jackson 5 takes this one.

SexyBeautifulOne said:

Exactly!

Little Michael sang as if he had the soul of an old man

What is this?

LittleBLUECorvette said:

What do you mean? I noticed that there are a number of Mariah Carey fans on the Org and thought it would be cool to see what orgers think about both versions of the song.

Easy, Jackson 5 Wins.

But how about The Jackson 5's version V Michael Jacksons version from the dangerous/bad tours or the solo recorded version seen in 1993.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...5O61yKkdr4

Who wins this one?
[Edited 11/23/07 17:08pm]

kash said:

MJ as an adult fucked this song up for me

kash said:

I do like his performance of "I'll Be There" on the Bad World Tour, in particular at the Brisbane concert.

InsatiableCream said:

Rodya24 said:

uh oh...now you've done it

J5 offcourse

Rodya24 said:

Yeah me too, this one - http://www.youtube.com/wa...ZRORoMRZxU
i also like the dangerous tour one too - http://www.youtube.com/wa...o7aWoOD84g

kash said:

Nice! Thanks for the links. The tribute to his brothers at the end is touching.

Jackson 5, easily.

Check out on YouTube the acapella version of the Jackson 5's I'll Be There. Amazing!

Rodya24 said:

well he did. his vocals were really shitty everytime he sang it

InsatiableCream said:

His vocals were amazing during his performance of "I'll Be There" on the Bad Tour!

Rodya24 said:

ok i can kinda agree with that

but the Dangerous and HIStory tours were just terrible

Little MJ vocally would've kicked adult Mike's butt in this song, I'm sorry. Not saying that because he had shitty vocals (he sounded "decent"). Actually his 1981 live version of it was better and he was 22, lol.

..Bad tour!

No love for Mariah?

Timmy84 said:

You talkin' bout the version on the Jacksons Live LO? That ish is fire.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Yes I am:

I'll... I-I-IIIII'll beeeee...
Beeee theeeeere...
Beeee theeeeerrrrre...
Hee-hee-hee-hee!
Hee-hee-heeeee!
(Scatting)...


[Edited 11/23/07 21:42pm]

Why is everybody ignoring Jermaine Jackson? The guy was on the song also.

Krytonite said:

Oh yeah...

Better him than Trey Lorenz.

But yeah, Jermaine helped to add on to the beauty of that song with his vocals. There was always something magical happening when Michael and Jermaine sang songs together.

Mariah

Dewrede said:

I am curious: why?