If ever there was a "Star Is Born" moment on TV it was this one. This performance spearheaded his career in America and had EVERYONE talking the next day:

>

.

.

.

This one might not have had the impact of the others but I blame the times rather than the performance, which I dare anyone to criticize after seeing it. With shear ferocious professionalism and attitude, Beyonce staked her claim as the performer of her generation with this performance:

>

.

.

.

For shear impact this is truly the performance of all time. Jackson, already a bonafide superstar for over a decade before this performance, sparked a phenomenon never before or since seen in music. After this perofrmance it seemed everyone instantly became a Jackson fan for the next two years running. If you weren't around at the time think the constant blather about every little thing Gaga does then multiply it by 100, with everyone from 2 to 92 fascinated by one Michael Jackson. But is it the best TV performance of all time?

>

Why do I feel like this is another attempt to start a Michael Jackson thread?

Trying to go around the MJ sticky are we?

I think Ricky Martin's cup of life performance. Was the I'm a star moment.

I also think that MJ's Billie Jean (lip-synch) performance was a I'm a star moment.

The Beyonce one-shouldn't be on the list.(At least for me.)

Another killer performance was MJ's Man in the Mirror at the grammys.

Prince's Purple Rain on the grammys

We must not forget the Hall of Fame performance of While my guitar gentle weeps. Every one brought that baby to life.

James Brown 1964 concert Please,please,please

This one hands down

How could I forget the Prince performance. But would one consider it a group effort or a Prince steamroll?

>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7INsVaR-S-w

>

Ricky Martin's was pretty impressive.

And what's wrong with the Beyonce performance? Professionalism to the nth!

I don't know how to add video but my list of tv performances that took careers to a whole new level I would say:

Elvis on Milton Berle singin Hound Dog

James Brown on TAMI

Beatles On Sullivan

Elvis, the entire 68 special

MJ on Motown 25

Prince, on MTV with Little Red Corvette

Fiona Apple on VH1 fashion awards (Criminal)

Of course there are many others but those are the ones that come immediately to mind.

MJ's performance at Motown was the best for many reasons:

The first moonwalk on TV.

The first time MJ sang Billie Jean on TV.

The first time he wore the glove, those clothes and done those signature moves.

Not to mention that he performed BJ right after singing some of J5 songs, so when his brothers left him, it was kinda a goodbye moment, showing the world he's going solo for REAL.

[Edited 11/26/13 2:40am]

This also

[Edited 11/26/13 2:47am]

Prince at the Super Bowl was pretty epic. That big guitar cloth/shadow erection moment and the huge solo. Same with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", one I can play over & over.

I remember Aerosmith did Dream On at the VMAs or AMAs one year in the 90s/late 80s and being like WOW DAMN. They were already huge but damn that really did it for me.

Oh on the subject of Aerosmith, P!nk doing "Janie's Got a Gun" on their Icon special made me think "that girl is a star."

Madonna grinding on the floor at VMAs was her big moment of course.

[Edited 11/26/13 14:58pm]

kalelvisj said:

I don't know how to add video but my list of tv performances that took careers to a whole new level I would say:

Elvis on Milton Berle singin Hound Dog

James Brown on TAMI

Beatles On Sullivan

Elvis, the entire 68 special

MJ on Motown 25

Prince, on MTV with Little Red Corvette

Fiona Apple on VH1 fashion awards (Criminal)

Of course there are many others but those are the ones that come immediately to mind.

Nice one!

kalelvisj said:

I don't know how to add video but my list of tv performances that took careers to a whole new level I would say:

Elvis on Milton Berle singin Hound Dog

James Brown on TAMI

Beatles On Sullivan

Elvis, the entire 68 special

MJ on Motown 25

Prince, on MTV with Little Red Corvette

Fiona Apple on VH1 fashion awards (Criminal)

Of course there are many others but those are the ones that come immediately to mind.

I agree on all of those.

CynicKill said:

For shear impact this is truly the performance of all time. Jackson, already a bonafide superstar for over a decade before this performance, sparked a phenomenon never before or since seen in music. After this perofrmance it seemed everyone instantly became a Jackson fan for the next two years running. If you weren't around at the time think the constant blather about every little thing Gaga does then multiply it by 100, with everyone from 2 to 92 fascinated by one Michael Jackson. But is it the best TV performance of all time?

>

It was AWESOME and UNFORGETTABLE. Maybe the best performance ever - certainly in the conversation.

Here's one of my favorites. Jay Leno introduced him and said, "Here is Lenny Kravitz, and he's going to blow the roof off this joint". And that's exactly what Lenny Kravitz did with "Are you Gonna Go My Way?". Can't find it on YouTube or NBC.com, but dang it was a GREAT performance.

jeidee said:

Prince at the Super Bowl was pretty epic. That big guitar cloth/shadow erection moment and the huge solo. Same with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", one I can play over & over.

I remember Aerosmith did Dream On at the VMAs or AMAs one year in the 90s/late 80s and being like WOW DAMN. They were already huge but damn that really did it for me.

Oh on the subject of Aerosmith, P!nk doing "Janie's Got a Gun" on their Icon special made me think "that girl is a star."

Madonna grinding on the floor at VMAs was her big moment of course.

[Edited 11/26/13 14:58pm]

I think Madonna's vogue on MTV music awards was killer (even though lip synched). Better than the superbowl performance.

RodeoSchro said:

CynicKill said:

For shear impact this is truly the performance of all time. Jackson, already a bonafide superstar for over a decade before this performance, sparked a phenomenon never before or since seen in music. After this perofrmance it seemed everyone instantly became a Jackson fan for the next two years running. If you weren't around at the time think the constant blather about every little thing Gaga does then multiply it by 100, with everyone from 2 to 92 fascinated by one Michael Jackson. But is it the best TV performance of all time?

>

It was AWESOME and UNFORGETTABLE. Maybe the best performance ever - certainly in the conversation.

Here's one of my favorites. Jay Leno introduced him and said, "Here is Lenny Kravitz, and he's going to blow the roof off this joint". And that's exactly what Lenny Kravitz did with "Are you Gonna Go My Way?". Can't find it on YouTube or NBC.com, but dang it was a GREAT performance.

As for Jay Leno, I always thought the Prince performances where killer. Especially Musicology.

Some additional great performances:

Sammy Davis, Jr (Anything he ever did.... but more specifically) You rascal you (not really a tv clip, but he is to goodto ignore....)

Jackie Wilson, Lonely Teardrops on Ed sulivan 62

Marvin Gaye, Aint that peculiar 1965

While he was already a "star" Tom Jones, Treat her Right from his tv special in 1968 (surprisingly funky)

Janis Joplin on Cavett, To love someboady, 1969 (Joss Stone should send her estate a dollar everytime one of her songs is played....)

Sam Cooke, Twistin the Night away, 1963

I love these kind of threads because they are an opportunity to see clips or hear songs that you might have overlooked or forgotten. I just wish people wouldn't try to argue for which is "best". It is subjective. On the other hand making a case for why a particular performance is important leads to some interesting conversations.

kalelvisj said:

Some additional great performances:

Sammy Davis, Jr (Anything he ever did.... but more specifically) You rascal you (not really a tv clip, but he is to goodto ignore....)

Jackie Wilson, Lonely Teardrops on Ed sulivan 62

Marvin Gaye, Aint that peculiar 1965

While he was already a "star" Tom Jones, Treat her Right from his tv special in 1968 (surprisingly funky)

Janis Joplin on Cavett, To love someboady, 1969 (Joss Stone should send her estate a dollar everytime one of her songs is played....)

Sam Cooke, Twistin the Night away, 1963

I love these kind of threads because they are an opportunity to see clips or hear songs that you might have overlooked or forgotten. I just wish people wouldn't try to argue for which is "best". It is subjective. On the other hand making a case for why a particular performance is important leads to some interesting conversations.

To add video you do this: [youtube]url goes here[/youtube]

>

[Edited 11/27/13 0:00am]

CynicKill said:

kalelvisj said:

Some additional great performances:

Sammy Davis, Jr (Anything he ever did.... but more specifically) You rascal you (not really a tv clip, but he is to goodto ignore....)

Jackie Wilson, Lonely Teardrops on Ed sulivan 62

Marvin Gaye, Aint that peculiar 1965

While he was already a "star" Tom Jones, Treat her Right from his tv special in 1968 (surprisingly funky)

Janis Joplin on Cavett, To love someboady, 1969 (Joss Stone should send her estate a dollar everytime one of her songs is played....)

Sam Cooke, Twistin the Night away, 1963

I love these kind of threads because they are an opportunity to see clips or hear songs that you might have overlooked or forgotten. I just wish people wouldn't try to argue for which is "best". It is subjective. On the other hand making a case for why a particular performance is important leads to some interesting conversations.

To add video you do this: [youtube]url goes here[/youtube]

>

[Edited 11/27/13 0:00am]

Thank you!!!

Most would nominate one of her performances of "No More Drama", but this shows what she can do with "real" material.

>

CynicKill said:

Most would nominate one of her performances of "No More Drama", but this shows what she can do with "real" material.

>

Thanks that one gave me chills the first go round

TeeeeHaaaaHoooo said:

For certain.

Also this medley performance by Whitney Houston is a killer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eGIo_SCrN8

RodeoSchro said:

CynicKill said:

For shear impact this is truly the performance of all time. Jackson, already a bonafide superstar for over a decade before this performance, sparked a phenomenon never before or since seen in music. After this perofrmance it seemed everyone instantly became a Jackson fan for the next two years running. If you weren't around at the time think the constant blather about every little thing Gaga does then multiply it by 100, with everyone from 2 to 92 fascinated by one Michael Jackson. But is it the best TV performance of all time?

>

It was AWESOME and UNFORGETTABLE. Maybe the best performance ever - certainly in the conversation.

Here's one of my favorites. Jay Leno introduced him and said, "Here is Lenny Kravitz, and he's going to blow the roof off this joint". And that's exactly what Lenny Kravitz did with "Are you Gonna Go My Way?". Can't find it on YouTube or NBC.com, but dang it was a GREAT performance.

Most folks would say MJ. The fact is nobody moves like him. He moves like he has no bones in his body. The GREATEST of dancers could not do what he did. It was genius/innate. Besides that, the performance changed the world in that people, globally, within a few days wore glitter gloves and moonwalked lol. If you weren't born then, ask your parents about it. It was like fairyland on planet earth. That's the impact of what he did with BJ that night. IMO THRILLER would never have reached the heights it did without Motown 25's BJ.

kewlschool said:

jeidee said:

Prince at the Super Bowl was pretty epic. That big guitar cloth/shadow erection moment and the huge solo. Same with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", one I can play over & over.

I remember Aerosmith did Dream On at the VMAs or AMAs one year in the 90s/late 80s and being like WOW DAMN. They were already huge but damn that really did it for me.

Oh on the subject of Aerosmith, P!nk doing "Janie's Got a Gun" on their Icon special made me think "that girl is a star."

Madonna grinding on the floor at VMAs was her big moment of course.

[Edited 11/26/13 14:58pm]

I think Madonna's vogue on MTV music awards was killer (even though lip synched). Better than the superbowl performance.

I know this gets all the play but this simple, straight-forward performance won me over. Back in the day I could never get enough of it. They played it constantly by the way:

>

Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora on the MTV awards doing Wanted Dead or ALive "Acoustic" whether u like them or not, this performance LAUNCHED mtv's performance series though it had nothing to do with it per say, all of a sudden next day everyone loved acoustic stuff and everyone was playing acoustic again

lastdecember said:

Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora on the MTV awards doing Wanted Dead or ALive "Acoustic" whether u like them or not, this performance LAUNCHED mtv's performance series though it had nothing to do with it per say, all of a sudden next day everyone loved acoustic stuff and everyone was playing acoustic again

True it did change the landscape in a big way. The problem is I think people forget that the performance sparked the movement. Should that be to the performances detriment.

Humor? Check!

Moxy? Check!

Passible Delivery? Check!

Worthy nominee?

>

CynicKill said:

Humor? Check!

Moxy? Check!

Passible Delivery? Check!

Worthy nominee?

>

A great performance on her part, but the cheesy cheap early 80's video back drop sucked.The performance would have been stellar with just a clean dark back drop and great lighting.