Michael Jackson pictured in 1983, the same year he released 'Billie Jean' and performed his first moon walk. “So we watched ‘ Billie Jean’ for the first time, the whole thing, the hat, the socks, the moonwalk - after that was over, we just knew this was incredibly special.” See more: Remembering when Michael Jackson 'fired' his music director mid-song - video “I think Linda Ronstadt was there, Smokey Robinson was there, Diana Ross was there, but the place was empty basically,” Mischer said. However mind were quickly changed when they saw Michael perform the song in rehearsals. Watch a viral dancer stun TV viewers with his Michael Jackson moves - videoĭon the standoff: “Look, if we let Michael do a new song, who’s going to take the phone call from Marvin Gaye on Monday saying, ‘Why did you let Michael do a new song and I couldn’t do a new song?’”

Michael Jackson had other ideas and was determined to perform a new song called ' Billie Jean'. Speaking to the Huffington Post, Don says that as the Motown 25 show was to promote the label's greatest hits, he and executive producer Suzanne de Passe banned everyone - including Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross - from performing new music. Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever/NBC/Starvista Michael Jackson performed his first public moonwalk on the NBC's 'Motown 25' show on May 16, 1983. Michael Jackson performs 'Billie Jean' on the TV show Motown 25 - Yesterday, Today, Forever on May 16, 1983. The show was produced and directed by Don Mischer, who has broadcast other historical moments including the opening ceremony for the 1996 Olympic Games and many Oscar ceremonies, and he vividly remembers the arguments about whether Michael would even be allowed to perform the song. See more: When Michael Jackson invented the robot dance on live TV - video The King of Pop was taking part in the TV programme Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, filmed to celebrate the record label's greatest artists and saw a whopping 35% of all TV owners in the United States tuning in to see Michael and other stars perform. Michael Jackson was performing his new song ' Billie Jean' on May 16, 1983, when an extraordinary moment took place that changed dance history. It's been 35 years since Michael Jackson took the stage to perform his first moonwalk to an audience of 47 million people.

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