Diana Ross on Oprah’s Final Season

Diana Ross made a grand entrance. in a glittery red Bob Mackie gown and ostrich feather boa, on the Oprah Winfrey show on Feb. 25, 2011, singing her hit song, “I’m Coming Out,” to the delight of the studio audience.

Oprah introduced the 66-year-old diva saying, “I have to tell you that for me this is more than a full circle moment. I have to really keep myself from going into the ‘ugly cry’ because of how much this legend, this woman, means to me and my life and to the life of every little girl who dared to dream.”

Oprah said “Diana Ross is more than just an ageless beauty, she is a force that has helped to shape our culture,” and she showed and narrated clips of Diana Ross’s life, working in a local cafeteria as a young girl, becoming the “goddess of Motown,” her solo career and portraying Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings the Blues,” etc.

Oprah gushed about how Diana Ross was the “only” woman on the TV “who looked like me” when she was a young girl, and she thanked her. “At the time I was 10 years old, you were only 20 on the Ed Sullivan Show.”

Well, we guess they only got Ed Sullivan when Oprah was 10 years old, wherever she was, since it seems she never watched “Sing Along with Mitch” with Leslie Uggams or saw Diahann Carroll on TV. They must not have had radios either, because she must never have heard of Laverne Baker, Dinah Washington, Carla Thomas, Mary Wells, Shirley Alston Reeves, Gladys Horton and the Marvelettes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Ronnie Spector, Tina Turner, Barbara Harris and the Toys, Ruby Nash of Ruby and the Romantics, The Cookies, The Exciters, Tammi Terrell … we can go on but you get the idea … LOL, Oprah, way to diss these fabulous sistas.

What did Diana Ross have that these ladies didn’t? Oh, yeah, Berry Gordy.

Don’t get the idea that we begrudge Diana her success, we don’t. We think she was really good in her movies, especially “Out of Darkness.” We love a lot of her songs, like “Reflections,” but contrary to Oprah’s claims, she was far from the only successful black female artist and it’s ridiculous to act like she was. But if Mary Wilson can forgive her for her outrageous upstaging back in the day, so can we. And as a role model? OK, we won’t go there.

To her credit, Diana Ross didn’t want her special diva status made that much of. Oprah asked her when she thought she had “made it.”

“Never,” she replied. “I’ve never been that overconfident about what’s possible” and said that watching Oprah makes her continue to know what’s possible. She asked an amazed Oprah: “What about you, did you think that you made it?” Diana shook her head as she said that, expressing getting a big head about it.

But Oprah wasn’t catching the “conceited” part of the question and replied that she actually does think she has made it to a certain level and now thinks, “what is the next level?” She allowed that sitting there with Miss Ross helped her make it. Diana said she’s never really lost herself in the fame:  “It’s hard work. I know that it may look easy but there are these ups and down in your journey.”

Oprah was going to cut to commercial but Diana wanted to sing a song to Oprah. While she sang “It’s Hard for Me To Say,” Oprah wiped tears away from her eyes. Diana personalized the ending by adding, “Oprah, we’re gonna miss you.” Does that mean she won’t watch OWN?

Out of the many outstanding moments in her lengthy career, Diana Ross mentioned meeting Nelson Mandela and her Oscar nomination for “Lady Sings the Blues,” as two of the most wonderful.

Another disingenuous moment: Oprah said she thinks Diana Ross has gotten a bad rap and doesn’t even know if Diana knows this: “People say that you demand to be called Miss Ross.” Like nobody ever heard of Randy Tarraborelli’s book “Call Her Miss Ross.”

Diana laughed and said, “Nobody says that.” She explained that there are times when it is a matter of respect, the type of respect she showed to her elders when she was starting out at Motown, but she has never demanded that anyone call her that. They also discussed aging gracefully, being called the “g” word (grandma) and today’s music. Diana Ross feels profanity and talking bad about women in some of it just isn’t necessary.

Diana’s children all appeared and talked about growing up as the children of a superstar. They all said that Diana always made them feel just so special and had a knack of creating normalcy in their home. The Ross family presented Oprah with a special surprise video they made in honor of Oprah’s final season. It was filmed at Miss Ross’s home with Diana, Rhonda, Ross, Tracee, Evan, Chudney, and Diana’s grandson, Raif — even the Ross family dog was in it.

Diana Ross had her own surprise: Billy Dee Williams, Diana’s co-star in “Lady Sings The Blues” and  “Mahogany” in person.

For her finale, Diana sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” accompanied by Oprah.