In 1959, Ross was brought to the attention of Milton Jenkins, the manager of the local doo-wop group The Primes, by Mary Wilson. Primes member Paul Williams convinced Jenkins to enlist Ross in the sister group The Primettes, which included Wilson, Florence Ballard and Betty McGlown.
In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the female entertainer of the century. In 1993, The Guinness Book Of World Records listed her as the most successful female artist ever (the title is now attributed to Madonna), partly due to her combined total of eighteen number-one singles, six of them recorded solo and the remaining dozen from her work with the Supremes.
Ross was also one of the few pop singers to find modest success in the acting world winning an Academy Award nomination for her role as Billie Holiday in the 1972 film, "Lady Sings the Blues" as well as having hits with other film roles such as "Mahogany", "Out of Darkness" and "Double Platinum", not to mention her role in "The Wiz".
Ross has been awarded many lifetime achievement accolades from many organizations and media outlets: she has been featured on BET, Soul Train, and awarded multiple times at the NAACP Image Awards, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007 and given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement in 2011.
Ross' professional vocal collaborators have included the following during her career: Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Julio Iglesias, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Smokey Robinson, among many others.
I Hope I Get It
Diana Ross Lyrics
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Everyday for a week we would try to be a table
Be a sportscar, ice cream cone
The teacher, he would say
"very good except diana, try, diana, all alone"
So I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
And I tried to melt
So the kids in the class said:
"ooh, I feel chocolate, hey, I feel vanilla"
He said "ok ross, what do you feel? "
And I said nothing, I ain't feeling nothing
Deep down nothing is all my teacher had
Everybody felt something
But I felt nothing
Except the feeling that this bull-shit was absurd
The lyrics of Diana Ross's "I Hope I Get It" express the helpless feeling of struggling to fit into a particular mold or meet certain expectations, and the resulting sense of being left out or not understanding the hype. The song uses the metaphor of children playing make-believe, trying to become different things like tables, sports cars, and ice cream cones. However, despite trying their best, Diana Ross feels left out and unable to feel the same things as the other children, no matter how hard she tries. Her teacher even calls her out and challenges her to try to feel something on her own, but she comes up short once again, feeling nothing but a sense of absurdity about the whole thing.
In the context of the musical A Chorus Line, from which the song originates, "I Hope I Get It" is a particularly poignant moment. The show's storyline follows a group of dancers as they audition for a Broadway musical, and the pressure to fit a certain standard of physical and performing ability is ever-present. The song represents the fear of not being seen as good enough, despite trying so hard to fit in and meet the expectations of the casting director. In this sense, the song can be seen as a powerful commentary on the anxiety and alienation that can come from striving to conform to society's standards.
Line by Line Meaning
Everyday for a week we would try to be a table
We practiced acting and pretending to be different things, roles or characters each day for a week
Be a sportscar, ice cream cone
We were trying to imagine what it would feel like to be a car or a part of a frozen dessert
The teacher, he would say 'very good except diana, try, diana, all alone'
The teacher said I couldn't rely on the group and needed to try to do better on my own
So I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
I searched deeply within to find the most honest version of who I am, and what I felt or thought
To see how an ice cream felt
I wanted to understand the sensations and emotions an ice cream cone would have if it had feelings
And I tried to melt
I attempted to let go of any barriers or layers that were hindering me from expressing the truest version of myself
So the kids in the class said: 'ooh, I feel chocolate, hey, I feel vanilla'
The other students expressed feeling different emotions and experiences, relating to their imagined characters
He said 'ok ross, what do you feel? '
The teacher asked me what I was feeling, what emotions or story I was telling through my character
And I said nothing, I ain't feeling nothing
I couldn't find an authentic way to connect to the task or express myself realistically
Deep down nothing is all my teacher had
The teacher realized that my reticence was genuine and that despite his teaching and encouragement, some students just don't have anything to express
Everybody felt something
All the other students were able to connect with their imagined characters and express a range of emotions
But I felt nothing
I wasn't able to put myself in the shoes of my imagined character or relate to the exercise in any meaningful way
Except the feeling that this bull-shit was absurd
I felt that the whole exercise was meaningless and a waste of time with no real-life value
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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