🎄 Holidays! Bruce Forsyth's Big Night w/Karen Carpenter, Part 3 (1978)

Chris May

Resident ‘Carpenterologist’
Staff member
Moderator
Wishing everyone here at A&M Corner a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving from me and all the mods! So much to be grateful for this year - including this stellar performance by Karen in Part 3 of 4 of Bruce Forsyth's Big Night from December of 1978. Enjoy!



 
This is what I call the perfect performance of Karen’s career. Just watch how she gets herself into form and prepares to sing, those few seconds speak volumes. When she rolls her eyes (crazy world for me) I can identify.

For some the holidays can be a lonely and hard time to get through but this song is so comforting in her delivery and words.

Merry Christmas Karen Carpenter!!
 
This is what I call the perfect performance of Karen’s career. Just watch how she gets herself into form and prepares to sing, those few seconds speak volumes. When she rolls her eyes (crazy world for me) I can identify.

First thanks @Chris May for sharing this with the world!

I think of all the performances this one is my favorite. The lyric, "There's someone in this crazy world for me," had become the reality of life for her, eye roll seals the sentiment. Karen doing this song solo without all the background vocals really brings out something special. The emphasis on the word "need" as mentioned by many here, conveys how true the lyric resonated with her. The loneliness comes out. Maybe she wished Richard could of been there with her. But regardless this is a special piece in the career of Karen Carpenter.

Be careful what you ask for.........you may get it. The next few years would be full of ups and downs personally and professionally. But this "moment" was a huge triumph for Karen Carpenter. She knew she could do this on her own if she needed to, and she ended up doing just that! :wink:
 
What a fantastic Thanksgiving gift, Chris! Karen was at the top of her game here, that’s for certain. As others here have mentioned, she really ‘lives’ the lyrics more than any other song.

She might not have been in the best place personally or professionally at the end of 1978, but she was a trooper in every sense of the word. And this performance proves it.

Thanks again, my friend!
Bob
 
Chris, you are a pal! Thanks so much!

Wow, really a red letter moment of Karen’s short but amazing career. This is everything I love about the woman in a simple, vulnerable moment. She was and still is the best.
 
Wow, really a red letter moment of Karen’s short but amazing career. This is everything I love about the woman in a simple, vulnerable moment. She was and still is the best.

Listening to the thunderous applause that Karen received at the end of this song always saddens me. She was loved and adored for her beautiful talents and yet inwardly was also a tortured individual who carried demons that none of her adoring fans ever really knew about.
 
Listening to the thunderous applause that Karen received at the end of this song always saddens me. She was loved and adored for her beautiful talents and yet inwardly was also a tortured individual who carried demons that none of her adoring fans ever really knew about.
For me it's bittersweet. The hearty applause showed how much she was loved over in England and that makes me feel good to watch. They actually respected her. Still do to this day.
 
Agree with all the above comments. I was so happy when better quality video of this moment in time was made available, replacing the grainy video that was on YT for a while. What "makes" this video for me is not only Karen's magnificent (there's simply no other word I can come up with at the moment) performance but also the audience reaction, her reaction to their reaction, her dragging out that final "need" in the lyrics, and the sweetness of the banter between Karen and Bruce (how he pats the chair for her to sit down and her explaining how the song is "her favorite"). Thanks Chris for posting, Happy Holidays!
 
There's not a dry eye anywhere for anyone here who watches this beyond-incredible performance by the best singer who ever lived. So amazingly great to see her basking in the glow of that escalating applause, and it keeps the tears from flowing too freely knowing that she would all-too-soon no longer be with us--but, fortunately, we have her recorded legacy and we have this shining moment to savor, where she knows without a shred of doubt that the audience was head-over-heels in love with her. A million thanks to you, Chris May, for sharing this with us!!
 
Wow! What an incredible performance! Karen truly shone during this and deserved every one of those applause. Thanks so much for sharing, Chris.
 
Each time I listen to it with the delivery focus spot on, and with her instrument at its finest, it takes my breath away. If this arrangement was released in 1976, I feel it would have captured more sales. It needs to be a bonus track on whatever future project is out there!
 
Karen was simply astonishing. This performance is actually hard for me to watch. It truly is as if she is bearing her heart and soul for all to see. She was courageous to put herself on display like that. I have an incredible amount of respect for her. When I think about the turmoil she went through and the brave face she had to put on through all of it, it really chokes me up.
 
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