The Whitney Houston comeback train hit a serious speedbump this week in Australia, with fans walking out mid-show after the exhausted singer showered the audience with an endless stream of flat notes and coughing fits (in case you don’t recognize it between the pauses, she’s trying to sing “I Will Always Love You” in the clip from the Brisbane show above—letting a back-up singer take the high notes). Now fans who purchased tickets for upcoming shows—with tickets ranging from $165 to $699—are concerned about getting their money’s worth.
“Some fans are having a whinge,” a spokesperson for Hope Estate told the Herald-Sun, where at least 12,000 are set to see Houston perform Friday. “They’ve been asking if the concert is still going ahead, and, if it does, whether she’ll make it back to the stage if she has a break…But the show is going ahead—there seems to be an overreaction out there.” Andrew McManus, tour manager for Houston—who has four more shows in Australia before starting European dates in April—is unapologetic for her “warts and all” performances. “If they expected to hear the Whitney of 20 years ago, go buy a CD. If they want to see a true professional artist give 100%, well come along and enjoy the ride of an amazing talent, on stage, letting her heart and soul out for us all to enjoy.” Heart and soul…so that’s what she’s coughing up.
Zoinks! When we got ready with our wine and hands-in-front-of-face position to watch Whitney Houston perform on last night’s “X-Factor,” the last thing we expected was the prospect of a Whit Nip Slip. But that’s just what we got when her outfit proved not enough for the returning diva and tried to escape halfway through her barnstorming performance on the British talent show.
Whitney’s glittery silver frock had already appeared to be, er, busting at the seams before the back strap gave up entirely halfway through her song. She carried on with the performance without any career-rocking exposure, but seemed highly strung out (i.e. massively p*ssed off and ready to fire the wardrobe flunky) in the post-song interview. Actually, by looking at the floor most of the way through it and “praising” the contestants by saying, “they’re young,” we’re actually officially a bit scared of La Houston. Unsupported boobs or not. [Video: YouTube]
Bet Whitney Houston didn’t anticipate the threat of a short, plain, frizzy-haired Scottish woman to torpedo her much-awaited comeback. But Susan Boyle, the Britain’s Got Talent contestant who became a worldwide sensation, is already ahead of the game, beating out Whitters in the Amazon pre-order chart.
SuBo is currently number one in the charts, even though her album isn’t out until November 24. The Amazon boards are all aflutter with fans worrying that they may be limited to “only” three copies per household, whereas the Whitney fans are fretting about what’s happened to her once super-powerful voice. Who’d have thunk it? [Photos: WireImage, Splash News Online]
Whitney Houston will sit for her first interview in seven years - on Oprah’s couch! The Grammy-award winning diva will sit down with the queen of daytime and discuss her upcoming album, I Look To You, which comes out August 31st. Oprah dubbed the episode, which will air September 14th, “The most anticipated music interview of the decade.” When Oprah praises you like that - you’re officially back. [Source: People; Photo: Getty Images]
Kelly Osbourne is throwing caution (and credibility) to the wind, by allowing herself to be the focus of a reality show again. Despite saying she was “completely and utterly miserable” during the filming of The Osbournes, Kelly and her look-alike boyfriend Luke Worrall have agreed to be followed by MTV cameras for the next three weeks chronicling their “chaotic home and work life as they plan their wedding”. Gah.
“Kelly is TV gold. We’ve been wanting to do something with her for ages…She is just the type of person we want on our channel - she’s young, smart and knows how to party,” a source told the Sun.
Kelly and Luke will be following in the footsteps of other couples who’ve allowed the cameras to follow their daily lives: Nick and Jessica, Whitney and Bobby, Britney and K-Fed. Oh. Good luck with that one. [Photo: Splash News Online]
The dates left vacant by Michael Jackson’s untimely death could be filled by another megastar who’s attempting a comeback — Whitney Houston. The rehabbed diva (plus British pop superstar Robbie Williams) are being lined up as the names to take over the dates next January, February and March which are now lying empty. “Whitney Houston has been on our wish-list for a while - she has the voice and the hits to sell the arena out several times over,” a source says. And, you know, maybe she’ll even sing at her concerts, Britney Spears. Bonus! [Photo: WENN]
Sir Philip Green has proved himself an astute operator by teaming up with Kate Moss, but could his new BFF (that’s Best Fashion Friend) be Whitney Houston? The rehabbed singer had previewed her comeback album a couple of nights ago at a select soiree in Knightsbridge, and Phil was so dazzled he gave her the keys to the flagship London store out of hours. We want!
“Whitney grabbed bags and bags of stuff, but only chose one item of clothing for herself. She was overheard saying her 16-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina likes Topshop, so chose everything for her - except for a Union Jack cardigan which she chose for herself. Whitney looked ecstatic, and happily posed with staff for pictures and signed autographs for them,” says a source.
Aw, that’s kind of cute. At last a middle-aged celebrity who doesn’t plan to dress half her age! The Whitney comeback starts here … [Photo: WENN]
Whitney Houston, who hasn’t released an album in seven years, has been teasing fans with a comeback since 2007 — and her record label finally announced Sept. 1 as its official release date. But Whitney isn’t the only one with big news.
Her ex-husband Bobby Brown, with whom she has a 16-year-old daughter, preempted her day in the sun with an announcement of his own: a new baby. According to TMZ, Bobby told a crowd last night at a Las Vegas nightclub that his girlfriend and manger, Alicia Etheridge, gave birth to a boy four days ago.
Whitney’s album is still untitled, but Cassius is the name of Bobby’s new baby. Congrats to both. See, it’s never too late for a comeback. Sort of. [Photo: Getty Images]
A new book alleges that Whitney Houston paid $400,000 ransom to drug dealers who threatened then-husband Bobby Brown’s life in 1993 (the same year their daughter, Bobbi Kristina, was born). According to David Collins, a former member of the NY gang Preacher Crew, Brown owed $25,000, and was kidnapped and held at gunpoint until Whitney came up with the cash. “She was personally going to bring $400,000 to get her man back,” writes Collins in Preacher Of The Streets. The next day, she did just that. She was wearing a wig.” Brown and Houston’s reps have refused to comment.
Brown and Houston’s marriage continued for well over a decade after this alleged brush with danger (they separated in 2006). Check out the gallery for scenes from their infamous romance.
We all knew Whitney Houston wanted to dance with somebody, we just had no idea she’d end up waltzing with a crack pipe. The singer had barreled through the ’80s and ’90s racking up #1 hits and the occasional flop (like marrying the dysfunctional Bobby Brown). After selling over nine million copies of The Bodyguard soundtrack and stockpiling six Grammys, she decided to move on to something more, uh, super f*cking illegal.
In early 2000, Whitney was busted lugging weed through a Hawaii airport. As if that wasn’t bad-ass enough, she inspired Lohans everywhere by skipping shows and losing enough weight to scare even Nicole Richie. Chatting with Diane Sawyer in 2002, she admitted to, well, everything. “My business is sex, drugs, rock and roll … I partied a lot.” When asked by Sawyer about her drug of choice — “Is it alcohol? Is it marijuana? Is it cocaine? Is it pills?” — Whitney answered, “It has been at times.” Sawyer: “All?” Houston: “At times.” But even Whitney had her limits: “I make too much money for me to ever smoke crack … crack is whack.” Whack enough to send the fallen songbird to rehab in 2004. She has yet to make a solid comeback — unless having her husband yank a “doody bubble” from her ass counts — but at least she’s made headlines dumping Brown for Ray J., brother of Brandy and on-camera lover of Kim Kardashian.
Whitney’s daughter is possibly continuing the family addiction tradition. Pics of then 13-year-old Bobbi Kristina exhaling what looked like marijuana smoke popped up on the Web in 2007. So much for teaching children well and letting them lead the way.
