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NEW interview....
Whitney's labour of love
Nui Te Koha | From: Sunday Herald Sun | February 19, 2010 4:49PM
WHITNEY Houston knows how to win a fight.
But, tonight at Saitama Arena, near Tokyo, her foe is proving to be a formidable challenger.
Houston, a superstar who triumphed over an abusive marriage and drug addiction, is battling an air conditioner.
“I can’t do air conditioning," she explains later, in a humidified dressing room. “It takes my top (vocal range) out."
To prove it, Houston unleashes a high note, which, minutes earlier, a cooling system almost silenced.
“It’s back now because there is moisture and the air is warm. Oh yes," she grins brightly, “it’s back."
Whitney Houston has also returned to centre stage, for the first time in 10 years. She has every reason to smile.
Her latest album, I Look To You, and tour, Nothing But Love, are about strength, optimism, gratitude and love.
“My intention is – I want the people to feel that it’s coming from my heart," Houston says.
“At one point in time, I almost decided that I didn’t want to be in it anymore.
“The music had changed, the industry had changed, the quality had changed. And I didn’t like it."
However, Houston felt encouraged by two things – supporters pleading for her to get back in the game and a new generation of powerhouse singers.
“Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce – they stirred my curiosity about coming back and making a record. But that’s only one part of the industry," Houston says firmly.
“To actually sing, perform and have people come to hear a real voice, a God-given gift, is really important to me."
Houston pulls no punches in her opinion of how the game lacks quality.
“It’s almost like we were dealing with an industry that had turned to soft porn," she says. “Instead of listening to a voice, an instrument, a gift from God, we had to watch people take off their clothes constantly. It left nothing to the imagination, nothing you could long for. You couldn’t say, 'Oh, that song, that melody, that voice'."
She does not name the offenders, but in citing Aguilera, Hudson and Knowles as inspirations, her hit list is obvious.
There is one polite request for this interview: no personal questions, please.
Houston feels she gave everything about her emotional torment with former husband Bobby Brown, and their drug dependence, to US broadcaster Oprah Winfrey last year.
Houston feels nothing but love on this tour. Backstage, it is free from drama, extravagance and hangers-on.
Whitney’s older brother, Gary, is a backing vocalist on the tour. His wife, Patricia, co-manages Houston.
“It keeps me happy, supported," Houston says. “I don’t have the weight of bull.... for lack of a better word.
“I don’t have the worry about marriage and this and that. As you become older, you have the wisdom to know the difference."
Houston says family and faith are the reasons for her renewed success.
“My faith in God is true to me. It helped me in my life," she says.
“Everything else I could have experienced failed. Marriage, whatever else I’d been doing, failed. It was not solid.
"But my faith stayed solid. It helped me get through tough times."
Those trials and how Houston overcame them, are raised, lyrically, in the tour’s opening songs, For The Lovers, I Look To You, and Nothing But Love.
Houston’s show is divided into acts – vibrant new cuts, snapshots from the past decade, acoustic versions of her power ballads, a standout gospel moment and dance floor finale.
It is sexy and sophisticated, playful and passionate, classy and classic – a reminder of Houston’s power as interpreter and performer. Her voice – smooth, husky and, at times, raw and intense – is still on point.
“It’s grown up," she says of her voice, which the Los Angeles Times once called a “national treasure".
“It’s the voice of a grown woman that’s had ups and downs."
Whitney Houston performs at Rod Laver Arena on March 1 (bookings 132 849) and the Plenary on
March 6 (bookings 136 100).
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/whitneys-labour-of-love/story-e6frf96f-1225832299816
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And they both have over 40,000 views now. Heh.
But they got it right tho. WHITNEY. Britney who? 
