Re: New Whitney Album/Song/Performance/Nominations [Mega-Merged Thread]
The fall and fall of Whitney Houston
LAST year, Britney Spears' failure to sing at all incensed Australian fans.
This year, this week, Whitney Houston did sing but the country's talking about her voice, too - or what's left of it.
And unfortunately for promoter Andrew McManus, that talk isn't all good.
Newspapers, TV shows and internet sites have been filled with fans defending the singer for what McManus clumsily described as "having a red-hot crack" and with disappointed punters who felt the show wasn't worth the ticket price (up to $200 in some cases).
McManus took a risk bringing Houston Down Under to start her first world tour in 11 years (she hadn't played in Australia since 1988).
Last year's comeback album I Look to You was her first release since 2002's under-performing Just Whitney.
The positive spin about Houston's time out of the spotlight is that she spent it raising her daughter Bobbi Kristina, who turns 17 next week.
The darker truth is that Houston spent most of that time smoking cocaine-laced marijuana with husband Bobby Brown, the man many blame for ruining her career.
Their 14-year marriage was filled with drug use, allegations of abuse (Brown spat on Houston in front of their daughter), infidelity and a misguided reality show, Being Bobby Brown.
Houston has done only a handful of interviews to promote I Look to You. After airing her demons on Oprah, she will no longer answer questions about her failed marriage or drug use.
She told Oprah they had not used crack, but admitted free-basing cocaine daily.
"We were lacing our marijuana with base (cocaine). We weren't on crack. We weren't on no crack stuff. We were paying money," she said.
"We were buying kilos and ounces and ounces. We would have our stash."
Houston went into rehab (once taking her daughter so she could see what rehab was like -- she blamed the drug use on her "lifestyle" and warned her it was a side-effect) but it didn't stick. Houston told Oprah she was off drugs.
"Don't think I don't have desires for it. There are times it takes a minute to cleanse - 'Get off. Get off me. Just leave me alone. Get off me' - I have to pray it away.
"I'll have a drink every now and then. Don't get me wrong. I can only take today. One day at a time. Right now, no."
THOSE who have seen Houston's Sydney and Brisbane shows this week have referred to "erratic" behaviour, 13-minute stints off stage (McManus insists they are costume changes), and coughing during songs.
McManus insists Houston's health is fine, attributing the coughing to the singer's cigarette habit.
"Whitney smokes. God bless her, I can't tell her not to," he said. "She will not take any substances - when I did Meat Loaf, every night he had to have a cortisone needle. She just will not.
"It is what it is. She's comfortable with the show she's performing.
"She knows she's not hitting every note like she used to, but it's value for money. It's Whitney Houston, warts and all. She's exposed up there on stage."
Houston says her voice has "matured" but she has never been asked whether the drug use has ruined her gift. Many believe Houston is not delivering to her Australian fans.
"When a fan pays a superstar price they are entitled to a superstar performance," said Paul Cashmere, CEO of music website
www.undercover.com.au.
"From the footage we've been seeing, Whitney Houston has grossly under-delivered."
Not all those fans agree. McManus says only a small though vocal minority had left Houston's Brisbane and Sydney shows, and refund requests were minimal.
Brisbane's Trent Titmarsh went to the show expecting little and was won over: "Yes, she can't sing her power ballads from the '80s any more.
"But she still gave us all that she can, and it was still more than most 'singers' these days. I never was a big Whitney fan, but I'll defend her, as the two-hour-plus show was better than I thought it would be.
''And she is a true survivor: this is a woman who is 46 years old and nearly died from drugs."
It's that state of Houston's voice and health that divides opinion. Should she be applauded for being a survivor and getting back on stage, or slated for not sounding as she once did?
McManus can relate to some of the criticism.
"If the disgruntled few feel she wasn't up to scratch of the Whitney of 20 years ago, I'd probably have to agree with them," he said. "But she performed the full concert.
"She performed all her hits. She did everything we promoted and said she'd do. It was a great performance.
"This is an icon of the business who hit rock bottom and is fighting back. Instead of slamming her, we should be praising her.
"We're a nation who normally supports the underdog. She's the underdog, and she's getting hammered.
"She's sensitive. She is someone who's 46 who hasn't performed in a long time.
"She's had some real lows in her life, and she's proving she can fight back and give it a red-hot crack. That's the attitude I thought people of Australia would embrace.
"Unfortunately, there's a minority who want to stick the boot in."
But Cashmere says Houston's personal battles should not be an excuse for a below-par performance.
"To argue that fans shouldn't expect to hear the same quality as 20 years ago is complete rubbish," he said.
"A real star gets better as the years go on. Whitney is 46 years old: at this stage, she should be delivering the greatest shows of her career.
"Why should people be sympathetic? They are paying up to $200 for a ticket.
"They should expect the highest quality. They are not donating to a Whitney Support Group.
"If she has problems, then she should go home and come back when she is ready to give value to her fans."
SINGER Damien Leith has also weighed in.
"She's 46 years of age, has a well-documented history of an excessive lifestyle, and now she's back on the road trying to recreate the magic of her hits," Leith told The Punch website.
"It's a tough undertaking and will take a lot of strength and character. Maybe she thought it was time to prove to herself and the critics she can do it. If so, she's brave.
"It takes guts to face an audience after a long break."
But reports from her Australian tour are filtering around the world - not the ideal way for overseas promoters to try to sell tickets for her world tour.
"The world media has picked up on this Australian train wreck," Paul Cashmere said. "If Whitney Houston wants to continue on a world tour now, she will have to get her act together very quickly or cancel the tour."
McManus said he had been "swamped" with calls and emails of support from people who'd seen Houston's Australian shows so far.
He said the bad reports had filtered back to Houston, who had her own way of dealing with the negativity.
"I talked to her after the Sydney show. She's a unique individual, but a beautiful individual. I told her I have her back, but she said 'If the good Lord wants me to be attacked and ridiculed, that's the road I have to go down'," he said.
"It's an interesting approach. Here I am, being aggressive in trying to protect her, and she said 'I love you for it, but let it go. I can only give my best. If that's not good enough, so be it. I'm comfortable in my own skin'."
Whitney Houston plays a sold-out show at Rod Laver Arena on Monday and at the Plenary next Saturday.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/enterta...-whitney-houston/story-e6frf96f-1225834914580
She knows what her problem is but doesn't do shit about it.
I'm a much better fanatic/stan/hypeman for her, tho. 
)