April 25, 2010

Hundreds in the audience walked out of Whitney Houston's comeback concert here Sunday as the singer once dubbed "The Voice" missed high notes, cut short her songs and apologized for her shortcomings.


"She don't want to come, my soprano friend," Houston crooned after stumbling through a gravelly version of signature song I Will Always Love You. She blamed the air conditioning in The O2 arena, whose 20,000 seats had sold out for her first London performance since 1999.

"Sometimes the old girl sings, but not tonight," she said of her voice. "I want to do it, but she doesn't want to. ... She's getting a little ... temperamental, even."

Houston sang just one or two verses of hits such as Greatest Love of All.

She paused during songs to catch her breath and panted heavily in between. In many songs, her backup singers carried the melody, Houston chiming in with lines here and there.

The star was onstage for most of the two-hour concert, her first of three at the venue, taking only two breaks to change clothes. Those three outfits — form-fitting black leather pants, a clingy black gown and tight jeans — and the stuffy arena may have contributed to the sweat streaming down her face.

The concert "is rubbish," said Mark Higgins of Hampshire. "She can't even complete a song." He said he'd asked for a refund and was told to contact the concert promoter. His daughter had given the tickets to him and his wife for Christmas. "She's going to be heartbroken, because she saved up all her money for this."

"I remember her 20 years ago," Dave Law, of Plymouth, said of Houston. "She's not a patch on what she was."

Law's wife, Caroline, a longtime fan, disagreed. "There were moments I absolutely loved. You have to take the bad with the good."

Houston's London show was the latest troubled performance in her Nothing But Love world tour, which was supposed to mark a comeback for a singer of outsized talent and outsized troubles. She was a no-show for her first three concerts in Great Britain this month and blamed her absence on a respiratory infection.


http://www.usatoday.com/l...6_ST_N.htm

I feel so bad...for Whitney and the fans. Her management should never have sent her out on this tour--they had to have known that she wasn't up to it!

Whitney always sweats hard

And if you paid money knowing crack killed her voice, then too bad for you. Doofuses! It really isn't late breaking news. Look, people can spend to watch Britney lipsynch, well at least Whitney is trying to use her voice and sing live

It'll get worse before it gets better.

Debra Wilson would put on a more entertaining concert.

Timmy84 said:

I'm still holding out hope for her, but you couldn't get me near one of those live gigs.

Hahaha! Its fun to watch her trying!

midiscover said:

yeah, she should have gone in and re-recorded all her vocals so she could lip-synch without it being completely obvious

...

Poor Whitney. I bet she's making a lot of people that she probably burned along the way with her enormous ego very happy these days. I guess that pipe was telling her that she could smoke all the shit she wanted and still woo the masses with her God-given talent that she assumed would never expire. I used to absolutely hate Whitney Houston, but now my heart goes out to her.

Artists these days NEED to go on tour to make any money at all, but Whitney needs to hang it up and focus what energy she has left on just recording. I loved "Salute" from her latest album. Because it looks like her days of performing on a stage are numbered.

Hope these recent failings don't cause her to relapse (...if she hasn't already).

errant said:

But Mariah has hogged all of the studio time for lip synching projects.

midiscover said:

omg i am in tears laughing!

errant said:

BklynBabe said:

Whats Britney got to do with this?

Timmy84 said:

Yeah, she's determined to make a full recovery and vindicate all that she's been through. But it doesn't seem to be in the cards for her. At this point, I don't see her voice getting better over time. I'm afraid her story is gonna end in tragedy ala Phyllis Hyman... "I'm tired. I'm tired. Those of you that I love know who you are. May God bless you."

PDogz said:

I really liked "Million Dollar Bill"...

PurpleDiamond2009 said:

I know.... that's so cold but funny.

My sister is a huge Whitney fan. I used to tease her before the
album came out. You know when Whitney in the studio she have to
do about 20 takes on a song because she has to get that crack
cough out a few times. On a serious note, i've never been a fan
but i hope she gets her life back on track.

that must be crushing her diva ego

Oh please, if they were that big a fan they wouldn't be walking out. My guess is it's just casual fans expecting to see 90's Whitney who are getting disappointed. Her real fans know what to expect, beside do you really go to a concert to hear an exact replication of the record? I know I don't; it's more about the atmosphere at live shows. Plus, initially the reviews were not all bad, can't help but think the media are looking for a train wreck since the usual suspects (eg Amy Winehouse, Britney etc are behaving themselves, and Michael is no longer with us).

Interesting article about the tour here>
http://www.guardian.co.uk...ia-reviews

Like I said in another thread...touring is a mistake for Whitney.She'll have to find other ways to make money and remain relevent in the music biz.

poetcorner61 said:

I usually have a pretty messed up sense of humor, but I just can't see anything remotely humorous about this. It's all so sad

BklynBabe said:

I agree,it's kinda silly for these people to be complaining and walking out during her shows.We've known about her voice problems for MONTHS now,it's not exactly a mystery.For the past several months,there have been a ton of videos posted on Youtube.

Although I've done my share of clowning on Whitney, I feel bad that people are talking trash about her like this even though she's trying. It's like people don't want her to win

bboy87 said:

waiting patiently for Vainandy's response

thesexofit said:

*insert name of any known lip-synching artist that you like*
Britney just came to mind because of the whole Australia issue.

vainandy said:

I've never been keen on Whitney either. No voice to go with her rhythmless ass, that's like the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake. Done. Awesome.

Yeah, I have enjoyed making fun of Whitney in the past but at this point I have nothing but sympathy for her and annoyance at the people that continue to make fun of a woman that is at least trying. Her management are the ones that need to be roasted on a grill.

Also.....


At what point do you grow up and stop making fun of other people's musical taste? I mean, by all means I am not a Whitney fan but I am not going to get any personal pleasure continuing to knock this woman and her fans down. At this point, ones behavior and comments says more about them then anything else.

I just don't get it.

That's a damn shame.