Whitney - The Greatest Hits
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Soul Train...

The Whitney Houston & Deborah Cox duet, 'Same Script Different Cast' has been nominated in the 15th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in the R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band Or Duo category.

The awards are determined by a panel of radio programmers, artists, and retailers and are
based on chart positions in national trade publications. The syndicated special, hosted this year by Queen Latifah, Mya, and "Soul Train" host Shemar Moore, will tape Feb. 28 at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium for broadcast later in various markets.

[Additional Info: Billboard Online]


Blockbuster...

[From Whitney Houston Platinum Club]

Be sure to visit Blockbuster Entertainment's Web site to cast your vote for Whitney as Favorite Female Artist R&B. Whitney is up against Toni Braxton and Sade. The Blockbuster Entertainment Awards will take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA on April 11th and will air on FOX. Check Blockbuster's Web site for more information and to cast your vote for Whitney by clicking here.


France...

'Could I Have This Kiss Forever' is down to No.38 (from No.30) on it's 18th week on the French Singles Chart.

[Thanks Sebastien]

 

NEWSFILE: 31JANUARY 2001


Stephen Sealy Murder Trial...

[From Yahoo]

Bad boy singer Bobby Brown told a court how he feared for his life when a gunman opened fire on his car. Brown was in his Bentley car with childhood friend Steven Sealey when a gunman shot and killed Sealey. John Tibbs, 29, is on trial accused of murdering Sealey on 23 September, 1995. Brown, husband of singing diva Whitney Houston, told a court in Boston, Massachusetts: "The only thing you can do is duck for cover and hope and pray not to get hit."

In court, Brown said he had been visiting his mother in his old neighbourhood in the Bentley given to him by his wife, when he stopped to see old friends at the Biarritz Lounge in the Roxbury area.

He and Sealey were about to drive off when the shots rang out. Brown claims he's still haunted by the experience and can barely drive because of the memories associated with the shooting. The trial continues.

 

NEWSFILE: 29 JANUARY 2001


Stalker...

[From New York Post]

A psycho who has threatened to kill pop diva Whitney Houston's daughter escaped from a Bronx hospital, sparking an 11-hour manhunt that ended when the woman's sister turned her in, police said yesterday.

Announcing "I'm leaving," 35-year-old Desiree Weeks, a patient at the Bronx Psychiatric Center, turned and walked away from two social workers who had taken her to St. Barnabas Hospital for tests Friday afternoon.

"She just flat walked out," said one flabbergasted law-enforcement source.  "She says, ‘I'm leaving.' and they never tried to stop her. I can't say I blame them. They're not security, but they shouldn't have sent her there in the first place with just social workers."

Weeks, who believes the Grammy-winning Houston is her "reincarnated mother," went to Manhattan and made a phone call to her sister, Dawn Simmons, in The Bronx, police said.

When Weeks showed up at Simmons' apartment at 1:50 a.m. yesterday, the sister called the cops.

Police consider Weeks a threat, and her escape so jolted Houston's head of security that he flew to New York from North Carolina. Houston got an order of protection against Weeks last March.

Weeks also wrote rambling letters to the singer's management company, threatening to kill Houston's 7-year-old daughter, Bobbi, law-enforcement sources said.   In the letters, Weeks claimed to be Bobbi's sister and said she was jealous of her, the sources said.

At the Bronx Psychiatric Center, Weeks only talks about Whitney and Bobbi and wants to be known as "King Houston," the sources said.   The sources said Weeks is psychotic and delusional and has to be force-fed her medicine.

"She's so psychotic, she thinks she's one of the Houstons," one source said.

In 1993, Weeks was arrested for violating an order of protection taken out by another woman.

In 1996, she was arrested after burglarizing the home of an 80-year-old Bronx woman. She was sent to jail and ultimately transferred to Bronx Psychiatric.

Houston, who lives in a guarded compound in Mendham Township, N.J., with husband Bobby Brown, has had two dozen stalkers - including a couple from Germany, two people in mental hospitals and others who are monitored by her security detail.

Law-enforcement sources ripped security at the 360-bed psychiatric hospital, noting that 100 patients had escaped during the past year.

"There is a lack of security, a lack of any knowledge of security," said a law-enforcement source. "Eventually one of these guys is going to get out and kill somebody."

Roger Klingman, a spokesman for the state Office of Mental Hygiene, which oversees the hospital, claimed Weeks bolted from two health-care workers and they chased her, but couldn't catch her.   He said a thorough investigation would be conducted because "public safety is a paramount priority."

Additional Information:

Whitney Houston's head of security assisted the New York Police Department in an eleven hour manhunt that lead to Desiree Weeks' recapture and return to Bronx Psychiatric Center.  The New York Post is doing a story on the poor security measures surrounding mental health patients.  Perhaps they can find answers as to why someone who has made clear death threats towards Whitney and her family and is far from being considered mentally stable is escorted by just two social workers and not armed security.


UK Chart Update...

WHITNEY THE GREATEST HITS
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.35 (from No.25) - 37 weeks on chart - 4x PLATINUM

HEARTBREAK HOTEL
R&B Singles Chart - Down to No.22 (from No.14) - 6 weeks on chart.


BET...

Vote 'If I Told You That' on BET right here, right now.


Charts Around The World...

Austria:
(Top 75 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 58 (54) - 19 weeks on chart

Belgium:
(Top 50 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 42 (32) - 31 weeks on chart

Germany:
(Top 100 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 71 (61) - 35 weeks on chart
(Top 100 Airplay) Heartbreak Hotel - No. 80 (New Entry) - 1 week on chart
(Top 50 R&B Airplay) Fine - No. 27 (42) - 26 weeks on chart
(Top 50 R&B Airplay) Heartbreak Hotel - No. 49 (Re-Entry) - 39 weeks on chart

Ireland:
(Top 30 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 28 (30) - 36 weeks on chart

Netherlands (Holland):
(Mega Top 100) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 77 (69) - 19 weeks on chart
(Mega Top 100) Heartbreak Hotel - No. 57 (55) - 5 weeks on chart

Switzerland:
(Top 100 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 85 (Re-Entry) - 1 week on chart
(Top 100 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 21 (21) - 19 weeks on chart
(Top 100 Singles) Heartbreak Hotel (The Remixes) - No. 87 (94) - 4 weeks on chart

Canada:
(Top 50 R&B Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 45 (43) - 36 weeks on chart
(Top Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 50 (63) - 31 weeks on chart
(Top Singles) If I Told You That - No. 112 (New Entry) - 1 week on chart

[Thanks Gogi]

 

NEWSFILE: 28 JANUARY 2001


Award Nomination One...

Whitney Houston has been nominated in the Best International Female category of this year's German Echo awards.  The awards are Germany's most prestigious awards akin to the Grammys and the Brits and the ceremony will be on 15 March 2001 in Berlin.

[Thanks André]


Award Nomination Two...

The 2001 Blockbuster Award nominations have been announced and Whitney Houston has been nominated for Favorite Female Artist R&B for 'Whitney: The Greatest Hits'.  Also nominated against her are Toni Braxton for 'The Heat' and Sade for 'Lovers Rock'.

[Thanks Lopez/Tony L]


German Chart Update...

MEDIA CONTROL TOP 100 AIRPLAY
Heartbreak Hotel - New Entry - No.80

MEDIA CONTROL TOP 100 ALBUM CHARTS
The Greatest Hits - Down to No.71 (from No.61) - 35 weeks on chart

Germany 2000
MEDIA CONTROL TOP 100 Singles 2000

Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No.43

[Thanks Sabine]

 

In Europe...

EURO TOP 50
Could I Have This Kiss Forever - Up to No.14 (from No.16)

AUSTRIA TOP 75 SINGLE CHARTS
Could I Have This Kiss Forever - Down to No.58 (from No.54) - 19 weeks on chart

SWITZERLAND SINGLE CHARTS
Could I Have This Kiss Forever - Remains at No.21

[Thanks Sabine]

France...

'Could I Have This Kiss Forever' is No.30 on the French Singles Chart (it's 17th week on the chart).

[Thanks Sebastien]

Wyclef...

Come together
Amy Jenkins sneaks backstage at Wyclef Jean's star-studded fundraiser for ghetto kids
[Guardian Tuesday January 23, 2001
]

It's two in the afternoon and I'm standing just inside the stage door of the Carnegie Hall. I've just met Wyclef Jean. He even said hello to me. Wyclef is here to host an impressive line-up gathered to perform in aid of the Wyclef Jean Foundation: Eric Clapton,
Whitney Houston, Mary J Blige, Third World, Charlotte Church, Macy Gray and Destiny's Child.

Wyclef, who was only a moment ago the guy in The Fugees with Lauryn Hill is now a star in his own right - and his foundation provides deprived but musically talented kids with
new instruments, free music lessons and general mentoring.

The kids, here to take part in the show, seem to know Wyclef quite well. A Haitian immigrant made good from the Brooklyn ghetto, he was encouraged by a music teacher called Mrs Price. She's here, too, in blouson leather and fur trim, shepherding Clef's Kids, as they are called, and instructing them sternly to tidy away their empty soda cans. The green room walls are lined with Isaac Stern memorial posters. It is a historic occasion, as Wyclef later points out, for a brother to be bringing hip-hop to Carnegie Hall for the first time. And all in the name of charity.

Coming from another dressing room is a noise that sounds like someone opening a lot of Christmas presents and having a lot of nice surprises. It's Charlotte Church warming her voice up. Charlotte Church and Wyclef Jean - an unlikely combo. She, achingly square with her glossy teenage fringe, pulling "Ohmigod!" faces when Eric Clapton congratulates her on her voice, and he the hip-hop master of cool.

But Wyclef doesn't call himself The Ecleftic for nothing. He can appreciate an Ave Maria along with the best of them and, aged only 14, Church symbolises the young talent the evening is all about encouraging.

At 8pm Clef's Kids are wheeled on to do their bit. The whole thing has the air of an end of term concert and the atmosphere is not helped at all by an auditorium so overlit that, later,
Whitney interrupts her set to tell a record executive she recognises in the second row that she'll call him tomorrow.

Ten minutes later Stevie Wonder himself appears on stage with reggae royals Third World who are giving proceedings a much needed bit of oomph with their 20-year-old hit Now That We've Found Love. And that's just the beginning.

Wyclef wheels them out one after the other, all of them honoured to do their bit for charity. Clapton is capable, Whitney thin as a rake
, Macy Gray stumbles around in a blonde afro wig and has her second number cut. Destiny's Child flaunt their own version of Girl Power as they call on "independent women" in the audience to stand up and give themselves a cheer.

And yet it's Wyclef who emerges as the force to be reckoned with. He sings like an angel. He raps in five languages. He steers his way through the show with the greatest of ease,
flinging himself fearlessly across musical barriers, the daring young man on the flying trapeze. He brings the stiff Carnegie Hall crowd - "the rich white people"- to life.

The show ends bang on 11. There are queues of stretch limos in the street and much scrapping among the minions for aftershow party tickets. Those with not much power lord it over those with none at all, but of course everyone gets in in the end. Gossip comes down the line that Wyclef has made up his falling out with Lauryn Hill. I'm bizarrely thrilled. Then I realise I don't even know the guy. Get me out of here.

 

NEWSFILE: 27 JANUARY 2001


Discover Whitney...

[From Hitmakers]

Some more great praise from DJs listed on Hitmakers.com

WHITNEY HOUSTON & GEORGE MICHAEL "If I Told You That" (ARISTA)

This perfectly cast duet, penned and produced by Rodney Jerkins, is simply stunning, which means it fits right in on Whitney's mega-platinum greatest hits collection.

RANDY WILLIAMS, MD, KRQ, Tucson
WHITNEY HOUSTON & GEORGE MICHAEL If I Told You That (ARISTA) - This is a great record and it's cool that they're working together.

MIKE LOWE, OM/PD, WA1A, Melbourne
WHITNEY HOUSTON & GEORGE MICHAEL If I Told You That (ARISTA) - I love it!

DINO ROBITAILLE, PD, WDKF, Dayton
WHITNEY HOUSTON & GEORGE MICHAEL If I Told You That (ARISTA) - I think this is very interesting!

BRENT CAREY, MD, WIOG, Saginaw
WHITNEY HOUSTON & GEORGE MICHAEL If I Told You That (ARISTA) - What a great duet!

J.T. BOSCH, PD, WRHT, Greenville, NC
WHITNEY HOUSTON & GEORGE MICHAEL If I Told You That (ARISTA) - What a great record!

BILL MICHAELS, PD, WVKS, Toledo
WHITNEY HOUSTON & GEORGE MICHAEL If I Told You That (ARISTA) - This is a hit!

WALLY B., PD, WWXM, Myrtle Beach
WHITNEY HOUSTON & GEORGE MICHAEL If I Told You That (ARISTA) - I like it.

[Thanks Lopez]

 

NEWSFILE: 24 JANUARY 2001


Rolling Stone: Wyclef Benefit...

[From Rolling Stone]

Wyclef Takes Carnegie

Carnegie Hall opened its doors to a hip-hop party January 19th as Wyclef Jean   commandeered the stage, the first hip-hop act ever to headline the famed recital hall.

The concert, a benefit for the Wyclef Jean Foundation, which provides support to young musicians, was crammed with special guests. Some, like Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, Stephen Marley and Charlotte Church, were listed on the playbill. Others, like Stevie Wonder, Marc Anthony, the Product G&B and Macy Gray, showed up unannounced.

"Yo. Arrival at Carnegie Hall," announced Jean in his trademark Haitian-American accent. "I asked this bum how do you get to Carnegie Hall . . . and he said practice, practice, practice."

The concert kicked off with top-notch performances by Clef's Kids, up-and-coming talents who've received aid from the Foundation. They were soon joined by the man himself, decked out in top hat, white tux and tails, and intent on spending the night demonstrating the meaning of the word "Ecleftic".

The hall quickly took on the feel of "Showtime at the Apollo," as guest after guest joined Clef on stage, each to a standing ovation. First out were reggae stalwarts Third World, who got bodies moving with "Now That We Found Love (What Are We Gonna Do?)." "I feel like I wanna hear some harp right about now," said Jean, who left the stage mid-song and returned with Stevie Wonder, harmonica in hand.

During Clef's "Gone 'Til November," the pair tried their hand at a little freestyling. "I'll drive the car while you'll be gone 'til November," sang Wonder. Clef shot back with, "Let me tell you a secret. Stevie Wonder ain't really blind."

Eric Clapton offered up a reggae-flavored version of "Wonderful Tonight." Wearing a suit and seemingly embarrassed by the crowd's attention, Clapton concentrated on playing leads that were sweet and subtle. He and Jean also traded guitar lines and sang on "My Song," a number Jean had whipped up for the occasion. "This is our first time playing this song," Jean told the crowd.

As the evening's MC, Jean was loose and funny, teasing the "rich people" who forked over $150 for a seat, including Naomi Campbell, Carly Simon and Clive Davis. "Let me tell you, they don't let black men in here that much," he quipped.

Aided and abetted by fellow Fugee Pras and John Forte, Jean performed a white-hot version of "Staying Alive," from his first solo album, The Carnival. In full hip-hop swing, they strutted their way across the stage of Carnegie Hall, inviting the crowd to throw their hands in the air.

Mary J. Blige, in sequined pink overcoat and red and blonde hair, kept emotions high as she joined Jean to tear through "911," from The Ecleftic.

But true Diva-hood arrived in the form of Whitney Houston: "It's an honor to be performing once again at Carnegie Hall. My God!" Houston radiated star power as she stopped mid-song to address the crowd. "Hi, how are you?" she said to no one in particular. "Clive Davis! I miss you." Houston was animated and in tremendous voice as she sang her Wyclef-penned smash hit "Your Love Is My Love."


But not everything ran smoothly. Jean's sister Melky, who sang a down and dirty a cappella "Amazing Grace," ran onto the stage without shoes. "You called me out too
early," she told her brother. Jean himself admitted he'd hurt his hand break dancing during a segment with the Rock Steady Dancers: "When I did that flip I busted my finger. I want to cry, but this is on TV so I got to hold on."

Surprise guest Macy Gray exuded funkiness, taking the stage in a hip Seventies dress and white afro-wig to rasp a cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here."

Less funky were girl-group of the moment, Destiny's Child. They danced their way through an award-show-friendly choreographed set of "Say My Name" and "Independent Women," supported by a backing tape and three male dancers. Though the girls worked it for the crowd, their lack of live chops seemed out of step with the rest of the performers.

For the finale, Jean pulled out all the stops, bringing Marc Anthony out to lend his pipes to "Juantanamera." As a troupe of West African dancers and percussionists made their way through the audience, the two were joined by most of the night's performers, including Gray, Blige, Wonder and Destiny's Child. What had begun as a high school recital had ended in a triumphant all-star extravaganza worthy of Madison Square Garden.

"Wyclef the multitalented, average heads can't handle it," Jean had boasted back in his days as a Fugee. At Carnegie Hall, Wyclef got the chance he needed to prove his word.

EVAN SCHLANSKY
(January 22, 2001)

[Thanks André]


More On Wyclef Benefit Show...

[From New York Newsday]

For Wyclef Jean, Music Is His Message
Rap artist hosts a multicultural benefit for kids at Carnegie

by Glenn Gamboa
Staff Writer


RAPPER WYCLEF JEAN'S wildly ambitious benefit ended with the stage filled with many of today's music elite singing "Guantanemera," the aisles of Carnegie Hall overflowed with a Brazilian drum corps and African dance troupes and a packed audience cheering for more.

"We're going to try to mix every culture in here tonight," said Jean, who served as the evening's host and featured performer. "I'm going to try to show what music is really all about. It's universal, really." Jean certainly tried his best. Parts of the nearly three-hour concert, the first- ever rapper-headlined show at Carnegie Hall, were brilliant, as he stretched hip- hop's boundaries, infusing Bach's "Double Concerto" with a big backbeat and scratching through a hip-hop version of "Summertime" with Charlotte Church. However, others missed the mark, especially since stars such as Marc Anthony and Stevie Wonder didn't even get to perform an entire song.

Whitney Houston's appearance was a highlight, as she moved easily from the gospel standard "I Go to the Rock" to the Jean-penned "My Love Is Your Love." Dressed in a  black-beaded pantsuit, Houston was in fine voice and seemed to be in good spirits as she musically sparred with Jean and the singing group Sunday, even though she did not return for the finale.


Eric Clapton's reggae version of "Wonderful Tonight" was excellent, though "My Song," a new duet with Clapton that Jean wrote for the evening, needed some work. Jean and Mary J. Blige brought down the house with a strong version of their current hit, "911." Though Destiny's Child got the crowd moving with the mega-hits "Say My Name" and "Independent Women," the trio's choice to perform to backing tapes instead of using a live band seemed like a missed opportunity. Because the group flew in from performing at a pre-inaugural concert for President George W. Bush, it played late in the show, which slowed the momentum building after Jean figured out how to best use the performances from the children in his foundation.

Jean had just started to hit his stride. Great collaborations were rolling out at that point, with a great version of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" with Macy Gray and an impressive, orchestral version of "Gone 'til November" that included an amusing freestyle rap by Wonder, who also livened up Third World's version of "Now That We've Found Love." Jean did not let the audience, which included J Records president Clive Davis and supermodel Naomi Campbell, forget about the uniqueness of the evening, regularly referring to how few blacks make it to Carnegie Hall. He also made sure politics was on people's minds.

"Count the votes," said Wonder, which Jean agreed with, adding later, amid an ongoing rant against Carnegie Hall's union restrictions, that "Y'all need to leave Jesse Jackson alone." Jean's rebellion was far more than the jokes. It was his breakdancing with the Rock Steady Crew on the Carnegie Hall stage. It was getting the crowd to "raise the roof" and wave their hands in the air.

The evening's message was simple: Music can change the world. It helped Jean rise from a Haitian refugee living in Brooklyn to a growing musical force - "I am the new Clive Davis," he declared at one point-and a social force through his foundation.

Future benefits will likely run better, making it easier for him to reach his goal of using music to change the lives of underprivileged kids. That belief is a wonderful star of any evening.

[Thanks Matt]

 

NEWSFILE: 23 JANUARY 2001


Finally...

 

[From New York Magazine] 'L.A.' REID STOPS BEING POLITE AND STARTS TRASHING CLIVE DAVIS

Since assuming the top spot at Arista last year, Antonio "L.A." Reid has displayed nothin' but love for his biz-legend predecessor Clive Davis. But in a profile by Rob Tannenbaum in next week's issue of New York magazine, Reid stops being polite and starts getting real nasty. Amid some rote mogul-profile air-kissing (Toni Braxton reveals that Reid has "a wonderful rapport with artists"; Sean "Puffy" Combs muses that L.A. "really loves music"), Reid delivers a string of scathing anecdotes, portraying the label he inherited as a mismanaged mess. Before the first graf is over, he's slammed the marketing choices behind Whitney Houston's Greatest Hits collection, an album that came out seven weeks before he took over.

"I realized that this thing was headed nowhere, and we were going to spend a fucking fortune," he says. Reid alleges that Davis's camp planted stories predicting Arista's talent would flee when he took over, and says he had to fire 30 Arista employees for suspected disloyalty. Even the history of the early partnership between Davis and Reid, when L.A. was head of LaFace Records, is rewritten. Reid accuses Davis of taking too much credit for his label's success and for bankrupting popular artists TLC and Toni Braxton. As a final insult, Reid even disses the boy band O-Town, Davis's first high-profile signing since starting J Records: "I went to Orlando four months ago to see this band Clive signed. I thought it was bullshit then, I think it's bullshit now. I wouldn't have signed it." For the most part, Davis turns his cheek, saying he's rooting for Reid and will help him out.

Read The Complete, Compelling Interview Right Here

[Thanks Chris B.]


Urban Adds...

Radio & Records confirms 'If I Told You That' is going for adds at urban radio formats this week.

[Thanks Chris B.]


Star Spangled Banner: A Decade Later...


January 22, 2001
SPORTS OF THE TIMES
When Two Super Voices Inspired Giants
By DAVE ANDERSON

New York Times


OF the current Giants, only Howard Cross, their 33-year- old tight end, has a Super Bowl XXV ring. But when he was asked what he remembered about that 20-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Tampa, he shook his head. "Not much," he said. "I'm not a nostalgic person."

He was reminded that he caught 4 passes for 39 yards and three important first
downs. "I really don't remember any of that," he insisted.

But as he awaited Super Bowl XXXV against the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday in Tampa, did he remember Whitney Houston singing the national anthem there 10 years ago?

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I remember that."

So does everybody else who heard her sing the national anthem that Sunday the way nobody else ever has. Actually, as her voice boomed through the loudspeakers, she wasn't singing it so much as she was belting it out as if she were on a concert stage or in a recording studio.  "She had a great voice," Cross said.

Super Bowl XXV, you may remember, occurred shortly after the Gulf War began. United States jets were bombing Iraq. Scud missiles were buzzing over the desert at American troops. With security advisers wondering if terrorists would target the Super Bowl, ticket-holders had to pass through metal detectors and SWAT teams roamed the roof.

So when Whitney Houston belted out the national anthem with the nation at war, she reminded everybody that there was a much more important world out there beyond the Super Bowl, a much more important world beyond even the Giants' hold- your-breath triumph when Bills kicker Scott Norwood's 47-yard field goal try sailed wide right.

As much as Giants followers remember how Jeff Hostetler was the first backup quarterback to win a Super Bowl, how Matt Bahr's 21-yard field goal made the difference, how Ottis Anderson rushed for 102 yards as the Giants controlled the ball for more than 40 minutes, they also remember Whitney Houston's national anthem.

If her rendition inspired the Giants, maybe it also inspired the Bills as both teams combined to produce one of the most competitive games in Super Bowl history.

Four years earlier, when the Giants won Super Bowl XXI for their first National Football League championship since 1956, another familiar voice inspired them.

At halftime, the Giants were trailing, 10-9, before 101,063 fans in the Rose Bowl. As the Denver Broncos hurried to their locker room that golden afternoon in Pasadena, Calif., they were serenaded on the loudspeakers by John Denver's recording of "Rocky Mountain High."

But as the Giants emerged for the second half, Frank Sinatra's recording of "New York, New York" was booming over the loudspeakers. Hearing it, Phil McConkey, the Giants' wide receiver and punt returner, was waving a big white towel as he sprinted toward the Giants' bench.

"I flew down the sideline, whirling my arms, waving my towel," McConkey has often said. "Between me and Sinatra, we got the crowd roaring."

And when all those Giants followers heard Sinatra's voice blaring, "If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere," they knew the Giants had made it in New York   decades earlier, but the Giants had yet to win a Super Bowl so now the Giants had to make it in the Super Bowl.  In the second half, they did.

Phil Simms, who completed 22 of 25 passes for 268 yards, found tight end Mark Bavaro for a quick 13-yard touchdown and a 16-10 lead — the first of 24 unanswered points that generated a 39-20 triumph.

Simms had thrown a 6-yard dart to tight end Zeke Mowatt for a touchdown in the first quarter and he flipped a 5-yard touchdown in the final quarter to McConkey, the towel- waver at halftime.

"But that halftime scene wouldn't have been the same," McConkey has said, "without
Sinatra singing, `New York, New York.' "

For all the winning football that the Giants played for Coach Bill Parcells in their two previous Super Bowl games, the uncommon denominator is an unforgettable voice booming over the loudspeakers — Frank Sinatra just before the second-half kickoff in Pasadena and Whitney Houston with the national anthem in Tampa.

And if you're looking for a Giants omen at Sunday's game, Ray Charles will be singing
"America the Beautiful." As only he can.

[Thanks Nat]


The Best Of The Best...

The new issue of TV Guide (USA) lists the Top 5 performances of the American National Anthem.  Whitney Houston's 1991 performance is listed at the very top of the list:

1. Whitney Houston Super Bowl XXV (1991), New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills - The
gospelicious diva delivers an uplifting performance that gives voice to Americans'
patriotism during the Gulf War. So beloved, it closes the CD "Whitney: The Greatest
Hits".


New York Times...


Wyclef Jean: A Hip-Hop Master Invokes Cultural Deities
By ANN POWERS


Wyclef Jean obviously exerted himself planning the benefit concert he staged for his charity, the Wyclef Jean Foundation, Friday at Carnegie Hall.

This hip-hop star cajoled an impressive number of famous friends to pop by and taught more than a dozen talented youths from his music education program, Clef's Kids, how to grace the hall's elegant stage. Mr. Jean also corralled a marching band and several costumed Carnival dancers for the show's climax, just to make it really climactic. Finally, he rearranged a Bach piece to include hip-hop beats and jazz blue notes, and conducted several of Clef's Kids in its performance.

Yet all Mr. Jean needed to bring to this event was his personality, an audacious, effusive, sometimes aggravating force of nature, and the fancy crowd would have been highly entertained. Surrounded by the spectacle he had willed into being, he made what promised to be another bloodless all- star event a great time.

Papa Legba, the trickster-patriarch of voodoo, had possessed the Haitian-born Mr. Jean for the night. He mentioned another deity of the cultural crossroads. "I'm the new Sammy Davis Jr.," he said during one of his many strolls into the audience. "I'm liked by everyone."

Mr. Jean has actually received mixed responses within hip-hop; like Davis, he's sometimes   considered too eager to assimilate into the pop mainstream. Yet as host of the first hip-hop-oriented concert in Carnegie Hall, he realized the full value of his crossover art.

Ebullience made the night's fusion experiments work. Enlisting the teenage soprano Charlotte Church to sing Gershwin's "Summertime" may not have been the best idea (she did better on "Ave Maria" but the very audacity charmed. Turning "Wish You Were Here," by Pink Floyd, into a Caribbean-tinged jam session (with languid vocals by Macy Gray) absolutely worked, as did persuading Whitney Houston to go deeper into the reggae
groove Mr. Jean wrote into her hit "My Love is Your Love."

The room jumped with energy whenever Mr. Jean was onstage. This was fortunate, because he hardly ever left, except to wander forth to address an esteemed audience member. He frequently ribbed the music mogul Clive Davis, gawked at the supermodel Naomi Campbell and consulted with his manager, David Sonenberg. 

Nor did Mr. Jean ignore his less famous fans. He taught Jamaican patois to a white fan and joked with several blacks about how rare it was to see their race represented in Carnegie Hall.

That last point, which Mr. Jean frequently made, is a little unfair. Perhaps he hasn't heard of Carnegie's resident jazz band. Yet few concerts here have been so aggressive about displaying African-diaspora pride. The Caribbean was represented by Stephen Marley, son of Bob Marley, and the veteran reggae band Third World, but the region's style touched nearly everything.

Mr. Jean, who was born in Haiti and grew up in Brooklyn, is as interested in hip-hop's roots as in hip-hop itself. His songs reach back to what hip-hop has adapted as it reaches out to sources that it rarely incorporates, like Bach. Sometimes the mix gets messy, even silly, but like the man who makes it, it bristles with ideas.

Most of Mr. Jean's guests seemed stimulated by his frenetic presence. Ms. Houston was inspired, if a bit frantic, during her gospel-flavored star turn. Eric Clapton transformed his dusty hit, "Wonderful Tonight," into a reggae idyll. Stevie Wonder, a surprise guest, was his usual radiant self.

Two artists deserved bigger spotlights. Marc Anthony strolled onstage as Mr. Jean and Claudette Ortiz were breezing through "Guantanamera" and devastated everyone with a single vocal swoop. Mary J. Blige did the same in a duet with Mr. Jean on his song "911."

Destiny's Child, this year's hottest soul vocal group, got two songs, but hardly earned its time. Only the trio's gifted leader, Beyoncé Knowles, seemed to be singing as backing tracks played and tired dance routines unfurled.

This slightly dull moment passed, though, within an evening that mostly just got better. The junior cast members from Clef's Kids couldn't really stand out amid all the star power, but their mere presence intensified the festive mood. Mr. Jean's sister, Melky Jean, proved his finest protégée with a blues-sauced, stomping version of "Amazing Grace."

Ms. Jean dedicated that song to her father, a Newark minister, whom her brother mentioned throughout the evening. "My father never came to see me before," Mr. Jean said.

As delighted as he clearly was to have arrived in this cultural temple, this pop millionaire genuinely seemed most concerned that one man, his father, have a good time. This expression of love was his most endearing move of all.

[Thanks Nat]


USA Today...

Wyclef Gives Jokes A Pause For The Cause

By Elysa Gardner and Steve Jones, USA TODAY


NEW YORK — Imagine that your crazy, obnoxious uncle — the one who slaps you on the back after downing a few beers, then starts divulging details about your aunt that you would really rather not know — landed a gig as master of ceremonies at a star-studded charity event.

That was the impression given by hip-hop musician, producer, philanthropist and wannabe comedian Wyclef Jean on Friday night at Carnegie Hall, at a concert benefiting the Wyclef Jean Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at providing children around the world with musical instruments, education and therapy.

The three-hour show, attended by such celebrities as Carly Simon and Naomi Campbell, featured performances by Eric Clapton,
Whitney Houston, Macy Gray, Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, Charlotte Church, Third World and surprise guest Stevie Wonder. There were also winning appearances by "Clef's Kids," prodigiously gifted local music students.

Jean was clearly moved by the assortment of established and fledgling talent that surrounded him. Introducing the students, who played standards representing and often blending classical music, jazz, rock, hip-hop, reggae and salsa, Jean seemed downright giddy. Leading a funky rendition of Take the A Train, he crowed loudly: "Check out this piano player — he's only 14! Check out this bass player — only 16!"

But Uncle Jean's showmanship wasn't always endearing. His lame, repetitive wisecracks about race, class and union restraints on stage time could seem like cheap shots — especially when he used them in an effort to keep audience members appeased during apparent technical glitches and other presumably unforeseen pauses. "I don't know the next time they'll let a black man in here," Jean joked during one lull, as if a white man would have had an easier time wowing the multiracial crowd with such insipid patter.

Fortunately, Jean's guests and co-stars exhibited more grace, and more charisma.
Houston gave the most spirited, accomplished performance, segueing from a rousing version of the gospel song I Go to the Rock — in which she was backed by her protégées, the promising girl group Sunday — to the ebullient My Love Is Your Love.


In a classic showbiz moment, Houston greeted audience member Clive Davis, the deposed founder of her record company, and plugged his new label, J Records. "I miss you!" the diva cooed.

Pubescent soprano Charlotte Church delivered Ave Maria and the Gershwin classic
Summertime clad in a pair of decidedly grown-up outfits, including a slinky sequined number with painted-on slacks. Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari wore funkier garb for an instrumental hip-hop medley, and Clapton played the sedate, dapper Englishman while performing Wonderful Tonight and dueting on Jean's new My Song.

A few luminaries seemed strangely underused. Blige was in glorious voice but disappeared after singing one duet, 911, with Jean. Wonder essentially made a couple of cameos, most memorably scatting and playing harmonica during reggae band Third World's vibrant Now That We Found Love.

Omnipresent girl group Destiny's Child stuck around longer, offering spunky, elaborately choreographed versions of their hits Say My Name and Independent Women Part I -- not to mention the right combination of glittery garb and bare skin needed to reinvigorate the audience.

Jean, who himself sported an array of Giorgio Armani costumes that would have made Diana Ross jealous, seized on the crowd's renewed energy in the Latin-flavored finale. As Marc Anthony and an army of drummers and dancers joined the other performers, Jean frantically tried to whip the crowd into a frenzy, clearly intent that his party be remembered as a smashing success.

Given the worthiness of his cause, and the richness of talent represented by his guests, I would say he pulled it off. But I'm glad he won't be joining my family for Thanksgiving dinner any time soon.

[Thanks Lopez]

NEWSFILE: 22 JANUARY 2001


UK Chart Update...

WHITNEY THE GREATEST HITS
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.25 (from No.20) - 36 weeks on chart - 4x PLATINUM

HEARTBREAK HOTEL
Top 75 Singles Chart - Down to No.65 (from No.53) - 5 weeks on chart;
R&B Singles Chart - Down to No.14 (from No.11) - 5 weeks on chart.


Arista Army...

Arista Army

If there is a singular passion that the Whitney Houston community on the internet should have in 2001 outside of the music and the artistry itself, then it has to be to make the world stand up and take notice of The Voice.

The opportunity to profile Whitney on Rolling Stone was highlighted here yesterday (see below) and now I would encourage participation in the Arista Army.  The concept is in it's early stages but basically, Arista is building a database of Whitney Houston fans (amongst others) and this will assist them in profiling Whitney when she has new releases.

Our active involvement in the Arista Army - in vast numbers - is an opportunity to stay on top of Arista's marketing of Whitney's releases.  The way the Arista Army concept will work in practice is not completely clear but our active involvement will help to evolve the concept.


Charts Around The World...

Austria:
(Top 75 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 54 (52) - 18 weeks on chart

Belgium:
(Top 50 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 32 (30) - 30 weeks on chart

Denmark:
(Top 40 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 37 (Re-Entry) - 22 weeks on chart

Germany:
(Top 100 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 61 (56) - 34 weeks on chart
(Top 100 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 64 (51) - 18 weeks on chart
(Top 50 R&B Airplay) Fine - No. 42 (40) - 25 weeks on chart

Ireland:
(Top 30 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 30 (25) - 35 weeks on chart

Netherlands (Holland):
(Mega Top 100) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 69 (55) - 18 weeks on chart
(Mega Top 100) Heartbreak Hotel - No. 55 (45) - 4 weeks on chart

Sweden:
(Top 60 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 42 (48) - 33 weeks on chart

Switzerland:
(Top 100 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 21 (17) - 18 weeks on chart
(Top 100 Singles) Heartbreak Hotel (The Remixes) - No. 94 (95) - 3 weeks on chart

Canada:
(Top 50 R&B Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 43 (46) - 35 weeks on chart

[Thanks Gogi]

 

Classic Whitney Video Clarification...

The scans above are the cover and back of the Classic Whitney concert video which is available on sale in the Ukraine.   The video is being sold by Recording Media Mass Music Limited and uses artwork taken from a previous incarnation of this website.  The back cover picture even has 'Presented By Manish' printed. 

To clarify, I have no involvement in the production and distribution of this video - Manish.

[Thanks Igor]

 

NEWSFILE: 21 JANUARY 2001


Next Up...

The next UK single from 'Whitney: The Greatest Hits' will be 'Fine'.  The commercial release date is 5 March 2001.


Radio Buzz...

[From Hitmakers]

If I Told You That, the next US single from 'Whitney: The Greatest Hits' received three adds in the past week.  The song does not have an impact date as yet (the date that Arista Records would like the song to hit radio station's playlists).

The comments from the stations that added the song:

ERIC BROWN, PD, KLRS, Chico

WHITNEY HOUSTON w/George Michael If I Told You That (ARISTA) - Wow! I dig this!

JOHN O'DEA, PD, WNNK, Harrisburg

WHITNEY HOUSTON w/George Michael If I Told You That (ARISTA) - I like this a lot!

J.T. BOSCH, PD, WRHT, Greenville, NC

WHITNEY HOUSTON w/George Michael If I Told You That (ARISTA) - My Arista rep just played this for me and I was blown away. You must listen to this as soon as you get it.

[Thanks Jeffrey B.]

Rolling Stone...

It's not perfect but things are certainly getting better on the Rolling Stone Website in their Whitney Houston section.  A continued involvement in the site by Whitney's fans will help Rolling Stone invest a bit more time in Whitney.

There's a section to vote for your favourite Whitney Houston album and only 39 votes have been cast so far.  Take a moment so register your vote (even if the selection doesn't allow for any of her Soundtrack projects to be voted).

Rolling Stone are also endeavouring to compile a database of every Whitney Houston gig ever performed, reviews and a detailed set list of every tour.  It's a mammoth task but with all our contributions, we can help create a formidable database with Rolling Stone.  I've already submitted two old reviews I wrote in 1998 of shows I attended and would urge Whitney fans to register (takes a second) and submit their reviews too.

Organisations like Rolling Stone can be ignorant to the impact of The Voice in popular culture so opportunities like this need to be exploited.

Finally, you may want to give 'Whitney: The Greatest Hits' a five star rating on the Rolling Stone Website by clicking here.


Wyclef Benefit...

[Associated Press Report]

Wyclef Jean Jams at Carnegie Hall

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - It's not surprising that Carnegie Hall gave Wyclef Jean the distinction of being the first hip-hop artist to play the revered concert hall.

As was clear on Friday night, when Jean played host and entertainer during an all-star benefit for his self-titled foundation, there is perhaps no other artist in hip-hop - or most other music genres - as multifaceted and as talented as the engaging Jean.

Jean proved that in his Carnegie debut, as he mixed Bach with hip-hop, jazz with rap, and collaborated with the likes of Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston for a captivating, cross-cultural concert.

``See, I'm the new Sammy Davis Jr.,'' Jean joked during the event, which also included performances by Destiny's Child, Charlotte Church, Macy Gray, Marc Anthony, Steve Marley and reggae band Third World. ``I'm accepted by everyone.''

Jean, a member of the rap group the Fugees and a successful solo artist, songwriter and producer, showed his dexterity in intermingling various musical styles from the show's start, as he sang a jazz medley with his ``Clef's Kids,'' musical teens who receive the benefit of education and training through his Wyclef Jean Foundation.

Then he introduced Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari, who brought the crowd to its feet when, backed up by a DJ, she played rap hits with her electric instrument - putting a classic tilt on the Notorious B.I.G.'s ``One More Chance'' and Jean's ``It Doesn't Matter.''

The moment was one of many times when the crowd stood in applause. A surprise appearance by Wonder during Jean's performance with Third World, with Wonder playing his harmonica and singing ``Now That We Found Love,'' caused an ovation, as did Jean's emotional, soulful duet with Mary J. Blige on their current hit, ''911.''

The crowd also went wild for Clapton, who sang his ``Wonderful Tonight,'' with a reggae tilt (he later came back to debut a new Jean composition, ``My Song,'') and for Whitney Houston.

Houston, who was backed by her new girl group Sunday and brother Gary Houston, sang the gospel song, ``I Go To the Rock,'' with a fervor that replicated the church spirit.

Houston's voice sounded a bit strained when she sang with Jean on the hit he produced for her, ``Your Love is My Love,'' but with a voice like Houston's, even a slight strain is hard to detract from her performance.

Church was in her usual classic mode as she sang ``Ave Maria,'' but later came out and sang a soulful version of the ``Porgy and Bess,'' standard ``Summertime,'' with Jean providing the guitar background.

It was a rarity when Jean wasn't on the stage - one of the few times he wasn't was during Destiny Child's performance, as the girl group sensation ran through their Grammy-nominated ``Say My Name,'' and the No. 1 hit ``Independent Women Pt. 1,'' backed by canned tracks, instead of a band. Though at times they appeared to be lip-synching, lead singer Beyonce Knowles' forceful vocals came through loud and clear, as she tried to engage the already-standing crowd into the group's performance.

Though the crowd was enthusiastic for Destiny's Child, it's understandable that they were not bowled over, after the dazzling performances they had previously witnessed. One of the night's best moments came with Jean donned black tails and the conductor's role to lead his ``Clef's Kids,'' through Bach's two-violin concerto (perhaps one of the night's only disappointments, none of the performing teens were ever formally introduced by name).

Jean, of course, used his own arrangements, adding a drum beat, saxophone and other instruments to give it a funky edge, breathing new life into the old classic.

But Jean didn't stop there. As the night wound down with the singing of ``Guantanamera,'' featuring a surprise appearance by Anthony, drummers filled both aisles of Carnegie - on the one side Brazilian drummers, and on the other, drummers from Africa and Haiti, with dancers swaying to the beat. Jean led the fierce drumming to a crescendo as he and the audience wildly jumped up and down to the beats.

Surely Carnegie has never seen a night quite like this.


The Voice Does It Again...

[New York Post Article]

HIP-HOP, HOORAY!!  WYCLEF AND HIS FRIENDS WOW THEM AT CARNEGIE
Saturday,January 20,2001

By DAN AQUILANTE

ROLL over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news.

The hip-hop barrier was broken last night at the venerable Carnegie Hall when Wyclef Jean became the first artist of the genre to headline music's most sacred shrine.

If it relieves the stuffed shirts, the concert which benefited Jean's foundation (dedicated to music education for kids) wasn't a typical mugs 'n' thugs hip-hop gathering, but then, Jean isn't the typical hip-hop artist. His outspoken commitment to kids was the magnet that attracted the likes of Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Charlotte Church and other musical celebrities to play what will be remembered as one of the most eclectic, memorable concerts of 2001.

If there is one complaint that could be made about this terrific show, it was that 2 1/2 hours was just too little time to squeeze in all the goodness that was on tap.

While Jean's former bandmates from the Fugees were conspicuously absent from this musical variety program - ending rumors that the show was going to reunite the Grammy-grabbing trio - Jean got more than a little help from his other friends.

For many in the audience, the Clapton/Jean guitar duel was the sun that this star-studded concert orbited around. Seeing rock's most famous ax man and hip-hop's most accomplished guitarist strumming together in the final breaths of the show neatly delivered the night's very simple, yet very big message: Music unites people and crosses cultures. Heavy stuff made light by deeds, not words.

Clapton donned his standard black-on-black suit, but his all-smiles attitude betrayed the somber attire. He and Jean projected an old-friends relationship even though this was the very first time the two had ever played together. Their song "Is This Romance?" was good, although a keen eye and ear picked up a nervous hesitance in Jean's fret work.

It may have been due to working out with one of the legends of his youth and it could have been because he injured a finger when he was break dancing with the B-boys of the Rock Steady crew who made an early-show appearance.

The highs outnumbered the lows at this show that aimed at diversity. While the many children from Wyclef's foundation who performed during the event were very accomplished, the unspoken desire was for more minutes for the host of heavy hitters such as Blige, Houston and Church. Not to mention the night's secret musical weapon, Stevie Wonder, who redefined the overused kudos - awesome.

Wonder, in duet with Jean for the reggae beat "Gone 'til November", was terrific on harmonica and surprisingly good in a freestyle rap/scat with the show's host.

Of the women singers, Houston was in top form for both her gospel and a pop numbers; Blige also was very good performing "911" with Jean. That song, one of the most popular off of Jean's latest disc "The Ecleftic", easily unglued the fans from their seats.

But of all the big names, it was little 14-year-old Charlotte Church who - in her duet with Jean on "Summertime" from George and Ira Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" - earned the night crown as queen of the divas. Church's pure, soaring soprano against Jean's classical guitar work would have raised goose bumps on a dead man.

Music events just don't get much better than this one. Jean's biggest problem now is how he'll top this show at next year's fund-raiser.

[Thanks Arthur M.]

 

NEWSFILE: 20 JANUARY 2001


Tonight...

[From Whitney Houston Platinum Club]

Whitney Prepares For Wyclef Jean Benefit!

Whitney is looking forward to tonight's benefit concert being held in association with The Wyclef Jean Foundation that will take place at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

The concert was organized by Wyclef Jean to help further his foundation's mission of advancing and promoting music education to children all over the world. This unique concert event will celebrate the last century of American music with performances by Whitney, Wyclef, Mary J. Blige, Macy Gray, Destiny's Child and Eric Clapton.

Whitney will perform "My Love Is Your Love," written for Whitney by Wyclef and Jerry Wonder Duplessis, and she will also perform, "I Go To The Rock" from The Preacher's Wife soundtrack. The event is being taped for a possible television special to air documenting the evening's festivities. Stay tuned to the Platinum Club for any news on a possible television broadcast of this amazing concert event!


NEWSFILE: 19 JANUARY 2001


106 & Park...

Click Here and vote for George Michael & Whitney Houston's 'If I Told You That' on BET's 106 & Park Website.  This will help attain significant profile for the song.

No excuses - if you're here, it won't take you a minute!


France...

'Could I Have This Kiss Forever' is No.26 on the French Singles Chart (it's 16th week on the chart).

'The Greatest Hits' is No.18 on it's 35th charting week.

[Thanks Sebastien]

NEWSFILE: 17 JANUARY 2001


UK Top Ten Best Sellers...

Whitney Houston features as one of the ten best selling albums artists of 200 in the UK.  'Whitney: The Greatest Hits' scanned around 1.1m copies (as reported at the beginning of the month) in 2000.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Beatles
Robbie Williams
Eminem
Westlife
Madonna
Moby
Texas
The Corrs
Craig David
Whitney Houston
2.33 m
1.93 m
1.91 m
1.84 m
1.46 m
1.43 m
1.34 m
1.33 m
1.33 m
1.17 m

[Thanks Chris]

US Promo...

Click the images above to see larger scale images of the US promo of 'If I Told You That'.  The two track promo is being sent to US mainstream/pop radio stations as well as R&B stations featuring the original Greatest Hits mix of the song and a ten second Call Out Research Hook (a short sample of the song that is used to play back to people to test the song).

US based fans should call their local radio station to request the song.  The best time to call is actually straight after the song has played as radio stations love feedback on the songs they play and this is more effective than emailing them (although we're still going to go Request Mad soon).

[Scans Thanks To Andrew S.]

NEWSFILE: 16 JANUARY 2001


No Brits...

Whitney Houston was not nominated in the Best International Female category of the 2001 Brits despite pulling in the biggest selling album by a female artist in 2000.


Holland...

'Heartbreak Hotel' debuts at No.37 on the Dutch Top 40 this week.

[Thanks Deborah]


NEWSFILE: 15 JANUARY 2001


UK Chart Update...

WHITNEY THE GREATEST HITS
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.20 (from No.14) - 35 weeks on chart - 4x PLATINUM

HEARTBREAK HOTEL
Top 75 Singles Chart - Down to No.53 (from No.36) - 4 weeks on chart;
R&B Singles Chart - Down to No.11 (from No.9) - 4 weeks on chart.


Brits...

The 2001 Brit Awards Nominations will be announced tomorrow.  Whitney Houston qualifies in the Best International Female category and will be looking for her sixth nomination.   Whitney collected a Brit award for Best Soundtrack in 1993 for 'The Bodyguard'.


Singles...

With the help of Jen-yuan, the Classic Whitney Singles Covers Gallery has been further enhanced with another twenty new covers from around the world.  Some great new (old) photographs of Whitney feature in this gallery than features no less than one hundred different covers.

[Thanks Jen-yuan]


Icon...

Looking for an icon to form part of your signature on the Classic Whitney Bulletin Board?  Dzemil has gone to great lengths to compile a vast array of images that can be used and some instructions as to how to do it - Just Follow The Link!

For those who haven't become part of this amazing community of Whitney Houston fans discussing anything and everything from Whitney to politics, race to opinions on what's happening in music today, Check It Out.  The only requirement is that you're a Whitney Houston fan.

[Thanks Dzemil]


Charts Around The World...

Austria:
(Top 75 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 52 (36) - 17 weeks on chart

Belgium:
(Top 50 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 30 (34) - 29 weeks on chart

Germany:
(Top 100 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 56 (40) - 33 weeks on chart
(Top 100 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 51 (40) - 17 weeks on chart
(Top 50 R&B Airplay) Fine - No. 40 (18) - 24 weeks on chart

Ireland:
(Top 30 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 25 (24) - 34 weeks on chart

Netherlands (Holland):
(Mega Top 100) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 55 (50) - 17 weeks on chart
(Mega Top 100) Heartbreak Hotel - No. 45 (41) - 3 weeks on chart
(Top 10 Airplay) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 9 (5) - 20 weeks on chart

Switzerland:
(Top 100 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 82 (79) - 31 weeks on chart
(Top 100 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 17 (11) - 17 weeks on chart
(Top 100 Singles) Heartbreak Hotel (The Remixes) - No. 95 (77) - 2 weeks on chart

Canada:
(Top 50 R&B Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 46 (40) - 34 weeks on chart

[Thanks Gogi]


Billboard: If I Told You That...

[Billboard Review]

WHITNEY HOUSTON & GEORGE MICHAEL If I Told You That (4:05)
PRODUCER: Rodney Jerkins
WRITERS: R. Jerkins, F. Jerkins III, T. Estes
PUBLISHERS: EMI-Blackwood, BMI; Famous Music/EMI-April/Mic'l Publishing, ASCAP Arista 3834 (CD promo)

Arista dips one more time into "Whitney: The Greatest Hits" for this novel partnership between the enduring pop/R&B diva and one of the great lost talents of yesteryear, George Michael. Produced and co-written by Rodney Jerkins, the track's instrumental palette is definitely of the moment, with a driving shuffle beat and layered vocals that make this song more than a passing reminder of something you might expect from Jennifer Lopez. The hook is catchy enough, with a chorus that's simple and easy to sing along with. But whatever magic might be found in this effort most certainly is going to come from the fine vocal performances. Houston scats and offers shout-outs that give "If I Told You That" a spontaneity and energy uncommon in most mainstream R&B music today, while Michael still stands tall as one of the finer soul men to step in front of the mike. This pairing is mightily inspired, and that in itself could turn this into a radio curiosity for pop and some R&B stations. It's just a shame that Houston and Michael weren't offered a song that was truly worthy of their great talents.

NEWSFILE: 14 JANUARY 2001


Billboard 2000...

Whitney In Billboard's End Of Year Charts Whitney Houston features twenty eight times across twenty three charts in the end of year rankings for 2000 compiled by Billboard Magazine.  Her most notable achievements in the year include the continued success of 'My Love Is Your Love' with the title single prominently featuring for a second year in a row and the album's final single, 'I Learned From The Best', helping THE VOICE feature in the Dance Club Play Top 3 for a second year running.

The Charts have been compiled to include the Top 10 in every field so as to clearly show what the year in music was like.

For anyone that's interested, Whitney's Billboard Chart Stats for the 80s and 90s can be located through the Chartlogs Section of Classic Whitney.

Korea...

'Whitney: The Greatest Hits' has been repackaged in Korea with an updated track listing and cover:

Cool Down

Saving All My Love For You
Greatest Love Of All
One Moment In Time
I Have Nothing
I Will Always Love You
Run To You
You Give Good Love
All At Once
Where Do Broken Hearts Go
If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful
Didn't We Almost Have It All
All The Man That I Need
Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
Count On Me
I Believe In You And Me
I Learned From The Best
Same Script, Different Cast
Could I Have This Kiss Forever

Throw Down

If I Told You That
Fine
My Love Is Your Love
It's Not Right But It's Okay
Heartbreak Hotel
Step By Step
Queen Of The Night (CJ Mackintosh Mix)
I'm Every Woman
Love Will Save The Day
I'm Your Baby Tonight
So Emotional
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
How Will I Know
I Will Always Love You (Hex Hector Mix)
Greatest Love Of All (Club 69 Mix)
I'm Your Baby Tonight (Dronez Mix)
Dance Megamix by Love To Infinity (Radio Edit)

Whitney: The Greatest Hits - Repackaged

[Thanks Seop]


Germany...

German Charts from January 12th,2001

MEDIA CONTROL TOP 100 SINGLE CHARTS
Could I Have This Kiss Forever - down to No.51 (from No.40) - 17 weeks on charts

MEDIA CONTROL TOP 100 ALBUM CHARTS
The Greatest Hits - down to No.56 (from No.40) - 33 weeks on charts

[Thanks Sabine]


More Charts...

EURO TOP 50
Could I Have This Kiss Forever - up to No.12 (from No.14)

SWITZERLAND SINGLE CHARTS
Could I Have This Kiss Forever - down to No.17 (from No.11)

[Thanks Sabine]


David Foster On THE Song...

There is a new TV Show in the US called Popstars that is about the making of a girl band. One the criteria to make into the group was to sing Whitney's 'I Will Always Love You'. Of the voices out there, they picked Whitney's.  Here is the article from EW and it contains some statements from David Foster:

Pop Tarts
WB's ''Popstars'' charts the making of a girl band. The show's creators explain why it's not a ''Making the Band'' clone by Sandra P. Angulo


The WB jumps on the reality TV bandwagon with the premiere of ''Popstars'' (Jan. 12, 9
p.m.), which follows the making of a Spice Girls like girl group. Though it may sound like ABC's ''Making the Band'' (which tanked last fall but will return in March), ''Popstars'' is
actually an American version of a popular Australian TV show which launched a No. 1 act there. The WB series trails young female hopefuls from cattle call auditions to the pressure packed formation of an as yet unnamed pop group. Still, the show's producers tell EW.com that their behind the scenes series is different than what you've seen on ''Making the Band,'' with its focus on the squabbles of a fretful group of musical roommates called O-Town.

Executive producer David Stanley, whose company Stone Stanley made ABC's ''The
Mole'' and Comedy Central's ''The Man Show,'' says WB's take on the reality genre will be
''relentlessly upbeat,'' more like ''Star Search'' meets ''Miss America.'' Expect lots of glamour training, dance sequences, and sessions with fashion stylists. The series, he says, focuses more on the wish fulfilment of making the cut rather than the ''crushing devastation'' of going home.

The debut episode covers open auditions in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles,
and New York -- and the audience won't find out who makes it to the second round of 25
contestants until next week. ''Part of our job in doing this show is to let the viewers live
vicariously through the girls' experience,'' says Stanley. ''There's no drama if everything
happens too quickly.''

So when the winners finally do emerge, what will they be like? ''My sole consideration is
their singing voice,'' says Grammy winning record producer David Foster, who helped
select the five tryout tracks and will oversee the ''Popstars'' band's first album. ''I had the
finalists sing in my studio, and I only listened.  I didn't look at all.'' However, show
choreographer Travis Payne, who has worked with Janet Jackson, wanted expert dancers.
Stanley became the voice of compromise. ''I had to be the traffic cop and think of who
would make the best combination for a hit show and hit record,'' he says. The result, in
Foster's words: ''I ended up with three terrific singers and two great backups, just like 'N
Sync or the Backstreet Boys.''

But for the first episode auditions, the real deciding factor was vocal talent -- or lack
thereof. Some of the a cappella singing is, to put it kindly, not very accomplished. ''I regret
having suggested the girls sing Whitney Houston's 'And I Will Always Love You,''' says
Foster. ''It's a brutal song that quickly exposed the real non- talents who showed up.'' He should know; he produced Houston's mega- selling original.

According to both Foster and Stanley, ''Popstars''' main advantage over ''Band'' boils down to its network. The WB, says Foster, is the channel of choice for those aged 12 to 34. '''Making the Band' is the right idea on the wrong network [ABC],'' he says. ''On the other hand, what teenager doesn't dream of being on the WB? This is a place the show will
get noticed.'' (With all due respect, we'll let the Nielsen families be the judge of that.)

On Jan. 19, ''Popstars'' moves to its regular 8:30 p.m. spot after ''Sabrina, the Teenage
Witch.'' ''She is the perfect lead in,'' Stanley says of the Melissa Joan Hart sitcom. ''We're
even trying to set something up so Melissa could come up and talk to the girls.'' Still,
Foster admits he can't guarantee the group will go to No.1 like their Australian counterparts. ''Everything's in place to make these girls a hit,'' he said. ''But in the end, no
matter how hot we think they are, it's still up to America.''

[Thanks Joseph J.]

 

NEWSFILE: 13 JANUARY 2001


BET...

US Fans are reporting that the video for 'If I Told You That' is being shown on BET this week.  Please do your bit and request the video .

 

Dutch Update...

'Whitney The Greatest Hits' is up to No.87 (from No.90) after 33 weeks. 
Previous weeks: 90-81.

[Thanks Deborah]

 

NEWSFILE: 11 JANUARY 2001


UK Chart Update...

WHITNEY THE GREATEST HITS
Top 75 Album Chart - Remains at No.14 (second week) - 34 weeks on chart - 4x PLATINUM

HEARTBREAK HOTEL
Top 75 Singles Chart - Down to No.36 (from No.25) - 3 weeks on chart
R&B Singles Chart - Remains at No.9 (second week) - 3 weeks on chart


100 Greatest...

Channel 4 - 100 Greatest No.1 Singles

Channel 4 (UK) compiled the UK's 100 Greatest Number One Singles in a poll which was televised over four hours last night.   Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' came in at No.33 in the poll.  The show recalled the phenomenon the song became and how one Whitney fan ended up in prison as a noise nuisance because she just couldn't stop playing 'I Will Always Love You'.

Click Here Or On The Image To See The Top 100.

 

Netherlands 2000...

'Could I Have This Kiss Forever' is the No.23 song of 2000 in the Netherlands.  The song reached No.1.

In more news, 'Heartbreak Hotel' is the 'alarmschijf' - this means it is the No.1 song on the   "tipparade".  With a little luck, the song could be the highest new entry in the Dutch Top 40 next week.

[Thanks Jean-Pierre]


Charts Around The World...

Austria:
(Top 40 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 36 (34) - 16 weeks on chart

Belgium:
(Top 50 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 34 (34) - 28 weeks on chart

Finland:
(Lista Top 40) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 39 (35) - 30 weeks on chart

Germany:
(Top 100 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 40 (45) - 32 weeks on chart
(Top 100 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 40 (40) - 16 weeks on chart
(Top 50 R&B Airplay) Fine - No. 18 (27) - 24 weeks on chart

Ireland:
(Top 30 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 24 (18) - 33 weeks on chart

Netherlands (Holland):
(Top 25 R&B Singles) Heartbreak Hotel (New Entry) - No. 21 - 1 week on chart

Sweden:
(Top 60 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 38 (43) - 31 weeks on chart
(Top 60 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 35 (35) - 17 weeks on chart

Switzerland:
(Top 100 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 79 (95) - 30 weeks on chart
(Top 100 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 11 (10) - 16 weeks on chart

[Thanks Gogi]

NEWSFILE: 7 JANUARY 2001


UK Sales...

During the sales week leading up to Christmas, 'Whitney The Greatest Hits' registered it's best week yet by scanning over 100,000 copies.  In doing so, the album also scanned it's millionth copy to become one of thirteen albums to sell over a million copies according to Music Week, the industry trade magazine.

With a further 40,000 copies scanned last week (the final week of 2000) and another respectable post-Christmas performance due this week, the album has now scanned over 1,100,000 copies in the UK.


Soundscan Top 10...

This is the official Soundscan listing for the ten best scanning albums in the US from 1991 to 2000:

# Title/Artist

Scan

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette
Come On Over - Shania Twain
Metallica - Metallica
Millennium, Backstreet Boys
The Bodyguard - Whitney Houston/OST
Supernatural - Santana
Falling Into You - Celine Dion
...Baby One More Time - Britney Spears
No Strings Attached - 'N Sync
Titanic - OST

13,729,828
13,652,045
12,441,854
11,705,375
11,655,923
10,590,413
10,357,969
9,981,434
9,936,104
9,897,900

[Thanks Chris B.]


French Update...

'Could I Have This Kiss Forever' climbs to No.22 (from No.26) on it's 14th week on the French Singles Chart.

'Whitney The Greatest Hits' is down to No.12 (from No.10) on the French Compilation Album Chart.

[Thanks Sebastien]

The Greatest DVD...

The DVD Compilation 'Whitney The Greatest Hits' also appears to have a lesser known pressing that features the videos for 'Exhale (Shoop Shoop)' and 'I Believe In You And Me'.

It's not clear whether this is just in the US or whether other regions also have a second pressing.

[Thanks Andrew]


German Releases...

BMG will shortly issue DVD singles in Germany.  They have already confirmed that a Whitney Houston DVD single will be issued later this year.

[Thanks André]


German Chart Update...

German Charts from 5 January 2001

MEDIA CONTROL TOP 100 SINGLE CHARTS

Could I Have This Kiss Forever - remains at No.40 - 16 weeks on the charts

MEDIA CONTROL TOP 100 ALBUM CHARTS

The Greatest Hits - up to No.40 (from No.45) - 32 weeks on the charts

[Thanks Sabine]


Charts Around Europe...


AUSTRIA SINGLE CHARTS

Could I Have This Kiss Forever - Down to No.36 (from No.34) - 16 weeks on chart

SWITZERLAND SINGLE CHARTS

Could I Have This Kiss Forever - Chart position not available this week

SWITZERLAND SINGLE CHARTS 2000

Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No.13

SWITZERLAND ALBUM CHARTS 2000

The Greatest Hits - No.24

[Thanks Sabine]


Grammys...

This year marks the first time that a Whitney Houston project is not recognised by the Grammys.  All seven of her previous projects garnered between two and four nominations.  Whitney has won six Grammys since her debut and has been nominated twenty four times.

Two Whitney songs did get nominated in the Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical category:

Hex Hector
- Feelin' So Good (Hex Hector Club Mix) (Jennifer Lopez) (S)
- Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche) (Hex Hector RadioMix) (98°) (S)
- I Learned From The Best (HQ2 Club Mix) (WhitneyHouston) (S)
- I Turn To You (Hex Hector Radio Mix) (Melanie C) (T)
- Music (HQ2 Radio Mix) (Madonna) (S)
- Spanish Guitar (HQ2 Club Mix) (Toni Braxton) (T)

Peter Rauhofer (Club 69)
- Greatest Love Of All (Club 69 Classic Club Mix) (Whitney Houston) (S)
- He Wasn't Man Enough (Peter Rauhofer's Trance Mix) (Toni Braxton) (S)
- I Don't Know What You Want (Peter Rauhofer Roxy Anthem) (Pet Shop Boys) (S)
- I Think I'm In Love (Peter Rauhofer Club Anthem) (Jessica Simpson) (S)
- 17 Again (Peter Rauhofer Remix) (Eurythmics) (S)
- Take A Picture (Club 69 Trance Mix) (Filter) (S)


No Billboard...

Whitney Houston is not featured on any of the Billboard Singles or Albums charts for the week ending 13 January 2001.  It's the first time Whitney has not featured on any chart since November 1998.

 

NEWSFILE: 6 JANUARY 2001


Radio & Records End Of Year...

Details of how Whitney Houston's music performed in the end of year charts as compiled by Radio & Records:

AC
Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No.24
I Learned From The Best - No.45

CHR/POP

My Love Is Your Love - No.56

Urban

Same Script Different Cast - No.51

Urban AC

Same Script Different Cast - No.11
I Learned From The Best - No.21
My Love Is Your Love - No.60
Fine - No.86

[Compiled By Jeffrey B. - Thanks]

More Charts From Around The World...

Netherlands (Holland):
(Mega Top 100) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 50 (35) - 16 weeks on chart
(Mega Top 100) Heartbreak Hotel - No. 41 (95) - 2 weeks on chart
(Top 10 Airplay) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 5 (7) - 19 weeks on chart

Sweden:
(Top 60 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 43 (49) - 30 weeks on chart
(Top 60 Singles) Could I Have This Kiss Forever - No. 35 (29) - 16 weeks on chart

[Thanks Gogi]

NEWSFILE: 2 JANUARY 2001


UK Top 10 Albums...

Whitney Houston's 'The Greatest Hits' ranked as the best selling album by a female artist in the UK in 2000:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

9
10
1 - The Beatles
Sing When You're Winning - Robbie Williams
The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem
Coast To Coast - Westlife
Play - Moby
Born To Do It - Craig David
The Greatest Hits - Texas
Parachutes - Coldplay

The Greatest Hits - Whitney Houston

Music - Madonna


Europe 2000...

The Top 10 Albums In Europe 2000:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

9
10

Supernatrual - Santana
Play- Moby
Oops!...I Did It Again - Britney Spears
The Marshall Mathers LP- Eminem
In Blue- The Corrs
Crush- Bon Jovi
Californication- Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Reload- Tom Jones

The Greatest Hits - Whitney Houston

Come on Over- Shania Twain

Whitney's 'My Love Is Your Love' ranked in fourth place in 1999.

[Thanks Jim]


Charts Around The World...

Most charts are either static for the week or yet to be published but these are a few of the ones that changed:

Belgium:
(Top 50 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 34 (42) - 27 weeks on chart

Finland:
(Lista Top 40) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 35 (31) - 29 weeks on chart

Germany:
(Top 50 R&B Airplay) Fine - No. 27 (25) - 23 weeks on chart
(Top 50 R&B Airplay) Heartbreak Hotel - No. 49 (48) - 38 weeks on chart

Ireland:
(Top 30 Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 18 (22) - 32 weeks on chart

Canada:
(Top 50 R&B Albums) Whitney The Greatest Hits - No. 31 (28) - 32 weeks on chart

[Thanks Gogi]

NEWSFILE: 1 JANUARY 2001

DECEMBER 2000 NEWSFILE CAN BE FOUND HERE

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