Whitney On Stage in Oberhausen, Germany tonight...

Thanks: whitney-media.de

NEWSFILE: 26 MAY 2010
 

Kelly Rowland on Colour & Whitney...

Dime Wars: Kelly Rowland Denies Colorism's Influence On Her Career

Pop beauty, Kelly Rowland, despite only simmering in the United States is sizzling across the international markets. Growing up in the same household as fellow diva Beyonce Knowles and starting her career in the same group with Bey has definitely given her a head start on her competition and an undying fanbase that would give their left pinky finger for her. However, after all the props and accolades are settled, Kelly Rowland still lags significantly behind Beyonce in American record sales, endorsements and appearances, despite the two being so close in both beauty and talent. What's to explain the difference between the two. In a recent interview, a journalist implied that Kelly Rowland's 'chocolate complexion' may be the deciding factor. Here's what Kelly Rowland said:

"In the music industry, the last person I can think of that did that and completely busted it wide open, that was a chocolate sister, was Whitney Houston. But I don't think that's what we should focus on, I think that if you break, you break, and I think that you find opportunities for yourself, period - and you make them your own.

NEWSFILE: 25 MAY 2010
 

Whitney on stage in Antwerp tonight...

NEWSFILE: 24 MAY 2010
 

Whitney on stage in Stuttgart tonight...

Thanks: whitney-media.de

NEWSFILE: 22 MAY 2010
 

Whitney on stage in Vienna tonight...

Thanks: whitney-media.de

NEWSFILE: 19 MAY 2010
 

Whitney Remembers Michael Jackson...

World Entertainment News: Stars remember Jackson in Gest tribute
Tuesday, May 18 03:35 pm

Whitney Houston and Smokey Robinson have opened up about Michael Jackson a year after his death - for a new TV tribute created by the King Of Pop's best pal, David Gest.

Gest has grilled members of the Jackson family as well as the Thriller legend's pals Robinson, Houston, Dionne Warwick and Petula Clark for his four-hour 'popumentary', The Real Michael Jackson.

The show includes an interview with Jackson's eldest sister Rebbie, who discusses the singer's alleged pill addiction, while his beloved mum Katherine pays a touching tribute to her son.

Gest explains, "I have spent the past three months travelling the world interviewing people who were most important in (Jackson's) life. I believe this popumentary will entertain and educate in equal measures about who the real Michael Jackson was. I hope this will serve as a lasting testament to the compassion and love that he had for all mankind."

The special is due for release in June, a year after the superstar died from a cardiac arrest last summer. A broadcast date has not yet been confirmed.

NEWSFILE: 18 MAY 2010
 

Whitney Houston on stage in Hamburg tonight...

Thanks: whitney-media.de

Paris Show Cancelled...

APF: Houston scraps Paris concert
May 17, 2010

PARIS - AMERICAN pop diva Whitney Houston has cancelled a Paris concert that had been re-scheduled after she fell ill last month, her producer said on Monday.

The June 1 concert was scrapped due to problems with ticket sales and not because of Houston's health problems, her producer Jackie Lombard said.

The concert at the huge Bercy sports stadium in eastern Paris was announced after a previous show on April 6 was cancelled when Houston was hospitalised in Paris in early April for treatment of a respiratory infection.

Of the 11,500 tickets sold for that performance however, only 2,000 were exchanged for the June concert and some 4,000 others have not asked for refunds or an exchange, said Mr Lombard.

'We don't know if these people will be there and we don't have the right to sell the tickets until we find out if they should be reimbursed,' said Mr Lombard.

After racking up a string of hits in the 1980s, Houston suffered a decline in record sales, run-ins with the police over drug use and a divorce from singer Bobby Brown. She is attempting a comeback with the global 'Nothing But Love' tour, which kicked off at the end of last year. -- AFP
 

NEWSFILE: 17 MAY 2010
 

Whitney Houston on stage in Hannover tonight...

Thanks: whitney-media.de

NEWSFILE: 16 MAY 2010
 

Has Houston Got Trouble, Or Is It Us?...

Women On The Web: Liz Smith: Has Houston Got Trouble, or Is It Us?

WELL, THERE it was on the front page of USA Today, a great big headline – "Can This Career Be Saved?" It was accompanied by a dramatic photo of Whitney Houston. The story itself was inside, in the excellent entertainment section of the paper, but I guess the editors really wanted us to know of Whitney’s problems.

According to reviews and gossip trailing the star’s comeback concert tour, Whitney’s voice is a shadow of what it once was, and her manner onstage sometimes disturbing. The online websites have insisted Houston has fallen off the wagon – that she is back on drugs or drinking. Naturally Houston and her reps deny this. She’s been battling a flu, that’s all.

Here are a few thoughts. I can’t believe anybody going to see Whitney today could possibly expect her magnificent voice to be unchanged. Even in the very sympathetic atmosphere of the Oprah show, some months back, it was clear that her voice has suffered. As with Julie Andrews’s recent concert in London, audiences need to be realistic. (Yes, yes – I know. Julie’s voice was damaged because of a botched procedure of her throat. Whitney brought about her own vocal demise. But the result is a diminished instrument, all the same.)

Regarding Whitney’s onstage behavior and appearance – geez, at this point have people not gotten the message that Whitney Houston is not the soft-spoken princess-y girl who first wowed us back in the 1980s? She’s kind of rough and tough and wacky. She married Bobby Brown, for heaven’s sake!

And for those startled by how Whitney looks at times – she has always, always had an issue with excessive perspiring onstage. By the middle of her concerts she tends to look the worse for the wear. But her damp glow doesn’t necessarily mean she’s "under the influence."

I’m not naïve. Back in the day, I was one of those publicly calling for somebody to do something to save this girl. Her drug use was an open secret. But now I have no pipeline regarding Whitney. So, maybe she’s in trouble, maybe this is just the way it is with her voice – and she is trying her best? (In the recording studio she can sound wonderful still, if a bit huskier.)

Can this career be saved? Perhaps it doesn’t need saving. Fans and critics have to grow up and accept that abuse has altered her great gift. She knows it, believe me. If it were a mistake to tour, it’s too late now. She’s out there giving what she has, so let’s go easy, OK?

If she OD’s tomorrow you can all call me "Pollyanna." I’ve been called worse.
 

NEWSFILE: 14 MAY 2010
 

Whitney on stage in Leipzig...

Whitney in Berlin...

Whitney Houston pictured leaving the Hotel de Rome in Berlin, Germany on Thursday, May 13:

NEWSFILE: 13 MAY 2010
 

Whitney pictured on stage in Berlin...

Whitney pictured arriving at Berlin concert venue...

Tour, Legacy and What Comes Next...

USA Today published a report entitled 'On tour, Whitney Houston is hitting some sour notes' which discusses at length the press surrounding Whitney's world tour, her legacy and what might come next for Whitney.  The report can be read here.

NEWSFILE: 12 MAY 2010
 

Whitney Houston performing tonight in Zurich...

No Problem...

The Observer: Houston, you don't actually have a problem
Barbara Ellen The Observer, Sunday 9 May 2010

What's with the open season on Whitney Houston? Her show in Rome is the latest to be slated on an ill-fated tour beset with complaints, mockery and demands for money back.

As a Whitney fan, it's plain that she's not what she was. I've winced at clips of her "singing" live, with her thumb seemingly jammed in an invisible car door. Nor is she as lithe and gorgeous as she was in her youth. Then again, who is?

At her peak, Houston was a true talent – with a vocal range that made Mariah Carey sound as if she was being attacked by killer bees. But her drug-strewn fall in the past doesn't mean she does not deserve respect for the musical force she once was. Nor our compassion.

Indeed, with Houston's apparent "situation" all over the press, one has to wonder why people persist in buying tickets for her shows and then complain. My guess is that it's for the sport of denigrating this poor woman, in what amounts to a disgusting spectacle of showbiz bear-baiting.

Let's hope these people don't get a penny back. Considering what they went for, they've already had their money's worth.

NEWSFILE: 9 MAY 2010
 

Whitney pictured on stage in Rome...

NEWSFILE: 4 MAY 2010
 

Whitney pictured on stage in Milan...

NEWSFILE: 3 MAY 2010
 

Whitney pictured on stage in Glasgow...

Whitney Wows Glasgow...

Daily Record: Whitney Houston wows her fans as she finally hits Scotland
May 2 2010 Beverley Lyons, Sunday Mail

TROUBLED diva Whitney Houston apologised for keeping fans waiting as she made her Scottish comeback last night.

The soul superstar, who had to reschedule her Glasgow SECC gig from last month because of illness, said: "I have nothing but love, Glasgow. Thank you for waiting.

"If I could have been here I would have.  "I took ill but came back to see you to tell you I love you. Thank you for coming back to see me.  "I really appreciate your love. That's what I'm calling loyalty and faithfulness.  "After 30 years. I thank you. May God bless you all."

Around 4000 tickets were returned to the venue from the cancelled April 11 concert. But the singer, 46, was buoyed by her reception last night. Though she lip-synched for part of the first two songs, she worked hard to prove herself.

Encouraged by her daughter and adopted son in the front row, Whitney belted out some of the most demanding notes in her set.

She dabbed away sweat with a towel and even applied an extra coat of make-up in a mirror before launching into I Look To You.

Whitney got extra encouragement from her daughter who mouthed "Sing mummy, sing" at the intro of My Love Is Your Love.

As she prepared to sing Step By Step, she also lashed out at critics who have given some harsh reviews to her Nothing But Love tour.

Whitney said: "You may see us one way - we have our troubles too. We just need compassion."
 

NEWSFILE: 2 MAY 2010