Whitney Houston Interviewed on 'Extra'...

Extra: Whitney Houston Sparkles in Big-Screen Comeback
November 16, 2011 | Movies

Singer Whitney Houston is making a triumphant return to the big screen!

Houston sat down with "Extra's" AJ Calloway, and revealed, "I've matured in so many ways. I'm good where I am at this moment."

Whitney is set to star in "Sparkle," about three sisters who are in a successful young singing group. She last starred in "Preacher's Wife" fifteen years ago, and expressed excitement for playing the role of the sisters' mom, Emma. "I'm comfortable now... my daughter is my greatest inspiration. She has trained me for this role."

"Sparkle," which includes cast members Cee-Lo Green and Derek Luke, was originally set for production a decade ago, with R&B singer Aaliyah attached as its star. After Aaliyah's tragic death, the project was shelved.

"American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks was chosen to fill the lead. Whitney exclaimed, "Jordin was perfect!"

Whitney Houston on 'The Insider'...

Insider: Whitney Dishes Big Screen Comeback

Plans for a remake of the 1976 film Sparkle were scrapped with the tragic death of R&B superstar Aaliyah, who was the project's first choice as the lead. 10 years later, American Idol winner Jordin Sparks takes on the legendary role and co-star Whitney Houston says it couldn't be a more "perfect" fit.

"God has his own time," Whitney explained of their lengthy search to find an actress who could live up to what the late singer would have brought to the role. Houston worked closely with the project's producers since 2001, making a mutual decision to halt production until they could find talent worthy to fill Aaliyah's shoes.

And then they found Jordin.

"[Jordin's] just really, just perfect," Whitney raved. "She's truly, truly embraced the role and doing such a marvelous job and just putting herself into it and just her voice is gorgeous."

Watch the video to hear more from Houston and Jordin, plus, check out a behind-the-scenes peek of the film, coming to theaters next year.

Sparkle also stars Cee Lo Green, Mike Epps and Derek Luke.
 

NEWSFILE: 16 NOVEMBER 2011
 

Whitney Houston Interviewed on 'Extra'...

In the second part of Access Hollywood's interview with Whitney Houston, she talked briefly about meeting Elvis Presley during the time her mother, Cissy Houston toured with the Sweet Inspirations who were Elvis' backing singers.

Amy Adams On Helping Whitney At The Gap...

Contactmusic: Amy Adams - Amy Adams Helped Whitney Houston Shop For Clothes
15 November 2011 22:06

A young Amy Adams once helped Whitney Houston shop for clothes while working as a retail sales associate.

The Fighter star worked at the Gap to make ends meet while pursuing her acting career and Adams admits she had one particularly interesting run-in with notoriously private superstar Houston, who grew agitated with the young beauty's attentive service.

She explains, "I worked at the Gap. I was very good at the Gap. I was a full-timer (full-time employee). Very proud... And because of that pride, I was the greeter; I would say hello to everybody... And then we had this thing called the Gap Act... First you greet, which is what I did. Like, 'Hey welcome to the Gap'. Then you approach, like, 'Hey can I help you with anything?' And then it's product information, like, 'Make sure to check out our new colours.'

"Whitney Houston came in. I got bored there sometimes and so I challenged myself that I was going to Gap Act her and act like I didn't know who she was. She requested that I not help her anymore. Smartly.

"I think she went and hid in the dressing room because I was trying to tell her all about our new colours."
 

Access Hollywood Interview...

Whitney Houston sat down with Access Hollywood's Shaun Robinson to talk about her new movie, 'Sparkle', and also reflected on her fans, family and 30 years in the music business.

Exclusive: Whitney Will Star In 'Getting To Happy'...

Access Hollywood: Access Exclusive: Whitney Houston Wants To Star In ‘Waiting to Exhale 2’

First Published: November 14, 2011 5:27 PM EST Credit: Access Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Whitney Houston will soon make her return to the big screen after 15 years in “Sparkle,” and only Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson was on the movie’s set in Detroit to talk with the global superstar about her movie comeback and the possibility of her return to another beloved Whitney role.

“You know what, that Terry McMillan, she keeps calling me about that ‘Waiting to Exhale 2,’” Whitney, who starred in the 1995 movie, told Shaun, referring to the author whose 1992 book inspired the film.

“I guess it’s inevitable. If my three other friends, my three ladies… I think they’re all in,” she said of co-stars Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon.

“I just have to… I’m just settling down, just getting this under my belt and once I finish with this,” Whitney said of “Sparkle,” which also stars “American Idol” Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks. “I’m not going to say no.”

In “Waiting To Exhale,” Whitney played Savannah Jackson, a woman waiting for her lover to leave his wife – a character that has more to say according to the star.

“Savannah has to be, she has to come back,” Whitney added.

For more of Shaun’s Robinson’s Whitney exclusive, CLICK HERE and tune in to Access Hollywood for the full exclusive one-on-one interview on Monday and Tuesday’s shows (check local listings).
 

NEWSFILE: 14 NOVEMBER 2011
 

One on One with Whitney...

Access Hollywood: Access Exclusive: One-On-One With Whitney Houston

First Published: November 13, 2011 1:37 PM EST Credit: Access Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Whitney Houston will soon make her triumphant return to the big screen after 15 years in “Sparkle,” and only Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson was on the movie’s set in Detroit to talk with the global superstar about her movie comeback.

“I feel honored; I feel humbled that I am able to still do what I do and it just is fun, actually,” Whitney told Shaun — in an exclusive interview, which will air on Monday and Tuesday on Access — of her return to the screen.

“I think everybody’s going to love this film. I do, I think it’s going to be a loved film,” she added.

The project, near and dear to Whitney’s heart, took over a decade to make as the starring role was originally slated for R&B singer Aaliyah. After the then-22–year-old’s tragic death in 2001, the movie was shelved for years.

“This was [Aaliyah’s] movie,” Whitney told Shaun. “When we brought it to her, she was so enthusiastic about it and she wanted it, to do it so badly. She was our Sparkle.

“Unfortunately… it just didn’t go that way,” she continued. “I put it down. I said, ‘My Sparkle has gone to a better place,’ then we just left it alone.”

After bringing the project to life again with “American Idol” Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks in the title role, Whitney said she strongly identified with her character (playing Jordin’s mother).

“I just, I felt it. I felt the role,” she told Shaun. “I felt the love a woman has for her children — in the ‘60s, the late ‘60s, trying to keep her family together, single mother.”

Tune in to Access Hollywood for the full exclusive one-on-one interview with Whitney on Monday and Tuesday’s shows (check local listings).

Access Hollywood Exclusive...

NEWSFILE: 13 NOVEMBER 2011
 

Sparking Location...

Detroit Free Press: In 'Sparkle' clip, Houston sings at local church

As filming in Detroit nears completion on "Sparkle," Whitney Houston fans can get a sneak peek on the Web of the iconic diva performing at a local church.

There's a clip on the "Entertainment Tonight" site, www.etonline.com, of a glowing Houston singing at the Iroquois Avenue Christ Lutheran Church in Indian Village in a scene for the film.

It's included in the video of an interview with Houston and costar Jordin Sparks, who play a mother and daughter in the remake of the 1976 movie.

"We are putting our hearts and our souls into this project," says Houston, who's also an executive producer of "Sparkle."

Houston talks about bonding with Sparks during an early table reading of the script. "I was just looking at her, and she was just so sweet and so good. I was like, 'All right, cool,' " she says.

The movie, set in the Motor City of the 1960s, filmed last week outside the Fillmore Detroit on Woodward.

This week, the production was at Cliff Bell's jazz club, which also was used as a location by "The Ides of March."

Access Picture...

Twitter Picture: @MsShaunRobinson: "Can't wait to see Whitney Houston in Sparkle! Mom and Dad loved meeting her!"

Extra...

AJ Calloway, Correspondent for Extra had this to say on Twitter:

What a day Whitney is looking amazing and is truly amazing in this role. She answered a ton of questions I will let you all know when it airs.

Jordan Sparks is adorable as well she has grown into quite a woman.

Can't forget Mike Epps, Derek Luke and Kem just to name a few more interviews today. Sparkle is going to be a big movie and the music!!! Wow

Talked to Whitney about returning to film, new projects, more music, her personal growth and her favorite song of hers.

I Wanna Dance With Jessie J...

Digital Spy: Jessie J, Will Young on 'Saturday Sessions' album

Jessie J has unveiled a preview of her Whitney Houston cover for Dermot O'Leary's new Saturday Sessions LP exclusively on Digital Spy.

The singer performs an acoustic cover of Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody', which she originally sang on O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show.

The LP, called The Saturday Sessions 2011, also features stripped-back cuts from Will Young, who plays a rendition of Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill', and Kelly Rowland, who performs her David Guetta collaboration 'When Love Takes Over'. Both can be heard below.

Other songs on the double CD compilation include Plan B's take on Smokey Robinson's 'The Tracks Of My Tears', Nerina Pallot's cover of Beyonce's 'Crazy In Love' and Rumer's rendition of 'Moon River'.

It was recently reported that Jessie J is keen on collaborating with Willow Smith.
 

NEWSFILE: 11 NOVEMBER 2011
 

Sparkling Remake...

Billboard: Whitney Houston, Jordin Sparks, & Cee-Lo Star in 'Sparkle' Remake

by Erika Ramirez, N.Y. | November 08, 2011 4:50 EST

Whitney Houston returns to the big screen to star in and executive produce the remake of the 1976 film, "Sparkle." While on the set of "Sparkle," ET, via Rap-Up, sat down with the legend and her on-screen daughter, singer, Jordin Sparks.

"She's very quick, very good," Whitney Houston told ET of Jordin Sparks. "She knows how to look. Her voice is like an angel's. I think it's ('Sparkle') going to let the world see that the 'American Idol' that was chosen and won is truly capable of handling it."

Whitney Houston has been away from the big screen since her lead role in 'The Preacher's Wife' (1996). Fifteen years later, the legend has decided to return after getting a call. "I got a call from my partner Debra Martin and she said, 'You're not gonna believe this, but 'Sparkle''s been picked up and they want to do a film.' And I was like, you're kidding?... She said, 'and they want you and Mara to do it'…"

"Sparkle," directed by Salim Akil and written by Mara Brock Akil, is in production and set to hit theatres next year. Others set to star in the film are Derek Luke, Cee-Lo, and more.

Sparkle Casting...

Contactmusic: Kem To Make Acting Debut In Sparkle

The Grammy Award-nominated star will play club owner Buddy opposite fellow musicians Whitney Houston and Cee-Lo Green in the film, which also features actors Derek Luke, Omari Hardwick and Tika Sumpter.

And Kem will have much support in facing his big screen jitters - the cast is currently filming the project in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan.

He says, "I've always had the idea that I'd like to try my hand at acting one day, and I'm very thankful to have the chance to do that with a classic film such as Sparkle. That the film is set in Detroit and being filmed in Detroit only enhances this extraordinary experience for me."
 

NEWSFILE: 8 NOVEMBER 2011
 

Whitney's Sparkling Comeback...

Entertainment Tonight: Whitney Houston's Sparkling Big-Screen Comeback

Whitney Houston is teaming up with American Idol winner Jordin Sparks for Sparkle, an uplifting, Motown-era musical drama – and we're first on the set!

No, it's not a sequel to Mariah Carey's Glitter. Sparkle is actually a remake of the 1976 film of the same name, and it mark's Whitney's first big-screen role since The Preacher's Wife in 1996.

Set in 1960s Detroit, Sparkle follows the title character; Sparkle (Jordin), a music prodigy struggling to rise through the ranks of the music business. On the verge of stardom in a singing group with her two sisters, dramatic family issues threaten to tear them apart. Whitney plays the musical trio's mother, while Mike Epps plays a wealthy comedian who woos Sparkle's sister into a drug-filled and abusive relationship on their way to the top.

Also starring Derek Luke, Grammy winner Cee-Lo Green, Carmen Ejogo, Tika Sumpter and Omari Hardwick, Sparkle is directed by Salim Akil (Jumping the Broom) and scheduled to be released in 2012.
 

NEWSFILE: 7 NOVEMBER 2011
 

Whitney Houston on Entertainment Tonight...

Whitney Houston will be featured on US show 'Entertainment Tonight' on Monday 7 November promoting her new movie, Sparkle.

[Video - Thanks Kev]

NEWSFILE: 5 NOVEMBER 2011
 

Vintage...

Detroit Free Press: 'Sparkle' filming brings vintage cars downtown

The filming of the remake of ‘70s hit “Sparkle” has brought all sorts of stars to Detroit, including Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston.


On Thursday night, it brought some notables of a different sort: A phalanx of vintage cars lining Park Ave. in downtown Detroit.


The movie, which spins the story of a musical sister act and is set in Detroit in the latter half of the 1960s, was filming a scene in front of popular jazz club Cliff Bell’s. Among the sweet-and-spiffy rides spotted were a cab and a vintage Detroit police car.

Vintage...

NEWSFILE: 4 NOVEMBER 2011
 

Rihanna Ties Whitney For US No.1s...

MTV: Rihanna's 'We Found Love' Makes Hot 100 History

Latest #1 moves her ahead of Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson on the all-time list, with Whitney Houston and Madonna within reach.

Rihanna may have pushed the boundaries with her video for "We Found Love," but thanks to that song, she's now pushed her way into the history books — and passed a pair of all-time greats in the process.

"Love" just completed its climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, giving Rihanna her 11th #1 hit, which puts her one ahead of Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson.

With her latest chart-topper, she's now tied with Whitney Houston and is within reach of equaling Madonna and the Supremes' career total of 12 #1's. If — or, more likely, when — she gets her 12th, she'll trail only Michael Jackson (13 #1's), Elvis Presley (17), Mariah Carey (18) and the Beatles (20) on the all-time list. Rare company, indeed.

And just as impressive is how quickly she's accomplished all this. Earlier this month, when "Love" leapt from #16 to #9 on the Hot 100, RiRi made Billboard history by racking up 20 top 10's faster than any solo artist, doing it in just six years and four months. That bested a mark previously set by Madonna, who did it in six years and nine months and ranks Rihanna second to only the Beatles, who pulled off the feat in a staggering two years and seven months.

Rihanna is the 14th artist to ever earn 20 Hot 100 top 10's and is just the fifth woman to do it. Madonna leads everyone with 37 top 10's, followed by Carey and Jackson (27 each) and Whitney Houston, with 23.
 

NEWSFILE: 3 NOVEMBER 2011
 

Whitney's Monkey Mix Up...

Reuters: Film producer Gest promises fresh take on Jackson

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON | Wed Nov 2, 2011 12:21pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Reality TV star and concert promoter David Gest has promised fans a fresh insight into Michael Jackson in his documentary about the late "king of pop" which has its premiere in London on Wednesday.

Gest has teamed up with Universal Pictures to make "Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon," released this week on Blu-ray and DVD with the blessing of Jackson's mother Katherine.

"This is not a rehashed story," Gest told Reuters in a recent interview to promote the picture. "It's totally new in what you learn."

The producer, a long-time friend of the "Thriller" singer, is also involved in a singing and spoken-world tribute tour to Jackson which kicks off in Britain next spring.  His projects are part of a series of Jackson-related events that have been staged, screened or planned since the star died in June 2009.

"Michael Jackson's This Is It," a 2009 documentary film about rehearsals for his comeback tour which never took place, made more than $260 million at the global box office.

A posthumous album entitled "Immortal" is due out this month, a $60 million Cirque du Soleil extravaganza recently launched in Canada and Wales hosted a tribute gig last month attended by Jackson's mother and three children.

Jackson, who was 50 when he died of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol which he used as a sleep aid, was one of the most successful recording artists of all time.

Asked if he felt such projects were merely attempts to cash in on the singer's name, Gest replied:  "There's a place if it tells a story that nobody knows and you enlighten the public (as) to who he is.  "I think if a project is interesting and new and different people are fascinated by Michael Jackson," the American added.  "I think the Cirque du Soleil (show) is brilliant. I think people will by entertained (by my film). This film is so different because I would say 90 percent of it is new information you have never heard.  "You see who the man was behind the music."

The Life of an Icon features interviews with Katherine Jackson, the singer's siblings Tito and Rebbie and friends and colleagues including Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick and Whitney Houston.  Tito discusses what the family went through during the child molestation trial in 2005 where his brother was eventually acquitted on all counts.

The film traces Jackson from his breakthrough in the Jackson 5 to his rise to fame as a solo artist through to his sudden death in Los Angeles.

"You see Katherine Jackson in a totally different light," said Gest. "She's very honest and she's very open and you really feel for her, especially when you see her talking about his death and how it affected her."  Gest promised amusing anecdotes as well as moving recollections.

One, he said, involved Houston recalling a visit she made to Jackson's Neverland Ranch in California where she was involved in an embarrassing mealtime mix-up between Jackson and his pet chimpanzee Bubbles.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
 

NEWSFILE: 2 NOVEMBER 2011