'Grey's' Isn't Going Anywhere
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
Whitney Houston's cringeworthy GMA appearance
by Allison Waldman, posted Sep 2nd 2009 6:26PM
If you just watched the crowd while Whitney Houston performed in Central Park on Good Morning, America today, you might have thought that Whitney was doing great. However, if you had the volume on, you know better. Sadly, Whitney Houston's GMA appearance was sad. Her voice cracked and she seemed to be struggling to sing one of her biggest hits, "I'm Every Woman," which ironically was used as the theme for The Oprah Winfrey Show for years. I say ironically because Whitney explained to the fans at one point that her voice was a wreck because she had talked too much during her appearance on Oprah earlier in the week. Ouch!
The entire appearance was enough to make you cringe. At one point, Whitney called her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, out to the stage to sing with her. Bobbi has grown into a beautiful young woman from the teenager she was on Being Bobby Brown, the infamous Bravo reality show starring Whitney and then hubby Bobby.
I was in complete shock when Whitney croaked that Bobbi Kristina was her baby and invoked Bobby Brown's name, too. I would think she'd never want to mention her ex's name again, especially in the midst of a huge comeback promotion for her first studio CD in nine years.
I feel bad for Whitney. She obviously wanted to be in good voice for this GMA appearance, which ABC has been hyping like crazy. Instead of coming off as back and better than ever, she struggled. What could she have done instead, you ask? Well, one answer could have been to lip-synch the songs, even though that feels like a cheat. But the other choice might have been to rework the set.
Instead of doing uptempo, driving songs that require the big Houston voice, she could have told the gathering that her voice was strained and sang three softer, easier numbers in a more intimate way. I think those fans love her so much they would have accepted that and been glad. It might have also showed that Whitney calls the shots and isn't promoted and pushed to do whatever Clive Davis, the driving force behind her success, tells her to do.
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