By David White:
The performance was great I was happy to hear they played a song from PW "You Were Loved" over the Althea Gibson Tribute. That should help PW. When she sang "One Moment In Time" it was wonderful. The only thing was, not to be critical, but she did not sing "OMIT" like she usually does. She didn't go for the big notes. That was the only thing I noticed. To say one thing, I hope others don't feel she was horrible. I thought she was the best I've seen her at the Grammy's this year. I've loved every performance of hers she is truly the best.
I heard on my local radio station, yes, "You Were Loved". I know they can play any album track after the end of the promotion of any album (like Celine Dion's "Falling Into You") but it's still cool to hear her on the radio and thought I'd share it with you all.
Here are excerpts relating to Whitney that can be found on Brandy's interview on Mr. Showbiz's Brandy Interview:
In "Cinderella," a young lass overcomes a horrible family situation, gets a timely makeover from her fairy godmother, is swept off her feet by a prince . . . and hasn't been heard from since. Well, in that sense, young Brandy Norwood has almost nothing in common with Cindy, whom she'll bring to life this fall in ABC's Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. No, all this eighteen-year-old actress-singer shares with the fairy-tale heroine are a million-dollar smile and star power to burn. She grew up happy in Mississippi, the daughter of a church music director and a financial analyst. She began singing at church, but it wasn't until she first heard Whitney Houston that she set her heart on a singing career. Like Houston, she decided that she'd like to be an actress as well. There is no evil stepmother in Brandy's life, but there is a fairy godmother of sorts: Houston, who's become a close friend and mentor over the past few years, will play the role in Cinderella, which is scheduled to air November 2. And maybe the role isn't such a stretch for Brandy, after all. Her foot certainly fits the glass slipper, and she has been courted by a prince or two, including teenage L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Fortunately for her fans, however, she hasn't been swept away by her whirlwind success, and it's clear that she won't be riding off into oblivion anytime soon.
Were you at all in awe of Whitney Houston and the other stars of Cinderella--Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters, and Jason Alexander?Whitney Houston has been a mentor of mine for a long time. Just listening to her sing on the set and talking with her was like a blessing. It's an honor to work with her. She gave me a lot of advice about the business and never disappointing my fans, to treat myself to good things and always give back to my family.
Did Whitney have anything to do with your casting as Cinderella?
We were friends for a while before we made Cinderella. She called me up one day and said, "Brandy, I want you to do a movie with me." I said, "Oh my God! It doesn't have to be a big part--just a small part and I'll be happy." Then she said she wanted me to play Cinderella and I just went crazy. She's a very direct person. When I call her, I get straight through to her. I don't have to go through like nine people. And she calls me directly. Sometimes when I talk to her I forget she's Whitney Houston.
Did you talk to Whitney about your first album?
I didn't really, because I was afraid she'd be critical. One of my singles she heard me sing and she said, "You have to sing loud, you have to belt it out." She was telling me I could have done better. And I said, "Nippy, I was sick." And she said, "Nope, you can't make excuses. You have to give it your best on every song!" She's really supportive. It's not like she's critical, but when she has an opinion she gets it out right away.
Sounds like a big sister talking.
Yeah, she is.
I’ve been waiting to talk about my favorite odd couple for a while. WHITNEY HOUSTON's singing husband BOBBY BROWN will have to face the music in Manhattan's Supreme Court next month over a concert cancelled four years ago. ALTHEA DURANT, from Brooklyn, New York, claims the NEW EDITION star owes her $30,000 for allegedly failing to perform at a show in Trinidad in 1993. Judge STUART C. COHEN says Brown (who had moved to dismiss the case) must now appear in court. Cohen also granted a default judgement against Brown's brother and manager TOMMY BROWN, for $30,000. I guess Bobby thought canceling booked shows was also his prerogative.
Leave the poor guy alone!
From Cybersleaze
Sad news! LeAnn Rimes is really has done the cover for You light up my life. I just read it in the Billboard singles review. They say it's a track to show vocal abilities and should be HUGE- HOW I WISH WHITNEY HAD DONE IT!!!!
# LeANN RIMES
"You Light Up My Life" (3:36)
Curb
Rimes revives Debby Boone's successful '70s pop ballad for today's country audience. She infuses the song with the incredible vocal skills that have made her the greatest thing since sliced bread in country music. The production doesn't stray far from the original hit formula _ and that's just fine. This is a singer's tune, designed to showcase a great performer. Should be huge.
From Dannymarc
Whitney is scheduled to make appearance at the 1997 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards on September 5th.
From Gary
Billboard Magazine cited The Preacher's Wife as the #1 gospel album of the year (1997) spending 26 weeks at #1 and still remains at #2, second only to "God's Property" from Kirk Franklin. Good job Whitney!
From Manish
Arista told me reportly that the Classic Whitney might be a great way to launch the Greatest Hits and a new tour. As you know the greatest hits is a double disc. We all know how the King of Pop's HIStory (Michael Jackson) is maybe Whitney might do the same. Whitney is currently working to record new material for the hits package.
From Gary
From Platinum Press: On August 25, Whitney will perform "One Moment In Time" after the first match of the US Open Tennis Match. The performance, as well as the game, will be broadcast live on USA Network TV at approximately 8:30 PM EST (depending of course on how long the first match runs). Whitney's involvement is due to the rededication of the stadium to Arthur Ashe.
From Tristan
Thanks everyone who turned up to the Whitney chat on 4 PM (for which I wasn't present) and 8 PM (which I attended). I'm glad so many showed up. Thanks to Lady Misty for helping me check the chat, to Diana for organizing it and to Rachel for helping inform everyone about this chat! Hope to see everyone there on any of the above times every Friday!
Thanks to Diana again for her support and Lady Misty for her help on checking the chat, we hope to organize all the Whitney fans who can to come have another chat. This time 8 PM Eastern on Friday August 15, 1997! Hope to see you there. We had a few complications the last time and now it's working and we hope to see everyone having fun on Friday. I'm looking forward to meeting the fans!
Happy Birthday Whitney!
Whitney! We love you, from all your Internet fans. I know it's unlikely but if you happen to be surfing here, we'd just like to tell you how much we appreciate your music and your voice and what it does to us! Okay, for all fans, please visit the Birthday page and sign the online Birthday card and check out Rachel's Birthday Page to send Whitney a real one!
Did you catch it? E! only sent this out to me 1 hour before the actual show and I didn't get to check my mail then. Anyways, hope you've recorded it.
I don't think fans should be so worried about Whitney geting the part in the D. Dandridge film. I'm surprised no one noticed the article about Dorothy Dandridge in the People Magazine, from july 28. Maybe everyone just paid too much attention to the little note about "a fairy god-mother with attitude." Anyways, in this 5-page article they mention that "by the time of her death, public had largely ignored her. That may change., thaks to(...)and to TWO SEPARATE film projects being develloped by actresses Halle Berry and *******WHITNEY HOUSTON*******, both devoted Dandridge admirers." And since Whitney holds the rights of the book, I don't think anyone can take the part from her, if she wants to play it. If you guys want to know a bit more about the woman cosidered to be the "black Marilyn Monroe"( and who Whitney will hopefully play on the big screen) this article is somewhat good.
From Daniel Marc
Thanks to Diana for her plan. She has organized for fans to come over to the Whitney Chat at 4 PM EST, that's 4:00 afternoon Eastern Time, on Friday August 8, 1997. So try to be there. I have sent this to the Mailing List already and hope for many to show up. I'll try to be there, okay?
In the premiere of Vibe yesterday. Brandy was their second guest, and Chris Spencer asked how she felt working with huge names like Whitney and Whoopi and she talked a little bit about Cinderella..said she just finished the film, and it was a dream to work with her idol. Then they showed some clips from the film that they said was a Vibe exclusive...then Whoopi made a surprise appearance...
From Kay
Nice to see some positive Cinderella news...
-Conflict between Diana Ross and Whitney
THere was going to be a movie made about the life of Diana Ross and the producers of it were looking for a younger lookking version of D.Ross. Whitney was gonna try for the part and when Diana heard of the news she was not very happy. It was like there was a competition between the two divas. When the movie 'Dreamgirls' was written and the piece was shown to miss Ross she hated it and the fact that Houston might be playing her part irritated her even more. She wanted to play the part herself, but she was too old.
In the end Whitney decided not to try out, and instead she was gonna try for a part in the movie 'Naked in the Feast', a movie based on the life of Josephine Baker. But she heard that Diana was also trying for the part of Miss Baker. When Diana found out that Whitney was also trying she was mad. She told the producers "Whitney doesn't want that part of Josephine. She just wants to compete against me again!" In the end neither of the two got the part. But there was still more rivalry to come.....the producers of the bodyguard were also considering Ross for the part of Rachel Marron.....but >hitney got the part due to her 'fresher and younger look'. When asked by the press about this situation with Ross, Miss Houston replied "I'm sick of this situation with Diana ross. I don't even know her, and now there is like this battle between the divas going on. And I'm sick of it."
Thanks a million to Carrie for translating this from Dutch! Anyways, my two cents is that the press is blowing this up. Whitney once said how they always make Diana and her out to be bitches so I guess this is just another story the media cooked up. LEAVE THEM ALONE!
I am a subscriber to Entertainment Weekly and there was an article about Cinderella. It was in the magazine that had Sean Penn & Robin Wright on the cover of The Aug. 8th issue. The article was in the news and notes section under random shot. It read:
"A SHOE-IN Poof! Who needs a prince when you've got gowns like these? Here's an early peek at Brandy and Whitney all gussied up to play Cinderella and her fairy godmother in ABC's remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein musical(nov.2) costarring Jason Alexander and Whoopi Goldberg."
It also says "Also updated: a score that has Houston belting out the tune "There's Music in You"" The article was written by Jessica Shaw pick up your copy to see the picture!!!
Thanks to David White for this info. Does anyone know how Sean Penn and Robin Wright are anyways? They always seem to be fighting or something.
These few weeks, I've been seeking new ideas for the "Step By Step" Mailing List and now it's improved better than ever. Please Sign Up if you haven't done so! And old members should enter member profiles and see the new changes! Don't hesitate!
On October 5, HBO will broadcast a special of Whitney live in concert! There is a warm-up show planned for October 3 at the same venue.
The Platinum Club will take you there... more details on a Whitney Washington D.C. Travel Package coming soon! Please e-mail the Platinum Club or call (415) 597-6688 to see Whitney in concert!
Space is limited, so make your reservation now.
Thanks to David Bailey for this info.
This month, we see Michael Jackson move up to 25 platinum with "Thriller". It was tied with Eagles at 24 million but now reclaims the title as the best selling album in the US. Also, Madonna is saving her certificates for her albums and singles that have already acquired quota amount for many months (You Must Love Me single), to boost rentals and sales of Evita on homevideo. Whitney seems to be doing the same, by keeping her triple platinum certificate for "Preacher's Wife" till when "Classic Whitney" comes out to boost sales of "Classic". A smart move, although "Preacher's Wife" has sold over 3 million copies.
Meanwhile, on other RIAA certificate news related to Whitney, Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112's "I'll Be Missing You" has hit the 3 million mark in singles sales, and should hit 4 million tying a few select singles that have hit the 4 million mark including Whitney's "I Will Always Love You".
Whitney says she gets really disappointed when she watches MTV and she sees the rap songs that degrade women and how the black women in the videos are putting themselves down. She talks about how black women should set up a good example and get the respect they deserve.
Please E-mail any news to me.
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