Whitney does “Million Dollar Bill” on GMA
Well…what do we say? What don’t we say?
I for one am glad and happy Whitney Houston’s life has been put back together again. The grace of God has kept her. However, let’s not make the music secondhand to her inspirational story.
Sure, she’s been through a lot. And she’s back! Of course we are happy! But I can still look objectively at this music and her voice, and that’s what we judge our artists on. Since when did a comeback story outweigh the actual reality of a voice, well preserved or not?
The album can be manipulated and fixed and re-done in a closed, controlled environment. So while we may be able to enjoy that, a true lover of music can sonically hear the differences and inconsistencies in that medium.
“I Look to You” on Good Morning America
However, even a casual listener can hear what’s really going on in a live situation, and I think Whitney knows she is not able to produce anymore in that environment.
Case in point, news is already coming out that they possibly doctored the broadcast. Or the fact that she had to put a disclaimer on her performance, blaming it on doing a lot of talking on Oprah previously.
“My Love Is Your Love”
Whitney IS the legend that everyone looks up to. And while everyone is happy she’s back, her stans will fight to the end and call you a hater if you say anything contrary to “Whitney is great!” Sure, her legacy was great, but will it remain that way? Even if she comes clean on Oprah and admits everything we already know, it doesn’t detract from the fact that this Good Morning America concert shows her vocals to be weak, damaged and almost barely there at times. Even her stage presence seemed haphazardly thrown together, with obvious attempts at crowd hyping replacing the fact that she can’t sing the same notes anymore.
Couple that with the backing track you can audibly hear and just the overall rawness of the vocals and you have cold hard facts. Whitney’s back but she’s definitely not better than ever. This is 25% of old Whitney — time has taken its toll, on her psyche, performance, voice, body, and everything else. We can accept what she offers if we choose because she’s built up a lot of good grace. But let’s not act like we can’t hear how bad she sounds NOW.
“I’m Every Woman”
All that said, fans love a good comeback story, and the album is reportedly on pace to sell about 300K in the US alone, not even figuring all the worldwide sales yet. Her legacy will sell her album, and her upcoming Oprah performances will no doubt help as well. But this is what Clive Davis does, so are we really surprised?
Related posts:
- Whitney Houston Stuns In South Korea — Good Way or Bad Way? You Decide!
- “A Diva Returns” — Whitney Houston Promo Video Does The Most
- Whitney Houston Is Celebrating Her 25th Anniversary!
- New Music: Whitney Houston – “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength”
- Classic Flashback: Whitney Houston – “So Emotional”
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September 2, 2009 KBJr.
Okay, I won’t argue that her vocals were a masterclass.
Okay, I won’t contend that “The Voice” is back.
Okay, I won’t debate on the merits of grading her contemporary performances by comparison to her classic ones.
But I will say…
Arguing that Whitney ‘dissapointed’ because she didn’t reintroduce her ‘Star Spangled Banner’-era voice is like setting up a rather weak straw man. I don’t think anyone actually believed she was going to (or was capable of) doing this. I think she met initial expectations, which were: does she look in better spirits? Do we believe she’s broke through? Is her new material any good? Can she muster decent vocals? I think she met expectations to all of these questions. Obviously, she won’t be able to skate-by on mediocre vocals the entire promotional run of this album, but this was her first performance in years…she should be allowed to get into her groove just like everyone else.
Bottomline: Whitney’s “I Look To You” is the hands-down best R&B album of 2009. Her material should speak for itself…the first hurdle was getting her…as we go along, she’ll then have to prove herself with the vocals. But GMA was nowhere near a Mariah-esque disaster (who has no excuse at all for her garbage performances)…it was a lively, electric, first apperance. I look forward to more Whitney in the near future.
September 2, 2009 kelis
Really Nippy…. :( I am sad that she will never be the same anymore.. RIP Whitney’s voicem right along with Mimi’s.
September 2, 2009 The IPS
I’m sorry, she looks great. But she don’t sound great. If that was Cassie on stage, we’d be LAMBASTING HER! For real! A wack performance is a wack performance. Ya’ll are bugging.
And best R&B album of 2009!? NO. Have you heard Ledisi’s album? Have you heard Maxwell’s album?! Bottom line is the reign of the divas is DEAD. The major label system is dead. There are too many people making too much good music for us to be carte-blanche handing out “Best R&B Album of 2009″ awards. I’m sorry, AND, the 4th quarter hasn’t even hit yet.
The material on this Whitney album is wack too but I will save that for my album review LOL.
Sure, she was lively and electric. If only to make up for her not singing the big notes and distracting from the fact that she was lively and electric on parts where there should have been singing!
September 2, 2009 MzVirgo
To KBJr…
The IPS is calling a spade a spade. Whitney doesn’t have the angelic voice she once had in the 80’s. We can all agree with that, right?
As for her performance, there is a thing called “rehearsal”. Whitney clearly didn’t do that. Had she done so, she wouldn’t be out of breath on the first song! Hence “skating by” on her lyrics.
To say that Whitney’s album is the “best R & B album of 2009″ is like saying Beyonce is a great actress and should win an Academy award for “Obsessed”.
We can go on and on about how Whitney’s in good spirits and how she’s broken through. A lot of artists have “broken through” and overcome adversity, drugs, abuse, etc. But they don’t deliver something this lackluster when they come back. Maxwell has been away for 7 years, he sounds great. D’angelo has been away for several years (awaiting his comeback album), but I’m sure he will deliver.
Let those videos be a cautionary tale to the new divas, take care of your voices.
(steps off soapbox)
September 2, 2009 twizzle
You know what? If Whitney is in good spirits, gettin’ her life in order and what not, I’m happy for her. That’s not an excuse to bamboozle us listeners, however. If you know your voice is jacked, but you beat crack, just do a few interviews to let us know you’re doin’ alright. Keep what’s left of your voice to yourself.
And she is NOT, I repeat, NOT singin’ that first hook! This was definitely doctored in a few places.
When she sang “you didn’t leave me” at the 3:40 mark, I truly started feeling sorry for this woman. It’s a wrap. This was supposed to be the performance that reintroduced Whitney to her fans. After this sorry performance, you’d have to be crazy to pay money to see this woman sing live.
If your instrument is damaged, accept it and move on with your life. She’s got a great body of work, a healthy daughter, and she’s off drugs. That’s plenty to be appreciative of. She should have done the Oprah interview and left it at that.
I feel violated after viewing these performances.
September 2, 2009 nubianfx
I made the mistake of commenting, in passing that i think whitney’s new stuff is average at best, ohh and the stans snarled at me..lol.. i was labelled a hater. but as people have pointed out, we are here for the music. Whitney houston is a singer, and so im expecting her to sing..lol.. ofcourse im glad she pulled through, and is looking healthy and happy, but lets keep it real here, so can nowhere near sing anymore. not like old whitney, not even like mid nineties whitney. so why would i buy her album?? i wont buy it for the same reason i will not be buying mariah careys album. lol..
September 3, 2009 killing myself softly
I watched it yesterday and I was sad.
Like twizzle said above “it’s a wrap”.
Tragic.
September 3, 2009 KBJr.
I’m a huge Maxwell fan, but I was unmoved by his largely atmospheric return album. So shoot me…I still think “Now” is his best work to date.
Ledisi’s last album was fire, I’d admit that…”Best Friend” was my cut. But her new album just does not do the same for me. Is it technically good? Sure. But there is more to an album than just technical prowess.
Yes, I realize the 4th quarter has not approached us yet…what I meant to say is that its the best album of 2009 up until this point (Fantasia’s new album is supposed to come out forth quarter, so, and you know how I feel about her IPS).
Again, my prior point was to allow for a consistency of mediocre performances before we all start to pile on…give the woman a chance to give more performances.
September 3, 2009 IVORY'S INTELLECT
It sounds like she’s getting emotional. After the highs and lows she probably didn’t think she’d be back there ever again. After drugs, alcohol, and the ageing process there’s no way she could sound the same. Mariah had her air humidifiers and what not and her voice has gone too. It has to be expected.
They both still sound better than many singers out here today. If you want Whitney from the 80s, get her album.
September 3, 2009 twizzle
People, stop drinkin’ that Kool-Aid from the Houston camp . . .
This performance was extremely, to coin a term, “Cassie-esque.”
This woman has been performing for decades. She shouldn’t need a slew of “warm-up” performances to get it right.
She does not get a pass for being a divorced, former crackhead. She knows her voice well enough to know what she needs to avoid in order to put in a stellar performance. That’s why I believe what we’re hearing here is actually what’s left of her voice.
Don’t even get me started on her tryin’ to blame this sh*t on an Oprah interview . . . Really? One interview had you sounding like this? You need more people . . .
I was really in her corner until I saw this shiteous performance.
*pours out a lil’ liqua for Whitney’s voice*
September 3, 2009 Nickey
For anyone that thought Whitney was going to come back with “The Voice”, I’m selling bridges! Whitney voice is not and never will be what it was. She has done too much damage to it. Its a wonder she even was able to “sing” ( I use that loosely) at all.
I’m just happy she got her life together. I sampled the album and I will not be buying. Its just standard R&B. Not even close to being the best R&B album of the year or even one of the best. I doubt it even sales that much. *turns back on Maxwell*
September 3, 2009 divaTy
Can we discuss Bobbi Kristina trying that sad little run?
September 3, 2009 The IPS
Yeah ROFL, I mean. I’m all for Bobbi trying to follow in the family footsteps. It’s sure to be a good time for us!
September 3, 2009 kelis
Thank u IPS for being real about it. I mean we all LOVE Whitney but that was horrific.
September 18, 2009 Ratchet
Seriously.
SERIOUSLY?
Some of you are a little too quick to judge.