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?