Whitney Houston's Train Wrecks in Australia

By Sam Brand Posted Feb 23rd 2010 02:11PM

Australian fans are in an uproar after watching Whitney Houston flub her way through a concert in Brisbane on Monday night. The 46-year-old diva reportedly took a break after just two songs, brought her brother onstage to hit her high notes and slurped from a water bottle through a closing performance of 'I Will Always Love You.'

"She couldn't entertain a dead rat," one concertgoer told the press outside the show. Yikes.

Monday's performance at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre was the first of several Australian stops on Houston's comeback 'Nothing But Love' tour. It was an ominous Down Under rebirth for an R&B queen frequently dogged by rumors of health and drug problems.

Today, concert promoter Andrew McManus took to defending the star against the many ticket purchasers calling for a refund.

"It was not a train wreck," McManus told Agence France-Presse of Houston's performance. "She was hitting most of the notes; yes, her throat was a little croaky. Her health is fine, but she's also not 22 years of age anymore."

The promoter's comments are of little consolation to those who paid up to $200 for seats. One fan tells Brisbane's Courier-Mail, "I have e-mailed the fellow down in Melbourne to get our money back but I don't think we will get it."

"We saw Liza Minnelli and she was marvelous," the fan continued. "But this one just walked all over the stage going: 'Um, I've got to go and have a drink.'"

According to concert reviews cited by the AFP, Houston appeared disoriented during the show, relied heavily upon backup singers and struggled to remember the names of her bandmates.

"This show was like watching a slow and painful death of a living legend," a Courier-Mail reader wrote in.

McManus saw it differently.

"If [fans] expected to hear Whitney of 20 years ago, go buy a CD."

Maybe the guy's got a point.

Tags: andrew mcmanus, australia, brisbane, i will always love you, nothing but love tour, trainwreck, whitney houston

Comments

(103)

Tuesday 23 February

By Ray

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It's dead... Bury it!!!

By Farmer John

If you played Whitney's music in a cornfield , it would scare off the crows.

By Deceived Again

This has been another episode of ' Selling Your Soul To The Devil '. Talent flushed down the toilet due to bad choices.

By dyan

she isn't that old, just 46 and her voice has got old, she can't hit the notes, well thats a joke, maybe is she was 66 its just an excuse, like she has been giving for the last 15 years, and what kind of stupid people would give upwards to 200 dollars to listen to her sing, go by a cd and close your eyes and pretend, its live, i bet you wish you had your money back! "MORONS"

By Nancy

Sounds like the same concert I saw 20 years ago, except her voice was still good.

By Tristan

If Liza can sound good at her age, sorry, the age excuse doesn't hold water for Whitney. Nor does it explain the other inappropriate behaviors, like slurping water during a song. Tacky. If she is using again, I hope someone close to her will be brave enough to say so, and help her to get the treatment she may need.

I had a friend who was a security guard for the stars. He said that even in her best days, Whitney was the rudest star he ever worked for.

By Karen Robinson

I think that every body should leave whitney alone she has been through enough all ready. She has giving us beautiful music in the past in yes i do agree that she should take a break.But all we can do is pray for whitney.I wished that i had ever sound like her lets give the lady credit.

Wednesday 24 February

By Joanna Casteel

Hang it up Whitney.

By LisaK

Who ever said 'voices change with age" is a moron. Voices do not change with age. She was just not prepared to sing live on stage and it shows. Her view of herself is to high. She needed to rehearse more.

By Lisa

I actually saw Whitney in concert back in the 90's.....She was terrible back then as well! I love her music... but, never waste your money seeing her live!

By salluvsya

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I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, because I simply love her and was soooo glad when she finally left that fool! But I'm afraid her voice has been damaged by her smoking whatever she smoked. I've heard her about 4-5 times now in the past few months, and she didn't even attempt any high notes; and if she did, she just yelled. I feel so bad for her. I used to have a great singing voice, but now that I've been smoking cigs for about 25 years, I can't sing anymore, so I'm sure that's what has happened to her. It's a shame, but we all pay for our mistakes in some way; she's just paying a much higher price than most of us! God Bless her and her daughter!

By Louis

My heart goes out to Whitney. She is an astounding vocalist with an angelic voice, and by the grace of God she will rise triumphantly through all her difficult days. Age does not diminish a legend, it makes her stronger. Whitney is about the same age as Susan Boyle, and Susan is just beginning to fulfill her dreams.

Last year I saw the legendary Connie Francis in concert in Pennsylvania. She had just turned 70 years old in December of 2008. She sang to a sold out audience and stunnedall of us with her awesome performance. We all had goosebumps, and there wasn't a dry eye in the theatre. The majority of the audience were senior citizens in their 60's and 70's, and we have all adored Connie since we were kids. The entire audience including theteens and 20's crowd gave her a standing ovation which I doubt Barbra Streisand or the Queen of England have ever received.

So, Whitney, you go girl!!!

By Jack

Whitney should just go into the crack business and cut out the middle man...She could save a lot of money that way. She threw away a great talent and it is now gone...The talent was wasted on a weak person and that is a shame....

By Chase

You know what is SO SAD? Is that people are SO quick to forget that she gave SHOW-STOPPING performances for so many years. I agree she is NOT what she used to be, BUT, if you watch the video the audience goes CRAZY at the finale of the song. That tells you something. The opening of the song, no, its not her best but she delivers at the climax. I have been a fan since the 80's and she has ALWAYS, even in her prime when she was vocally untouchable allowed her brother to sing a solo and has always had her dramatic moment before her signature song finale. Used to be she ended the show w/'Greatest Love' and she always paused at the end. Now that 'I Will Always' is her signature song she builds drama by pausing at the end, making the audience want it all the more. God forbid the woman should drink a drink of tea or water so she hits the note for the fans!!! She CANNOT win! If she lip-synched they would dog her out for that. It's like what happened with MJ. He was universally panned until he died then EVERYONE is quick to jump on the 'I LOVE HIM' bandwagon. At least we didn't lose her to drugs like we did MJ. NO, she cannot sing like she could but even still this performance is LIVE and better than 90% of the younger wannabe singers out there.

By cal

whitney is old@47yrs ....while diana ross at 65 can sing a phone book for me.

By Judy

go to you tube and listen to charice...she is the greatest singer of all times.......

By peppa

AFTER WHITNEY'S NON PERFORMANCE....SHE WENT TO THE OUTBACK CRACKHOUSE
AND ORDERED HER FAVORITE MEAL OF CRACK ON THE BARBIE , A BLOOMING ONION AND A GRAPE COOL-AID !!!

By Georgia

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I agree with you whole heartedly. The train wrecked a long time ago when she allowed herself to get involved with Bobby Brown, and then let him talk her into doing drugs with him. We all saw what drugs did to Bobby Brown! That is why he was asked to leave New Edition. They had a no drug policy, and he violated that. He was a has been after he left that group and only wanted to be with Whitney to ride her glory train. But we see what happened along the way, the train derailed because of stupidity and the weakness of two individuals who wanted to use drugs rather than be famous for their talents. They had it all, and now they have nothing, just like her song! How appropo!

Whitney blew it when she decided that doing drugs was OK! That is what has taken her voice and ruined a bright musical career! She had it all, fame, fortune, a beautiful daughter, and then she lets a low life like Bobby Brown ruin it for her like he ruined it for himself. How weak she was to believe that she could do drugs and still be good in her profession. It just doesn't work that way. She needs to realize that she is not the preformer she once was, and regroup and try to do it another way. She will never be able to reach the heights she once did. Drugs have truly taken away a beautiful voice. She is a true has been just like her ex-husband!

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