Whitney Houston's Train Wrecks in Australia
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.
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She is only 46 and some are using that age to defend a horrible performance. Johnny Mathis is 74 and he still gives his audience a full concert with impeccable singing. Other singers such as Tony Bennett do the same. If one is a professional he or she needs to do all the necessary things both on and off stage to give their audience their money's worth.
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She's the Judy Garland of this generation. Judy Garland also had major problems during an Australian performance in the 1960's with fans claiming she was out of it and her voice gone. Sadly, drugs were to blame in that case as well.
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BS...Judy Garland was a consumate professional and an extraordinary talent. One of her strengths was the ability to give an unflawed performance, even when exhausted, and to the amazement of her collegues. Whitney Houston is NOWHERE NEAR the caliber of performer that Judy Garland was!
I didn't say Whitney was Judy's equal as a performer, I just meant Judy was a great star in her 20 and 30's but crashed and had many famous train wrecks in concert - including a famous on in Austraila in 1964. Hope Whitney's end isn't as sad.
ask the promoter why is he charging the price today of what she was 20 yrs. ago.
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I GUESS YOU FELT THE SAME WAY ABOUT BRITNEY HUH?
HOW IGNORANT OF YOU. PEOPLE DO RECOVER AFTER MAKING THE MISTAKE OF USING DRUGS AND THEY HEAL. IT'S PEOPLE SUCH AS YOURSELF THAT LIVES A LIFE OF MISERY AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING OF OTHERS SUFFERING. PEOPLE CAN REHAB FROM DRUG ADDICTION BUT NOT FROM IGNORANCE.
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so why waste your breath-GOD
I think it is more sad than anything else. How mean to say she should "disappear." She should get her act together but I would hate to see her leave us early like Micheal Jackson.
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Why doesn't she just lip-sync to her recorded songs like everyone else does....Or use auto-tone? People are paying to hear what they hear on the radio...she should give it to them.
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crack head has had it... good riddens...
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Hey Rainy...you sound like a hateful person and resentful towards your own recovery. Where do you get off yelling at us. The article said that Whitey seemed confused and slurring her words...that sounds like drugs and alcohol consumption to me. As for your hateful self....please return to using and drinking....it will make you happy again.
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Is this the way we treat celebrities? After they fell and are trying to get back up we bury them instead of helping them up? Give me a break,so should she.
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Oh my God. I wanna cry... this is very sad.
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You don't recover from that kind of addiction... she's back on something... no matter what the publicist says...
meth, crack, ups downs, heroin, vicodin.... oxy... whatever...
you don't survive the stuff.. I've seen it all around me in people without her resources.... you don't escape.
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OK...they say she was tired from a long flight and we shouldn't expect her to sound like 20-25 years ago. Really. Let's not forget that Celine Dion has been around for more than 20 years just in the US (not even counting the years prior in Canada) and when she shows up to sing...she SINGS. If you want to blame it on age then how do you explain Tony Bennett who has been around for 60 YEARS!! Bottom line..be a pro or go. I am not just being mean or hyper critical. I happen to be a pro and still make my living singing...only small venues mind you but I take care of my voice and would never show up only to give a second rate, "croaky" vocal performance. Sorry, but there are no excuses. Loved Whitney from the beginning and immediately bought the new album when it came out. My husband (producer) and I listened to it and were so disappointed. This is not the Whitney I became a fan of. I don't understand the choice of material and that wonderful voice needs more time to heal...if it can.
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Sorry to dissapoint you steve but it wasnt just the 1 night, she failed lastnight 2. And to anyone who whinges about her age, thats no excuse, theres not much age difference between whitney and kylie minogue and id bet kylie would never turn up on stage and put on such a crappy performance as whitney did. n big deal that shes been outta the biz 4 while, so was michael jackson and his REHERSAL videos were more entertaining that whitneys actual concerts. If your not as good as you were 20yrs ago then stop acting like you think you still are and start charging prices that suit just how incredibly lame your performace is. If you are not going to perform to a standard that your fans expect then dont run home crying just because the fans are pissed. Same thing happened with britneys lip syncing. Ive seen better singing and much more interesting performances on stage by my sons grade 3 school class. There is nothing professional in whitneys concert. If i wanted to see a junkie walk around swigging out of a bottle id go sit down the local park... i wouldnt pay hundreds of dollars to do it
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This may have been a little harsh but somewhat true. Granted she may not be as young as she was when she was real good but I think that her actions with drugs has played a major role in her voice and performance. She is definitely not the same Whitney, I still like her but she just need to chill. She's been through a lot and just dont have the same "umph" as she used to have.
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Okay, i love whitney houston, but i think shes a has been. she had it all and and now she has nothing. To whom much is given, much is expected and she ruined it for herself with the crack. To smoke crack for 20 years and expect to still be able to sing is ridiculous. no onw is to blame for whitneys condition but herself. bobby didnt talk her into anything, she did it because she wanted to. he was on drugs beofre they married and so was she. bobby hopped on whitney's coat tails and had one hell of a ride at her expense.
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Smoking and drugs HAS detroyed her voice. She needs to stop embarassing herself. Her voice should not sound this bad even at her age. Drugs took her down...Bid Times!!!
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I always believe the reason Whitney picked Bobby because of who she really was. She chased him down an snubbed every other guy. She knew what she was doing. Bobby used and she did too and that is what she wanted to do. That behavior was not acceptable with "clean" guys. She did not want to believe you use drugs you die.
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