Rough Return to Live Stage for Whitney Houston

By PopEater Staff Posted Apr 14th 2010 10:16AM

Her fans may always love her, but catty reviewers across Britain aren't exactly singing Whitney Houston's praises following a bumpy return to the stage Tuesday night in rough-and-tumble Birmingham.

Invariably, every negative review included some variation of "Houston, we have a problem," but when they began describing the singer's vocals and overall stamina, even the normally prim BBC got in on the act, saying the singer was "panting more than John Prescott running for the bus," a reference to a well-known (and chubby) politician from Wales.

Whitney's performance of 'I Will Always Love You,' which goes awry at the 4:18 mark:

Houston was supposed to kick off her British tour last week, but had to cancel due to respiratory problems. Her breathing seemed to be one of the main problems, according to several reviewers.

A local paper, The Birmingham Post, said that although Houston's "voice was still there, the stamina was not," adding the 45-minute concert "was constantly broken up with water breaks and chats with the audience to catch her breath."

Whitney on tour in 1994

The Post's reviewer, Alison Dayani, said Houston angered the crowd after six songs when she "disappeared to let her brother Gary and the backing singers perform some of her tracks while she took a 15 minute break."

One of the song's she chose to let video and backup singers perform was her hit 'One Moment in Time.'

Her absence so soon after the show began led to boos around the arena, and when she returned to the stage, Houston quipped, "Thank you for being patient. I heard you getting p***ed off."

The notoriously rough-on-celebs tabloid The Sun said Whitney seemed distracted, "often losing her train of thought during rambling between-song chats with the audience."

The 'Today' Show Covered It:

When it came time to sing her signature song, 'I Will Always Love You,' Houston failed to hit the soaring high notes.

One audience member told BBC Radio 5 live: "She was good when she was good, but when she was not on form, she was awful."

Not all the reviews were bad, however, with The Independent's Elisa Bray saying she admired Houston, "who in the face of the negative press, stood up tonight to give her all."

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Whitney Houston Snapshots

Whitney Houston performs on stage at Acer Arena on February 24, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. Click for More Whitney Pics >>>

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Whitney Houston Snapshots

Whitney Houston arrives at Fountain studios on October 18, 2009 in London, England. Celebrity Sightings In London - October 18, 2009 London, England United Kingdom October 18, 2009 Photo by Sam Snap/FilmMagic.com To license this image (58676261), contact FilmMagic.com

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Singer Whitney Houston performs during the German game show "Wetten Dass...?" (Bet it...?) in Freiburg, southwestern Germany, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. "Wetten Dass...?" is one of the most popular Saturday night programmes in Germany. (AP Photo/Johannes Eisele, Pool)

US singer Whitney Houston talks with TV host Thomas Gottschalk during the 183rd edition of the TV show presented by "Wetten, dass..?" (Let's Make a Bet) on October 3, 2009 in Freiburg, southern Germany. AFP PHOTO DDP/ JOERG KOCH GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read JOERG KOCH/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

US singer Whitney Houston performs on stage during the 183rd edition of the TV show presented by "Wetten, dass..?" (Let's Make a Bet) on October 3, 2009 in Freiburg, southern Germany. AFP PHOTO DDP/ JOERG KOCH GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read JOERG KOCH/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

FREIBURG IM BREISGAU, GERMANY - OCTOBER 03: Singer Whitney Houston performs during the Wetten dass...? show at the Messe Freiburg on October 3, 2009 in Freiburg, Germany. (Photo by Miguel Villagran/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Whitney Houston

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Tags: Whitney Houston

Comments

(414)

Wednesday 14 April

By Tom

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Ms Houston...A diva of the past....way past. I am sure happy to know I didn't put out any cash for the Birmingham, England concert. Disgusting, give it up girl.

By Brian

Andy Gibb....by the time he got his sh_t together it was to late, and the drugs he had done took their toll on Andy and his heart gave out.

Whitney Houston is NO DIFFERENT. Surprised she isn't dead yet.

By joe alvarez

Vote down Vote up Report this

She never been good live. The reason why she recorded so good is in the studio they would speed the recording up so the notes would go up. Plus she is so overated expecially now that drugs have ruined this oerson. I do remember her being horrible to her fans and people who tried to get an autograph she was not even cordial. Karma

Friday 16 April

By mjs

Hey, did you ever her sing the star spangled banner??? (LIVE) the woman could sing!!!! I don't know what what went wrong, and neither do you, but, even Dolly herself said that Whitney covered the song that she wrote (and might I say sang the heck out of in The Best Little Wh****house in Texas) did a very good job of.

By retfla2

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Some people are given the gift of amazing talent to be used for good. But often as in the case of Jennifer Capriati, John Daley, Tiger Woods and now Whitney, if people exploit, or abuse the gift they were given, it is often taken away, never to be received again. So sad.

Saturday 17 April

By Rev. Mark

Not too judgMENTAL are you?

By roseyoungstewart

Having trouble breATHING? wELL, STOP SMOKING.

By Handsome Dan

Crack is Wack! stay off the pipe and don't forget to wipe!

By Father Time

It's painful to watch, almost like watching Ali fight at age 37

By hair

She actually sounds more like her cousin Dionne Warwick on a bad day!

Thursday 15 April

By Alan Fernett

Time to go!!!

By lee

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

Hey......she sounds fine! Give her a chance, its like an athlete, the more you practice (live performances) the better! Good Luck Whitney!! Plus she's older. Beautiful~

By shirley

u guys ever stop to think-these great performers-whitney, MJ, etc... they are no more than HUMAN BEINGS same as u and me.....I think they are awesome, incredible people, who did their best and then we stop 'loving' them when they cant perform for us. I say we love em anyway, for the good they gave us when they could. stop being a bunch of haters. We all bleed red people.

By mary

BLEEDING HEART!!!!!! LOL

By pete

i agree you hit on right on the nail

By sam

Houston we have a problem!!!!

By cgolfsuper1

I have to admit, this is pretty bad. It' as though she just doesn't have anything left in her anymore. Her spirit is broken, or maybe her heart; whatever it is, only time will tell if she gets it back.

By Joanna

batch of crap.

By algonquin j. calhoun

can whit regain her top form? um, hell-to-the-no!

By JC

Give her a break! At least she is trying!

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