14 DAY TRIAL // Whitney Houston has kicked off her international tour with a concert at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Australia, the same tour that got everybody thinking it would be able to silence the naysayers and critics who thought of something bad to say for her comeback album. Unfortunately, the show did not incite the reaction organizers and Whitney were hoping for in fans, with them and the media labeling it a disaster, as The Daily Telegraph can confirm.
Aside from the fact that Mrs. Houston seemed to suddenly go breathless after just two songs, she also appeared to be disoriented for most of the performance, fans in attendance took to the Internet to say. Her voice was croaky and unstable and she could barely hit the good notes, let alone the high ones that once made of her such an international star. At one point, they go on to say, Whitney left the stage for about 20 minutes to half an hour, just because she felt the need to take a breather.
And that’s not all that went wrong with the concert, media reports say. As she sang “I Will Always Love You,” Whitney paused smacked in the middle of the song to have a drink of water and towel herself – and took her time with it, as the video below can also confirm, albeit it’s of very poor quality. Overall, this was not the comeback fans were expecting, several media outlets are saying, while even the AFP goes on to label the comeback tour a disaster so far. Moreover, most of the fans who were at the concert are planning on asking for refunds.
“The 46-year-old actress and singer got through two songs at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Monday night before appearing breathless and exhausted, taking a break and then carrying a towel with her for the next few songs. After half a dozen songs, during some of which she coughed, she left the stage to take a break, bringing on her brother, Gary Houston, to sing. The band and backing singers then performed an energetic version of Queen of the Night, from The Bodyguard soundtrack,” the aforementioned publication says.
“The final act, a string of groove-laden dance numbers and ballads, faltered at the finale when she croaked her way through I Will Always Love You, pausing to get a drink and towel off just as she was about to hit the song’s epic high note, which she turned into a soft coo. Concert-goers in Brisbane labeled the 46-year-old’s show ‘embarrassing,’ ‘terrible,’ ‘poor,’ ‘rambling’ and ‘hopeless.’ One said by the end of the concert Houston was being heckled by members of the audience and they had felt ‘cheated’ by her performance. Others said they would be demanding their money back,” TDT further writes.
Houston’s manager and concert organizers, on the other hand, say the diva can’t even begin to understand where all this negativism is coming from. Of course, they say, this was not one of her best nights and her voice was indeed a bit “croaky,” but the performance was ok.