Whitney Houston is not having an easy time of it.
She opened her tour last night in Birmingham, England after a brief hospitalization in Paris derailed her first dates. This is after a disastrous bunch of dates in Australia a few weeks ago.
The British reviewers were not kind. Even though Whitney tried with all her might to resurrect herself, the voice simply is not there. It’s almost heartbreaking to hear her just not be able to find even the voice she had two years ago at Clive Davis’s Grammy party. Clearly, her instrument is injured.
There are a number of examples on YouTube. Here’s one, a short clip of “Saving All My Love for You”: http://tinyurl.com/y2la98s
What is going on? It’s hard to say. Houston denies drugs have been involved, and we can only hope she’s telling the truth. Whatever is going on, this is not the Whitney even of more recent days. And it can only be frustrating as hell for her. She knows that somewhere in there still lies what used to be the greatest voice of all.