Whitney Houston at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Date: March 04, 2010

From Adelaide Now
Submitted by: Lisa D.


ADELAIDE came to judge pop icon Whitney Houston for themselves last night and gave her Nothing But Love.

As she belted out the opening notes of For The Lovers with ease at the Entertainment Centre, her dedicated and enthusiastic fans jumped out of their seats, instantly screaming and dancing for their idol who did not disappoint.

Although her prime may have passed, Houston proved she's still keen to show some sex appeal as she strutted the stage in skin-tight silver shiny pants and thrust her hips toward her all male dance team.

However, when the first song closed the soul star that brought the world hits including I Wanna Dance With Somebody and I Will Always Love You took a few moments, a couple of deep breaths and composed herself to the sound of rapturous applause.

She addressed her fans after the second song saying "I've got nothing but love for you Adelaide" then serenaded the three-quarter full stadium claiming "I love you, I love you, I love you, thank you."

Houston, 46, introduced her daughter Bobbi Kristina to the Adelaide crowd for her 17th birthday. The crowd sang Happy Birthday amid cake, tears and hugs from her mother.

The pop diva for all ages has always been able to cause a stir and her Nothing But Love Tour, which kicked off in Brisbane last week, has come laden with controversy.

Fans and critics alike have labelled her show the "worst ever" and had no hesitation in dissing her once-stellar vocal ability.

Yet there were no visible cracks in the early stages of her performance as she went for every note and shimmied around the stage. She did take some drink breaks - and acknowledged them to the crowd saying "you will see me touch my bottle, it's really water, don't get it twisted" - and regrouped from time to time.

After the first set she started to appear a bit breathless while asking the crowd to pray for Haiti.

Since the first show in Brisbane, reports have been mixed. Perhaps this is a result of lowered expectations, or perhaps the crowds are now more accepting their wonder woman has had a hard life. Surviving drug problems and an abusive relationship with former husband Bobby Brown has no doubt left Whitney a little weary.

Yet despite the bad press - and perhaps in spite of it - Houston tried to power on and continue to please her faithful devotees who have rolled out almost $200 to to see their hero.