Platinum Club Meet & Greet with Whitney

Hi! Greetings from Melbourne, Down Under

I've just been on the best trip ever, if ever there was a point when I can exhale, this is it!

Not only have I seen Whitney live in concert for the first time in Paris,( where I met Rachel (what a lovely and gracious person you are- the photo on the Net doesn't do you justice)), but I had front row seats in Manchester, next to fellow Aussie Yohan (we just had to miss her in Melbourne and fly half way around the globe to see her, didn't we?) and later got to meet Whitney. I'll try and convey as much of the joy and excitement I felt at that meeting...

After the Manchester show, the Platinum Club tour package group of 21 were handed stickers that said Whitney Houston Working: Fan Club/After Show. Everyone put it on their chest proudly- we were going to meet Whitney!

We were brought to a room where we had drinks, (one of the few generous gestures offered by the Club!) and waited excitedly for Whitney. Everytime the door opened, we held our collective breath.

After about 10 minutes(?), Rickey Minor popped into the room. He shook everyone's hands and thanked us for coming. He said that it was great having real fans in the front row, they didn't like performing to an audience that just sat down with arms crossed. We told him where we were from- England, France, Japan, Australia, Germany, the States.

After Rickey left, the next person to pop in was the Lady herself, Whitney! She was not accompanied by Bobby- to the relief of many in the group- hah! She was dressed casual- jeans, sweat top, and hat. There were probably two assistants with her, bodyguard( I didn't notice at the time- my eyes were on her the whole time), and three Platinum Club staff.

We all stood in a circle around the room- we had been told not to rush her(!), go nuts or ask for autographs/take photos.

Whitney was even more gorgeous up close. She did not spend a lot of time with us though, quickly working her way around the group saying thank you for coming/ pleasure to meet you etc.. She took three group photos and we had a pleasant surprise when a cake was brought out for Dorothy, an English fan who has seen countless concerts before-aren't some people lucky!

I got to shake her hand and hug her. I had a good whiff of Whitney too- she smelled real.

The only questions she took were regarding- her ring, said something about her husband buying it for her and only him knowing the cost of it: Bodyguard II : the script is being written at the moment, said nothiing about Will Smith/Anything for Love; and Cissy Houston's albums and whether she sang back-up on them: answer- no, her cousins did and they sound a lot like her. She cracked a joke about Newark(?), saying it was the size of a penny.

After the photos, Whitney said she had to go and appeared a little too keen to leave to me. No doubt, she was exhausted but Whitney left us all wanting a few more minutes of her time.

Exhale shoop shoop