November 1999 Nippy News (Part II)

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99/11/30

"The Bodyguard," already the best-selling soundtrack of all time, has become even bigger. The album has been certified 17x platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. Although the soundtrack is technically a multi-artist compilation, it has always been cited (even by the RIAA) as a Whitney Houston release. Thus, Whitney's "The Bodyguard" moves ahead of Alanis Morrisette's "Jagged Little Pill" (16x platinum) as the top-selling album in the U.S. by a female artist. (Thanks Rob N.)

MTV Showed It Again! Today on MTV's Hot Zone, they showed the MLIYL performance from the Europe Music Awards! This may turn out to be a recurring item, just as VH-1 also has stopped using the orginal video version and is instead playing the live rendition from the VH-1 Divas Live/99 concert. Only BET has continued with the original version. (Thanks Carolyn)

The La Nacion newspaper in Argentina has mentioned rumors of a possible Whitney concert next March in Argentina, at about the time when Whitney is reportedly planning to perfrom in Brazil. The newspaper also mentioned how mature Whitney's voice was during the VH-1 Divas Live/99 show, in an article talking about the CD. (Thanks Erick P.) Has anyone else heard about this? If yes, please e-mail the Nippy News! Thanks!

Speaking of Divas Live/99, here is a Rolling Stone Magazine review of the CD.

99/11/29

According to Radio & Records Magazine, the "I Learned From The Best" single will be released to both R&B radio and Adult Contemporary radio at the same time, while Pop radio won't be serviced the song until later. All dates are subject to change. Read the details here. (Thanks Tony V.)

MTV Listens? This morning on MTV Jams they showed Whitney's MLIYL performance from the MTV Europe Music Awards that was edited from the broadcast in America. I guess they have learned their lesson. Whitney sounded great and looked fabulous.The audience enjoyed the performance and showed their love in the end. (Thanks Carolyn)
While it's still not right that MTV cut Whitney's performance in the first place, we should send thank you notes to them for finally airing it. You can send your thanks to MTV here. Hopefully they will air it again for anyone who missed it.

The first Hispanic Opinion Tracker 2000 by People en Espanol ranks Whitney as the seventh all-time favorite female singer in the music business among people polled of Hispanic/Latino origin. Whitney ranked second among female voters. It would be more interesting to see if these poll results change after the release of "Could I Have This Kiss Forever." Here are the full results.

Divas Live/99 Chart Update...

According to an Arista mailing card, the MLIYL limited edition album with remix CD will be released in U.K. stores on December 6th, not November 29th as previously expected. (Thanks David)

Check out this vote caster at Foekje's web site! You can vote about the greatest hits project.

99/11/28

Here's how to get tickets to Whitney's charity gala on December 4th. It's an understatement to say it will probably be very expensive:
According to the Platinum Club: Whitney's All-Star Holiday Gala will be held on December 4, 1999 in New York at the Marriot Marquis Broadway Ballroom. Slated to appear at the All-Star Gala is Latin sensation Marc Anthony! This winter bash will benefit the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children build a positive self image through a safe and supportive learning environment. For ticket information, call 310.271.6499.

If you haven't already done so, or would like to participate again, please vote for Whitney as best performer at Top of the Pops. Make sure to delete your cookies each time you vote! (Thanks Eddie)

The Junior Vasquez web site may have been wrong: Thunderpuss 2000 has not been commissioned to do remixes for "I Bow Out." They were in my store yesterday afternoon and said, "It's news to us that we are remixing that song." (Thanks Carlos I.W.)

On MTV 1515 this weekend they featured Enrique Iglesias. Kurt Loder mentioned the duet with the Diva and said, "On the new album there is a duet with Whitney whom he [Enrique] has yet to lay eyes upon." When asked about working with the Diva, Enrique said, "We did not meet because she was in Europe and I was in the States so she recorded the sound through ISDN." (Thanks Carolyn)

99/11/27

New Screen Captures: About 30 additional screen captures have been added for Top of the Pops! Plus 18 new screen captures have been added in the MTV Europe Music Awards section! Some are from the show "Stylissimo." (Thank you again Eddy VB)

Listen to Whitney's performance of MLIYL from the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards. It's nothing short of fantastic. If you missed this performance because MTV was disrespectful enough to cut it out of its broadcast, feel free to give MTV a piece of your mind here. It deserves an explanation at minimum, and hopefully a full broadcast. Just take care not to use profanity if you write to them!

Also from the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards: Listen to Whitney talk about how she had to sing gospel music back in the day, and hear the Europe group Steps, Missy Elliot, Da Brat and Christina Aguilera talk about Whitney. Whitney also comments about what it's like to have other artists look up to her. (Many thanks to Eddy VB for the MTV Europe audio files)

Chart News: Here's why we should keep making those calls for the MLIYL single! Plus ILFTB debuts on the German Chart! Read the details...

Whitney's INRBIO has been included in this year's edition of MuchMusic's MuchDance CD of the year's past hits. This is the first time a Whitney song has been included. It is a top selling CD in Canada every year. They mention Whitney in the commercials for this product, so she is a "selling point" for the CD. (Thanks Rachel)

99/11/26

Listen to Whitney perform "I Learned From The Best" on "Top Of The Pops!" The recording was made at the same time Whitney recorded other songs for the show months ago. Screen captures have been added too! (Thank you again Eddy VB!)
We can also vote for Whitney as the best performer on the show here.

Listen to the full versions of MLIYL and ILFTB from the recent 1999 Bambi Awards, plus Whitney's full acceptance speech!
Additional Bambi Awards screen captures have been added too!(Thank you so much Eddy VB!)

Here's an article about how Clive Davis will be meeting with BMG executives next week. This article is the first that I've seen that mentions Whitney's opt-out clause in her recording contract. It also quotes a pro-Clive source who says Clive had approached a BMG executive to line up a management team to take on his job when he eventually retired, but BMG shot down the idea. In addition, Clive says he has received a flood of offers to head other music entertainment companies. Read the full details...

"I Learned From The Best" U.K. Release Dates: According to BMG Backstage, an extra CD single of ILFTB containing dance remixes by Hex Hector and Junior Vasquez will be released on December 6th. The ILFTB single will be released initially in the U.K. on November 29th, the same day a limited edition of the MLIYL album is released. Read the full story here!

"The Preacher's Wife" will air on German TV December 26th at 8:15 p.m. on RTL. Also, the German December issue of InStyle Magazine features a very short article about Whitney's change of style during the past years. It's really not much but there are two pages of pictures that are at least worth looking at. (Thanks Michaela)

99/11/25

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Chart News: MLIYL single holds its ground and earns a bullet on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Also very interesting French chart news and great Canadian radio station news! Airplay and sales information added!

I read that on Saturday´s edition of the German Top of the Pops there will be a medley performed by Whitney, Cher and Mariah Carey. (Thanks Sylvie) This doesn't necessarily mean they will be performing together. The logistics for such a thing would be quite difficult. Let's wait and see...

Five great new Whitney wallpaper selections added for your computers! Check them out! (Thanks Rachel, Julian S.)

99/11/24

In some cases, Enrique Iglesias' CD is being sold with a plain white sticker to hide the title of the duet with Whitney. The stickers were placed on the CDs at Arista's request because they don't want to advertise that Whitney is on the CD until later on. If radio picks up the song and runs with it before Arista is ready, the company may drop MLIYL in favor of the hits package. (Thanks Mr. X.) That means we should not request the duet under any circumstances now. It could potentially mess up the timing of the Greatest Hits marketing campaign.

On German TV (RTL 2), according to Enrique Iglesias, the duet "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" was recorded when Whitney was in Hamburg, Germany and he was in Los Angeles. He said the song was recorded "over the phone." (Thanks Michelle S.)

Go to TV Guide's web site and nominate Whitney's "The Bodyguard" as one of the best films of the 1990s. Hurry, because the contest ends November 29. (Thanks David L.)
Out of all of Whitney's movies, "The Bodyguard" is likely to get the most votes, so we'd be better off focusing on it rather than "Waiting To Exhale" or "The Preacher's Wife."

Vote For Whitney! There is a music TV channel in Switzerland, called Swizz, where you can vote for Whitney's "I Learned From The Best." (Thanks Roland)

For French Fans: "The Preacher's Wife" will be broadcast for the first time in France on CANAL + (French cable) this December! The exact date is not known yet. (Thanks Julian S.)

99/11/23

Enrique Iglesias' new album, ENRIQUE, has been released in the U.S. today. The album, of course, includes his duet with Whitney, entitled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever," which many of us have been enthralled with for over 2 weeks! The site's previous audio files for the song have been replaced with clear, complete files. In addition, the original lyrics have been updated slightly. (Again, thank you very much Alex Z., Laura and Ana, who all were essential in getting the original audio files and lyrics from promotions in Spain in advance of the official release date.)

Good Morning America Update: Today's segment mostly discussed Whitney's career, and dabbled a bit with Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick. There were no questions about Clive Davis' current difficulties with BMG. The interview was taped, so it may have been recorded before the controversy erupted. The show will air another segment with Clive tomorrow, but it appears that he may only be unveiling another new artist. There is no word on whether the segments will continue beyond tomorrow.

You can listen to Whitney talk about her audition for Clive here! Plus hear the original demo of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)."
Also, you can download a RealVideo clip from the show here! See Whitney from about 1987 and as far back as about 1983! There are also screen captures from the segment here and here. (Thanks Rachel)

Clive Davis Returns to New York and Prepares To Meet With BMG...

The 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards will air December 9th in Canada on MuchMusic, which said it is "at the mercy" of whatever MTV gives them for the show. That means there's a possibility MuchMusic may only air what MTV showed in the U.S. However, nothing is set in stone yet. (Thanks Rachel)

99/11/22

Clive Davis is reportedly scheduled to appear on ABC's "Good Morning America" November 23rd sometime between 7-9 a.m. EST. If interviewed, there is no telling whether he will comment about his dispute with BMG or not. Both Clive and BMG have been bound by confidentiality agreements. Hopefully, a TV appearance will help to shed some light on the situation, or disclose a possible final resolution.

According to Access Hollywood, Whitney has been added as a performer at the Sports Illustrated Awards which will air December 2nd on CBS.

Whitney will appear on the French TV show "Les années tubes" (TF1) on December 3 at 20h50! She reportedly will perform many songs from her current album, "My Love Is Your Love." (Thanks Julian S.)

Whitney is also scheduled to appear on Top Of The Pops (BBC1) on November 26! (Thanks David)

Check out Tobias and Daniel's Whitney-Fan.de site!

99/11/21

Here are two interesting articles about Clive Davis' situation at Arista Records that I hadn't seen before. The first article states that Clive reportedly hired a legal team to fight his case against BMG. The second article discusses a bit more clearly how BMG's tactics may have come at an inopportune time.

Check out these great screen captures from the 1999 German Bambi Awards! (Thanks so much Eddy VB)

Listen to Whitney's background vocals for the song "Sweetest Sweetest," from Jermaine Jackson's album entitled "Dynamite." Her voice is most obvious during the middle part of the song, when Jackson isn't singing.

99/11/20

MTV Edited Down Whitney's Performance at the MTV Europe Music Awards! All that was shown was her award acceptance and her performance of "Get It Back." The bulk of her reportedly spectacular performance was left on the cutting room floor, even though MTV 1515 even said she was going to be shown performing MLIYL. MTV did not appear to cut any other performance on the show.
If you want to send MTV a complaint for this lack of respect, you can e-mail them here.
Just please don't use profanity, even if you are upset! Foul language will only cause them to disregard an otherwise intelligent point of view. And while we're at it, we can request that they air her entire performance. MLIYL is currently a Top 10 hit, and the award was selected by the fans. We fans didn't get to see her the way it should have been. Thank you.

CNN's "Money Line" had a segment about Arista and BMG's situation. CNN reported that a source close to Arista stated there are ongoing talks between Clive Davis and BMG. He qualified the talks as "hostile" and "confrontational." He said the talks would drag on for a long time due to both parties' unwillingness to negotiate. They also said that part of the problem is a "cultural clash." (Thanks Rachel)

Chart News: CNN WorldBeat Top 30 Albums update...

Earlier this week I saw at MTV Europe a fashion show, "Stylissimo." They showed a very brief interview with Bobby Brown and later one with Whitney. According to Bobby, Whitney was the best dressed performer on the MTV Europe Music Awards. (Thanks Eddy VB)

The 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards will air on November 27 in the Ukraine. (Thanks Igor)

99/11/19

Whitney speaks about the Clive Davis rumors...

Billboard Online has published the list of finalists for the 1999 Billboard Music Awards which will air on the Fox network on December 8. Whitney is in contention in 3 categories: Best Pop Female, and Best Single for "Heartbreak Hotel" in the Pop and R&B fields. It should be noted that the full list of winners for the year will appear in the December 25th issue of Billboard Magazine.
If Billboard repeats its format for the last issue in 1989, this edition should be a triple issue, as the magazine will feature the current news, a recap of the year, and a recap of the 90's. However, there might be a chance that Billboard will also include a retrospective of the century in music and entertainment. In any case, judging from Whitney's chart performance this year, she will be in the Top Ten of several other categories that will not be seen on the awards show. (Thank you Rob N.)

Here's more news from the recent German Bambi Awards, which aired on German television. Interesting tidbits include Whitney thanking cameramen who apparently filmed her during the MLIYL tour. Read about it here!

Whitney has received a glowing review, actually a pure rave, from Billboard Magazine for "I Learned From The Best." Details here!

Chart News: Update on VH-1 Divas Live/99 CD

"I Learned From The Best" has been added to the playlists of German radio stations. (Thanks Tobias)

I went to WOM -World of Music- today. They had a Special Edition of the MLIYL album with a picture similar to the one on the ILFTB single. The cover is signed with the words, "Thank you for all your love and support- Whitney." It also listed the previously hidden bonus track IWMTLH on the back of the CD as a regular song. (Thanks Dominik)

99/11/18

Here are additional articles regarding the future of Clive Davis at Arista Records and the company politics reportedly involved. The articles should give those who don't follow the business a better idea of how important Arista is to parent company BMG. Very important doesn't quite cover it...

According to a United Negro College Fund press release, Whitney will perform at its annual fund-raising gala, "An Evening of Stars: A Celebration of Educational Excellence," which will air on January 8. The four-hour special may air on January 9 in some television markets.

Chart News: MLIYL single rises on Billboard Hot 100 chart! Read the details...

Whitney's "It's Not Right But It's Okay," which is a new single in France, defeated another new single by far on France's "Fun Radio" today, despite the fact that Whitney's album is now a year old. (Thanks Julian S.)

Thanks to the DeborahCox.com site for naming the Whitney Worship Webpage its Phat page of the month!

99/11/17

The House That Clive Built: In what may turn out to be the biggest music news story of the year, apparently Clive Davis' current role as head of Arista Records is not guaranteed. As many of us know, Whitney has the option to leave Arista, if she chooses to do so, in case Clive were ever to leave the company. Read the details...

On a much lighter note, Arista will air a 25th Anniversary special next spring on NBC. There's an excellent chance that Whitney would attend and likely perform, of course.

According to the Junior Vasquez web site, there will be Junior and Hex Hector remixes of "I Learned From The Best" and Thunderpuss 2000 remixes of "I Bow Out." Junior Vasquez is also scheduled to remix "If I Told You That," which has never been mentioned as an upcoming single by Arista. (Thanks Dan)

Whitney's duet with Enrique Iglesias, "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" is now available in Japan. (Thanks Reniko)

French Chart News: MLIYL album and single still holding on!

99/11/16

MLIYL First Anniversary! The Media Acknowledges...
Whitney was featured on Bryant Gumbel's The Early Show. They showed clips of the INRBIO and MLIYL dance remixes. They also discussed the initial disappointment of the MLIYL CD and how it has now become so successful. (Thanks Mike) The album has remained one of the top 100 best-selling albums in the U.S. for 52 weeks, and the title song remains in the Billboard Hot 100 Chart Top Ten. To date, the album has been certified 8x Platinum worldwide, and the record is not over yet!

VH-1 Divas Live/99 is now available on home video. The VHS version is in stores today. (Thanks Foekje A.)

If you missed the earlier Nippy News, use the News Archive or the news log.