Disregard the newspapers, radio and TV, Whitney Houston's concerts in Australia were wonderful

I AM a long-term Whitney Houston fan, some would say fanatic. I loved every one of her four concerts I saw over the past two weeks.

Her shows were personal, energetic, fun, sincere and exciting and despite what you may have heard or read, she looked happy, healthy, connected and in control.

She sang a range of songs all 100 percent live - including classics from her debut album which, by the way, came out 25 years ago. She sold out in most venues and she performed for about two hours.
Why then was she crucified by newspapers, radio and TV? Why did the media portray her concerts as the worst in living history?

Why do people have negative remarks about concerts they hadn't even attended?

Why did the positive first review, which appeared in Brisbane's Courier Mail go unnoticed? Is it the Australian "tall poppy syndrome", tearing someone down who has had enormous global success?

Or did reviewers decide that due to her well-documented problems with drugs she wasn't up to performing for us?

That's exactly what it felt like.

I'm at a loss to know how anyone who attended the shows, like I did, could listen to what was portrayed in the media and believe that they were at the same concert. The crowds couldn't have been more supportive. They loved her. They gave her standing ovations. They screamed. They cheered her on and, in some cases, willed her on.

Whitney Houston's voice is amazing - still. It's strong and it's powerful - still. She hits some awesome notes, both high and low - still. And let me repeat, she sings live.

Maybe it isn't exactly what it was 25 years ago but this tour, and her voice, do not deserve the rotten and sometimes poisonous media attention it has received.

On stage, she gave it her all, was personal and honest, raw and real. There were no robotic soul-less performances like we've been putting up with from Kylie Minogue for years and no Britney Spears lip synching.

In some ways, Whitney doesn't sound like she does on The Bodyguard soundtrack and, sadly, I think that is what most Australians want to hear. And probably the main reason many bought tickets. People judge her on her performances of I Will Always Love You. Of course the whole crowd at the shows I attended went nuts when they heard the first bar of the song that has defined her career.

Some have said she struggled but she didn't. The screaming fans in Brisbane didn't think so, nor the packed crowd in Sydney who almost drowned her out singing along.

The Melbourne audience stood in amazement for the whole song. She gave it her all, stopped for some drama, taking in the moment and, in full diva style, belted out the huge note at the end.

It was dramatic, over the top, heartfelt and powerful. Pure Whitney.

She was engaged with the audience and having fun, she improvised, was non-formulaic and most of all openly grateful for the love and support from her Australian fans.

Despite the harsh reviews she held her head high and stepped up, with each show along the tour getting better and better.

Her final show was in Melbourne on Saturday night. I hope she listened to the crowd cheering for her as opposed to the cynical media, most of whom hadn't even seen the show.