By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop diva Whitney Houston ''regretfully withdrew'' from a planned performance at the Oscars due to a sore throat, her publicist said Tuesday, contradicting reports that she was dismissed by musical director Burt Bacharach for flubbing her rehearsals.

Publicists for the superstar and the show's producers said Houston bowed out Friday and was replaced by country star Faith Hill, who performed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow'' from "The Wizard of Oz'' and the title song from "The Way We Were'' for Sunday's Oscar telecast.

Houston decided on her own to cancel her performance because "she was unsure that she would be better by Sunday,'' her spokeswoman, Nancy Seltzer, said in a brief statement.

The statement by Seltzer came amid media reports that Houston was dismissed from the Oscars show by Bacharach after botching her numbers in rehearsal.

The New York Post, in a story headlined "Where Was Whitney?'' splashed across its front page Tuesday, cited unnamed sources who said she was "yanked after she flubbed her songs in rehearsal'' Friday.

The paper said Houston's last-minute departure left Academy Awards producers "scrambling'' for a replacement and ultimately calling in Hill, who performed "Rainbow'' and "The Way We Were'' during a medley of famous movie themes.

In Monday's edition of the entertainment trade paper Daily Variety, senior columnist Army Archerd wrote that Bacharach and co-musical director Don Was "decided not to go with Whitney Houston and she was taken off the show!''

Seltzer did not address the Post or Variety articles in her brief statement.

"Whitney Houston arrived in Los Angeles with a sore throat,'' Seltzer said. "After participating in rehearsals for the 72nd Academy Awards show both Thursday and Friday nights, she was unsure that she would be better by Sunday. She therefore regretfully withdrew from the performance.''

A publicist for the Oscars show, Jane Labonte, said Houston was clearly suffering from a sore throat at Friday's rehearsal, and at the end of the session, it was "mutually decided (among Houston, Bacharach and Was) that she would bow out.''

Labonte denied reports that Houston was having trouble with her musical cues.

"The poor woman had a very bad throat,'' she said. She said Hill was called in at the suggestion of Academy Awards producer Lili Zanuck, who has worked with the country singer in the past.

Reuters/Variety

Hollywood was abuzz yesterday about why Whitney Houston never got to sing at the Oscars.

The Grammy-winning songstress was scheduled to perform in the Burt Bacharach musical segment that featured Queen Latifah, Ray Charles and Isaac Hayes. But, at the last minute, she was replaced by Faith Hill.

Insiders said Houston had difficulty completing her musical numbers during a rehearsal Friday and bungled some of the lyrics. The rehearsal performance fueled rumors that Houston didn't leave the show of her own accord.

Houston was MIA at last night's Academy Awards.

But Houston spokeswoman Nancy Seltzer said the singer was ill. "Whitney arrived in Los Angeles with a sore throat," she said. "After participating in rehearsals both Thursday and Friday nights, she was unsure that she would be better by Sunday. She therefore regretfully withdrew from the performance."

Jane Labonte, a spokeswoman for the Academy, agreed, and said: "The poor gal was sick. She couldn't sing to the best of her ability. She wasn't fired; it may have been a mutual decision, but she was certainly part of the process."

The decision to select Hill apparently didn't sit well with Garth Brooks, who was set to perform after Whitney. Word is, he was upset that other country singers weren't considered.

But Brooks' rep, Karen Bird, said the singer's "concern was for Whitney and her feelings, because he had known her for a long time, not over who her replacement would be."