Singer wouldn't appear on CBS-TV show prior to mid-May airing of Arista 25th anniversary program.

Contributing Editor Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen reports:


Plans for a CBS-TV concert special featuring Whitney Houston fell through when the singer and the network couldn't agree on an air date for the show, according to her spokesperson.

Miata Edoga of Nancy Seltzer & Associates, Houston's publicity firm, said Houston remains interested in working with CBS but that she had a problem with the network's proposed air dates - all of which were prior to the May 15 airing of Arista Records' 25th anniversary celebration on NBC.

"She had already committed to the Arista special and wasn't going to renege on that" by appearing on another network first, Edoga said. Edoga did not know which dates CBS proposed, but she said a future show was possible. CBS representatives did not return phone calls Monday (May 8th).

Houston has been under media scrutiny since last summer, when five canceled shows on her concert tour were blamed on throat problems. She also missed two high-profile television appearances - one at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony March 6, and one at the Academy Awards on March 26. She again blamed the last-minute cancellations on throat problems.

On April 10, Houston sang a 20-minute medley of her songs - including "How Will I Know" and "My Love Is Your Love" - for "25 Years of #1 Hits: Arista's Anniversary Celebration," which will air at 8 p.m. EDT May 15.

Houston is scheduled to release a two-disc best-of collection called Whitney - The Greatest Hits on May 16. "Same Script, Different Cast," a duet with Deborah Cox that will appear on the album, entered the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart last week at #48.