By Roger Friedman

I caught a wide-screen showing of Arista Records' 25th anniversary special last night. The NBC TV show airs Monday night.

The two-hour tribute to the extraordinary success of Arista and departing chief Clive Davis is a non-stop jukebox of number one hits. Among the performers: Santana, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Patti Smith, Sarah McLachlan, Alan Jackson, Barry Manilow, Toni Braxton, Deborah Cox, Kenny G, Monica, and of course, Whitney Houston.

Now, I know these have not been easy weeks for Whitney. The tabloids have been hounding her and rumors abound. There was a lot of speculation whether or not she would successfully tape the Arista show back on April 10.

So guess what? Whitney's segment, which comes in the last half hour, is really brilliant and a total success. She triumphantly marches through a lengthy medley of songs including "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "How Will I Know," "I Believe in You and Me," "I Will Always Love You" and "My Love is Your Love." Looking perhaps a little thin but otherwise healthy, Whitney really tears the roof off the Shrine Auditorium and puts to rest all those nasty stories.

She steals the show but that isn't so easy, considering Patti Smith delivers a very fiery version of "Because the Night" and Aretha - dressed elegantly and singing at full power - gives us "Freeway of Love" and two more songs as if they were the most valued of gifts. The show ends with Dionne Warwick taking the all-star cast through "That's What Friends Are For."

The Arista special is remarkable because it showcases a quarter century run of hit records on one label and under one man's regime. Even Motown cannot boast that achievement - the Motown legend really only ran from 1959 to 1973. Atlantic Records, under Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, was a powerhouse, but possibly Davis challenges their supremacy.

And of course, the final irony is that Davis will leave involuntarily come July 1. He will take with him a chunk of his staff and artists and start over with a new company at either Sony Music or MCA/Universal. He's 67 years old, so another 25-year run seems unlikely. But the powers that be at Arista and corporate parent BMG Music - none of whom bothered to show for last night's screening - should be scared. Very scared.