2002: Nippy News Release Articles

Whitney still hits a high note
submitted by: Samutran, Lisa D.
source: New York Daily News, Newsday
Date: December 9, 2002

By ELIZABETH HAYS and BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

She was nearly an hour late and stumbled a little on one song, but Whitney Houston belted out a performance yesterday in Lincoln Center Plaza that signaled she still has some dynamite diva in her.

The afternoon miniconcert for about 3,000 people was Houston's first live public performance in the United States in 15 months and marked a giant step in her comeback from her hazy days of drugs.

"I love you, each and every one of you. I truly do," Houston said as she took the stage blowing kisses to the adoring crowd.

The Grammy Award-winner appeared much healthier than in September 2001, when she last performed in the United States looking like a famine victim during a Michael Jackson tribute at Madison Square Garden.

Yesterday, the 39-year-old entertainer wore form-fitting designer jeans and a floor-length suede coat over a sheer white turtleneck top. Her hair was in curls with red highlights, and she beamed smiles at fans - some of whom had waited for hours to hear her.

Houston showed up 50 minutes late because she got caught in traffic, her spokeswoman said. But once on stage, she proved she hadn't lost the magic that made her a platinum-selling songbird.

She flawlessly performed two songs from her new album, titled "Just Whitney." The performance will air tomorrow on ABC's "Good Morning America." Houston received deafening rounds of applause after singing "One of Those Days" and "Tell Me No."

Her only miscue came when the 35-member choir from Talent Unlimited High School on W. 68th St. joined her in a gospel rendition of "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

After a few verses, Houston suddenly shouted, "Stop! Stop! We're going to start this again." Then she and the choir took it from the top and ended up hitting all the right notes, and had the crowd singing along.

It marked Houston's first public appearance since her interview on ABC's "PrimeTime Live" last week. Houston admitted to using a smorgasbord of illegal drugs and hinted that she had nearly died from overdoses.

Whitney Houston 'Holds Her Own' At Lincoln Center

By Robert Kahn, STAFF WRITER

Beleaguered, yet confident she'll make a comeback, a crisp-voiced Whitney Houston gave a mini-concert yesterday in the shadows of Lincoln Center and told the masses she's holding her own.

"I've got a lot of friends out here, praise the Lord," the spiritual singer said as she eyed the 4,000-strong audience outside Avery Fisher Hall.

Houston, who in an interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer last week confessed she's taken cocaine, smoked pot and popped pills, took the stage shortly before 4 p.m. - almost one full diva-ish hour later than the scheduled 3 p.m. start. She performed just three songs, including two ("One of Those Days" and "Tell Me No") from her upcoming album, "Just Whitney." For the third song, a gospel rendition of the carol "Do You Hear What I Hear?," she was backed by a group of children from the Talented Unlimited Choir.

The singer, dressed in jeans, a cream-colored turtleneck, full-length shearling coat and sunglasses, bantered with the crowd throughout the 20-minute set and at one point acknowledged her troubles in an exchange with Sawyer, who was the show's emcee.

"I heard that I held my own," she told Sawyer during the taping of the concert, which is to air on Good Morning America between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. tomorrow.

As she introduced "One of Those Days," her latest single, Houston paused to look at the audience and said: "You know, we all have them."

A spokeswoman for Houston said her husband, singer Bobby Brown, had remained in Atlanta. Houston's mother, Cissy, was by her daughter's side for the event.

If fan reaction was any gauge, Houston doesn't have to worry about what effects her revelations will have on her career.

"She came out clean," said James Wilson, 19, of Jamaica. "Now she can put some of the rumors away and her voice can be even stronger."

Estelle Brown of Uniondale - who wouldn't give her age, but said it was "close to Cissy's" - said she loves Houston even more so, now that the singer has come clean.

"She's still the person she always was," said Brown, who took her place on line at 9 a.m. to secure a good spot for the concert. "She's a national treasure. Just listen to her sing the national anthem for you - it'll bring tears to your eyes and put you on another plane."