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And Finally Beef Of The Week
CMU Beef Of The Week #14: Whitney Houston v Birmingham
By Andy Malt | Published on Saturday 17 April 2010
So, many wondered if it would happen at all, but Whitney Houston did belatedly start the European leg of her current world tour at Birmingham’s LG Arena on Tuesday. However, as with her recent dates in Australia, many fans were left less than happy with her performance.
The singer was hospitalised in Paris last week with a respiratory infection, leading to the cancellation of several dates in Paris and the UK. Arriving on stage in Birmingham, she told fans: “I’m feeling pretty good myself, thank you so much for asking”. However, things went downhill, with many in attendance later saying that there had been far too much talk and not enough singing during the two hour show. And when she did actually sing, there were complaints that she’d been off-key.
One bit of Whitney banter which seemingly summed up the concert for many came after Houston returned to the stage after disappearing for fifteen minutes while she changed her costume. She told the audience: “I could hear you getting pissed off”.
She later admitted to the Daily Star that she’d faced “a tough crowd”. However, it has to be said that many of the reviews of the show were very positive, and in fan-shot videos posted online the vast majority of those in attendance to seem to be cheering their hearts out (though laughter can be heard as well).
One gig goer told BBC 5live after the show: “She was good when she was good, but when she was not on form, she was awful”.
One bit where she was definitely “not on form” was during ‘I Will Always Love You’, a song which Dolly Parton, who wrote it, once said now “belonged to Whitney”. It may be time for Dolly to ask for it back. Check the video here. Stick with it ’til after the very lengthy pause, though if you manage to watch more than six minutes of this video, you have some kind of problem.
This Beef Of The Week comes from this edition of the CMU Weekly. Subscribe to the CMU Weekly here.
