Sunday, February 28, 2010

Weasel of the Week: Whitney Houston

By all rights, we should be celebrating the comeback of a mid-80's music icon, but if the reports coming out of Australia are correct, then Whitney Houston has not totally returned from the abyss she plunged into in the mid-90's.

A week ago, in Brisbane, Ms. Houston took a break after just 2 songs, but still finished the concert. Outraged fans, seeing Whitney coughing while trying to sing, left early. It could've easily been explained away as Whitney trying to soldier on despite a head cold or, at worst, a case of the flu. I posted on a Yahoo! blog after more than 100 comments had been entered accusing her of not having totally kicked her drug habit, among other things. There were some that said they weren't buying tickets to any more concerts or buying any of her CD's. That's their perogative, but they're also being too presumptive in their judgments.

Making matters worse, Ms. Houston had her publicity flack issue a press release claiming that Whitney was in good health, despite the coughing. Huh? I've heard of being in denial, but this takes the grand prize. How can a top flight singer making a comeback be in good or near-perfect health, when there are thousands of witnesses that can confirm the contrary? It only adds to the bitterness the fans are already feeling, both here and abroad.

It has been 8 months and counting since Michael Jackson passed away, and the tabloids are still filling pages with stories about allegations involving his doctor and what drugs Jackson was taking while preparing for a concert tour that never was. One would think that Whitney Houston, this week's "Weasel", would've learned a valuable life lesson from the misfortunes of Jackson, but apparently, either she hasn't, isn't, or ain't ever going to. And that's a tragedy in and of itself.

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