#E’sWeekendBants…The VOICE, Whitney Houston

Oprah: There’s a wonderful quote by the L.A. Times. 

‘…treatment of the national treasure that happened to reside within her.” … You were not like any of the others. You really were given the voice. You were given that treasure…’

 

Sometime late last year, the song ‘I look to you’ entered my phone playlist. I don’t quite recall how I got it but it read R Kelly as the author and it ended with

‘We love you Whitney, Rest in Peace’‘Miracle’ has always been a favourite song of mine and even though I knew it was a Whitney song, I never paid much mind to the ‘owner’.Both songs I would remember once in a while and play them on repeat, again not thinking of Whitney. The only thing I knew of Whitney was that she passed from drug overdose.Then early this week, as I sang along to my ‘I look to you’ in the kitchen, it dawned on me that this song is actually a Whitney song ooo. I think the buzz too on Bobbi Kristina’s death and of course Whitney by extension kinda made me link the songs to her so I get on YouTube to watch the video and let’s just say I was awake till 4.30am overdosing on Whitney’s songs and live performances, stories and interviews. I really came late to the party. In one night, I became a FAN and my goodness, what a woman, what a VOICE, what a life and what an end!!!

Have you watched live performances of Whitney?

Have you encountered that VOICE???

Let me now share the full quote from Oprah’s interview with her

Oprah: There’s a wonderful quote by the L.A. Times. They said, “The pain, and frankly, disgust that so many pop fans felt during Houston’s decline was caused not so much by her personal distress as by her seemingly careless treatment of the national treasure that happened to reside within her.” … You were not like any of the others. You really were given the voice. You were given that treasure. And people felt, how could you not know that that was to be treasured?

And Whitney’s response was ‘WOW!!!’ said very pensively.

I 100% agree although I wouldn’t say National treasure but INTERNATIONAL treasure. Something for the whole world.

See ehn, if there is a spirit of music, she had it., straight from heaven. Like she says her mama said to her when she was young and singing at her mom’s concert and the audience went crazy, ‘God is finding you and this is what you are supposed to do…’

I watched soooooo many live performances of her ‘Miracle’ with Mariah and you KNOW that Whitney really had a treasure. Her singing wasn’t ordinary. It was divine. You felt the goosebumps. It touched your spirit. I almost didn’t see Mariah, all I saw was Whitney, owning the song and inviting us to partake of a small part of her ownership, or what Barbara Walters called ‘the public unveiling of her soul’. Her talent is ‘sooo big there is no room left for anything else on the stage other than her voice…’

And she didn’t have to go nekkid to achieve it.These three performances of MIRACLE are my favourite

1. The official video

2. This was done in a church I think

3. Their live performance on Oprah’s show

Then I watched the full interview with her and Mariah on Oprah and realised that she sure had an interesting lineage-

Her mama is Cissy Houston, Grammy award winning soul and gospel singer

Her godmama is THE Aretha Franklin

Her cousin is Dionne Warwick, award winning American singer

Just look at that… surrounded by a family of Singers

Plus she started singing in the church too so she spoke a lot about God, the gift he had given her, and the church and prayer and her life. Very proudly. Like a PROUD daughter of the most high…My best quote from that interview is easily

‘There is comfort in prayer’

You could just see that she was a SINGER. She was one blessed woman. She was also full of life, she talked and teased and laughed a whole lot, from deep down her belly. oh Whitney could LAUGH.She also spoke of her hubby and mentioned how the marriage had lasted 7years at the time even though people said it wouldn’t last less than a month and how she was deliriously happy and loved him to death bla bla bla…

But she really loved Bobby though. And it looks like the marriage was alright in the first few yearsI wish he loved her enough to really groom her like  gardener not a hunter. LOVED her in the true sense of the word. Sigh

In all, the interview was just really sweet. You could see the essence of Whitney.

Another interview to really see Whitney’s beautiful essence is this

Very beautiful happy interview

Oprah is a BOSS when it comes to interviews ooo, forget it.

Enjoy this one with Mariah and Whitney

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz5IVTocVY0

Then suddenly, devil entered… She had it all, the fame only a few will ever achieve, the hits, the VOICE, houses, cars, trips in PJs, and sooo much money, and then life started spiralling downwards a couple of years after she got married. I don’t even know what to say but the entire drug gists started and Whitney changed sooo much. Then she did that Diane Sawyer’s very controversial 2002 interview and I almost couldn’t believe how different, how oh-so-different Whitney was, looked and sadly, sounded. I could have sworn alien forces took her and dropped this ‘creature’ for us. I couldn’t watch it to the end. Her answers were too incoherent. I couldn’t bear to see Whitney like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJDdalLLmVE

Since you can’t slap somebody from the screen, I stopped where Bobby Brown entered the interview after peeping from the cornerand was blabbing nonsense and rubbish. I was too pissed, sorry.

Of course, anyone who saw that ‘view knew something terrible had gone terribly wrong with Whitney. I could have sworn for whoever introduced drugs to the world. Then she disappeared from the scene literally but her gists kept going. And then she reappeared, divorced thankfully, first with the album I LOOK TO YOU and then did this EXPLOSIVE interview with Oprah where she bared it ALL, the drugs, her tumultuous marriage, EVERYTHING. She looked and sounded way better but not like our original Whitney.Like I said Oprah is GOOD abeg. Nobody even comes close. She and Whitney connected like kindred spirits and she really drew the words outta Whitney

Good luck finding the remaining parts on YouTube. For some reason, it is blocked in Nigeria. Ugh. But there is a transcript here

Soooo many things to learn from that interview. Please watch and/or listen.

Now I know where that song came from, the ‘I look to you’. From a very PERSONAL placeVery powerful song. Very very powerful.

I love her answer when Oprah asked her why she didn’t treasure that treasure…

‘…I knew when I was a teenager singing for God, but when I became Whitney n my life became this…who I married…etc, it changed…the media all up in my business… It was all too much for what me, I wanted OUT… and marrying Bobby was a way to be OUT because he let me be ME…we were crazy in love…’

I am taking the ‘CRAZY’ literally.

She actually said HE WAS MY DRUG!!! Ugh…The stories continued- drugs, rehab, drugs, etc.

Next thing, she is found dead in a bathtub, from drug overdose, hours before a pre-Grammy performance.

I will NEVER know why Whitney shunned everyone and married the ‘Bad boy’ Bobby, who had three kids already from two other relationships. Her mom and the WORLD were against it but she did marry, and then stayed in the marriage, through physical mental and emotional abuse, infidelity, and drugs, just to prove the world wrong. Goodness!!! I wonder how her mama feels now. God please comfort her.

I read the interview by her former bodyguard, a real life recipient of an ‘I will always love you’ note even before the song came out, and the inspiration behind her movie THE BODY GUARD. If that interview is all true, and i think it is, then hmmmm, it is well ooo

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2963098/Whitney-Bobby-drugs-death-daughter-lying-coma-never-stood-chance-British-bodyguard-inspired-star-s-hit-movie.html

This one was from her former driver

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/whitney-houstons-chauffeur-tells-of-superstars-689971

Let me not say more. I am really pained. Especially when I think of how her choice has affected her daughter Bobbi, now late

And rumour has it that she went down the lane her mama did too

Ladies, and indeed men, please marry well. Leave bad boy and marry CHURCH BOY ooo. Who you marry can DESTROY your life and your children’s if you marry wrong. And please, stay in church, that is stay in GOD!!!

Never ever forget that…

Thankfully, she left behind tangibles from that treasure. Funny how when I looked at her hits, I realised that I have always been a fan, I just didn’t know. All those hit songs were actually Whitney’s imagine. Lol. I didn’t even know ‘I’ll always love you’ was hers hahahaha.

And greatest love of all… Whitney’s all time favourite

Let me leave you with two I really love

Count on me with Cece Winans

and the absolutely beautiful classic, I am EVERY WOMAN

Ok last one, a LIVE performance of AMAZING Grace in SA

RIP Whitney. I can only hope you are in heaven smiling down on us all. We sure will ALWAYS ALWAYS LOVE YOUE’

 

PS

I can’t believe prior to now, i didn’t even know how much of an icon Whitney was. I didn’t even know she was the owner of I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

Today, i am almost an encyclopedia lol. Just goes to show that when you really put your mind to something, you can achieve it.