Celebrity Gossip
Whitney’s on her way up
Whitney Houston’s comeback album, “I Look to You,” hit No. 1 when it was released. Fears that the tempestuous star had lost touch with her core audience seem to have been unfounded. (And, the music business being the mess it is these days, it is almost a miracle for anyone to sell a CD at all!)
Whitney didn’t do herself or her album any harm with the two-part Oprah Winfrey sit-down. That was show biz confession at its most compelling. Oprah was full of sympathy and flowery compliments, but she seemed to be all business. Let’s get the real story as well. I found the interview slightly repetitive, but Whitney looked gorgeous and was relatively candid. Probably, she didn’t tell all, but told enough. She didn’t spare herself.
Some seem to feel she didn’t take responsibility and blamed everything on her ex, Bobby Brown. I disagree. She didn’t claim Bobby got her started on drugs. She took herself to task for being “crazy in love” and—with plenty of money and weary of her career—wanting to give her power to someone else, to be, from her point of view, a “normal” woman. This didn’t work out.
In the second part of the Oprah interview, Whitney’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, appeared. She is adorable and has weathered the antics of her famous parents with remarkable grace. Children are often stronger than we give them credit for. So this girl had to have had some good parenting and lots of love.
I first met Whitney way back when she was just beginning and was repped by the genius PR woman Lois Smith of the famous PMK agency. At that time she was fresh and delicious—still very much America’s singing princess. Today she is a woman who has suffered, been brought low and raised herself up. She has learned some vital life lessons and she now wants to share!
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This year marks the 70th anniversary of the release of “The Wizard of Oz.” Warner Home Video is debuting a Blu-ray and DVD“Ultimate Collector’s Edition” of the beloved film. So, you think they are just going to put the thing in stores with no fanfare? Silly.
On Thursday, an anniversary gala happens at NYC’s Tavern-on-the- Green. The singer Ashanti performs. Judy’s daughter Lorna Luft performs. Several of the original Munchkins are scheduled to appear. And there will be an auction of the Ruby Slipper Collection, proceeds going to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
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Delighted to see that the New York Post has hired a distinguished Pulitzer Prize winner, Michael Goodwin, to write for it. It’s nice being replaced by someone who is really talented.
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