First of all RIP Ms Houston, regardless of who my favs are this woman had one of the greatest voices to ever grace this earth.

Mariah's tribute was classy, but then I'd expect nothing less from her. She is a wonderful person who is often misunderstood.

Mariah herself was not influenced by Whitnry on a personal level. Her influences are Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle etc. however at the time she was signed Whitney was big business and so Columbia did want Mariah to be their own version of Whitney. However mariah is very versatile and I believe even if Whitney never existed she would have still been signed and gone on to be big taking a different path. However even if she was modelled on Whitney in the early days she held her own vocally, she even had her own trademark vocals and was able to live with and stand side by side with Whitney back in those days.