Whitney Houston‘s much anticipated performance at BET’s Celebration of Gospel aired a few moments ago. The legendary vocalist joined friend and prayer partner Kim Burrell to serve up a rousing showing of her 2009 hit ‘I Look To You’.
Check out the performance after the jump…
The ladies took it to church (to which I throw my Sunday hat up high). However, as an ardent Houston supporter, I’d be deceiving myself if I said I wasn’t hoping for more vocal improvements than displayed. Tonight’s showing was very much “2011 Whitney Houston” on an “good-ish” day. Lucky for her, Gospel is the arena for the rasp and (at times) over-adlibbing which have come to define her ‘new voice’.
Here’s hoping come time for recording of her new LP, she’s on even better form.
Not bad, yet ultimately not what I anticipated. Still, great, emotional showing.
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Great job!!
Wow she sounds amazingggg!!! Left me in tears!!!
“Hallelujah! Hallelujah!!!”” wwowooww!
she did great i wasn’t that impressed though
Her voice gives me chills especially when the stage opened and she just walked out. Then it just got better and better. the end was EPIC. with all the gospel growls and ‘My Lord’s and ‘Hallelujahs’ and Whitney-isms.
Soul stirring, emotional, touching. Words cannot describe how much I adore this woman!!!!!!
Definitely one of the finest moments in BET history…..They should have more legends like Whitney and great singers like Kim Burrell.
can you upload a link for family business please ?
You make me proud Nippy!!!!
No one is expecting flawless Bodyguard vocals but this performance is more about the emotioanal impact, which was flawless in every way.
HALLELUJAH!
Not to be harsh, but Whitney has no place on stage singing with Kim Burrell–at least vocally!! Side note, the performance was moving due to the very real support, and friendship/mentorship they share together!!
I loved it. She had me wantint ot shout and Sam you are in the minority because as nasty as twitter can be, the majority loved her performance as well as Kim’s.
She is a work in progress, I felt her testimony!
#Icon #Ledgend #TheVoice
@TK
Whitney has sung this song by herself many, many times and a lot better without Kim so she has every right to be on that stage. I thought she did a great job
This woman is a true inspiration! True testimony! She doesn’t need 80s vocals to touch people’s hearts!!!! I hear conviction, soul and passion in her now mature but still soulful voice.
Look at the audience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nippy did her thing!!! CHILLS!
Whitney was definitely feeling it she almost had a “Patti Labelle” moment. i was feeling it. My mom was feeling it it took me to church. what a voice and what a presence!!!!
I ADORE this woman. She’s my role model & the greatest singer in the world!!!! She still has the power to send you church. this is all i need before i go to bed! hallelujah!
Thank God for Whitney Houston!
This was an awesome performance!!!! The Voice + Kim Burrell = EPIC PERFORMANCE!!!!
These two ladies are straight up SANGGGGING!!!! Wowowwww OMG!!!
Give it up to Whitney! She gained a few pounds but still looks so good for her age! And sounds great too!!!! Whitney and Kim voice blended reaally well and u can really see Kim’s influence on Whitney..
Lmfao my mom was crying like she did on my wedding night!!!!! never saw her cried like this!!!
I think she sang I Look To You much better in the tour, but she still did great here nonetheless. i love this woman!
Beautiful performance. They should record a version as a duet and release it. I love the love the crowd showed Nippy. Great review of it also!
Twitter @LWMovement
She will never be the old Whitney, but this new Whitney still sounds better all the younger singers and she does this 100% live. SANG WHITNEY!!!!!
Whitney + Kim Burrell = AMAZINGGG
Wow she actually sounded really nice. I thought she was going to sound a hot mess based on what i’ve heard from the preview clip. Her voice really shone in the latter part. If this is any indication of her new album voice, I can’t wait to hear her new voice!
I love the fact that the response has been 99% positive!!!! You can do it girl! I’m so proud of u Whitney!
A lot better from Whitney. She and Kim Burrell complimented eachother and made it gel so well.
I agree with Sam. Definitely not her best vocals compared to the tour version of ILTY (which was literally, flawless) can you imagine what she would have sounded if her voice were 100%? Still, even when she doesn’t sound like the old Whitney, she still got that power and conviction that nobody can take away. This is an excellent performance and a true testimony.
Whitney’s voice is slowly on the mend and she is learning to adapt to a new raspier sound. The performance was good, yes, definitely took me to church.
I STILL stick to my words and I don’t have any doubt about what I said in the other thread, none of you delusional idiots can argue with me otherwise. Whitney’s voice is not healthy, nor does it sound healthy. I never said she sounds like s***, I’ve always simply stated that her voice is unhealthy – and I was right. The full video and Sam, a Whitney stan, agreeing with me, proves that I was right all along.
Nothing wrong with stanning for people, but anything strong enough that makes you believe you are hearing a healthy voice and your stanning has gone too far.
Cough.. JAZLENE..
Fire at me.
She sound so good here. Can you imagine being in the audience????????? I’d probably have a heart attack!!!
She does sound great! Not like Bodyguard vocals, but still powerful enough to make you go crazy. She hit all the right notes.
LMAO the man’s face when The Voice walked out of the stage….And Beverly Crawford’s reaction at the end, well that basically sums up the audience reaction!!!!
I love Kim burrells singing .. this performance was blahhh to me not moving at all no offense. Whitney always moves me idk what it was 2nite hmm
This has all the right elements of a WHITNEY HOUSTON PERFORMANCE
Perfect entrance + soul stirring vocals + standing O + flawless ending
Her voice really got better and better!!!!
What’s more she sang this completely LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND TOOK IT TO CHURCH!
Yes finally THE PERFORMANCE we’ve been waiting for.
Did I expect this voice? Not really. I thought it was going to be in better shape.
But did it make me cry? Yes definitely.
It is this ability that makes Whitney “The Voice”. Not just the ability to soar through octaves, hit notes and hold notes nobody could ever do, but the ability to touch people’s hearts. And that is why Whitney will always be known as The Voice.
Whitney needs to sing this on Oprah!!!
She sounds great!!
her voice is so GONE…once upon a time it would be so effortless!!!
WHITNEY!!!!! =)
Awesome!
Tears filled my eyes!
What a testimony!!!
I wish everyone could focus on the fact that she made it through all the things she went through. some artists didnt make it through.
We love you Whitney Houston!
@TIMMI
I agree with you on everything.
Whitney is one of my 3 favorites ever, I´m a fan, but that is the truth. I only hope she keeps doing albums once in a while like I look to you and not making tours. I´m just glad she is where she is now after all she went through
Mack
January 31, 2011 at 10:48 am
“her voice is so GONE…once upon a time it would be so effortless!!!”
Definitely!
She was lost the power of her voice…
I don’t like this performence. Whitney’s voice is a mess. She can’t sing anymore.
whitney has always been soooooooooo overrated. ANd and sche can’t sing anymore because she did drugs, she lost it. I don’t feel sorry for her. WHen you have a gift of god, you don’t waste it.
Wow! Whitney and Kim did it! They complimented each other. I wish BET hadn’t fiddled with her mic. Her head notes were much more powerful on the unedited bootleg fan clip.
Still all in all, great job
What I appreciate about Whitney is she is an HONEST performer! No lipping, no trying to fake it, no loud back track etc, just her and her voice.
The great thing about her is that she has this incredible stage presence, an ability to move people and that is what you saw on twitter and on the audience faces.
That my friend is the definition of not just a Legend but an ICON!
She moved me, had me close to tears when she began to shout her testimony and sing ‘halleleujah’ that was not planned. Stephen G Hill of bET called it the ‘reprise’ and that it was.
Those not familiar with gospel, that is called SHOUTING for GOD!
Love Whitney and so proud of her last night. She did well.
I thought Whitney did an outstanding job. She has shown great improvement and that alone moves me, but Whitney’s soul, passion and emotion in her live performing is what sends me through the roof. I’ve never seen anyone that commands the stage with just 1 special talent alone. Her voice is the show, her beauty compliments it and her gracefulness is what makes her so phenomenal. Her next album will be wonderful, I can already tell that she’s on her way back to the woman she used to be… and that woman was in a league of her own. Love The Voice!
rihanna will outshine her, she is more talented, has more grammys, tons of awards, new movie on the way, the list goes on and on
She soundz luke HORSESHIT! She is OVER. The voice iz DEAD & BURIED.
S*** is what she soundedd give up Whitney!
~~
Support Ms Kelly Rowland! The Queen Of DanceRnb.
2011 is Kellys year. Make Believe!
good job whitney!
When I think of where Whitney was, that we almost lost her, that she didn’t have any semblance of a voice 4-5yrs ago and to see her be a living testimony and still be able to utter head and chest notes out of her mouth, it just overwhelms me.
Can’t nobody come for Whitney in my eyes. She is God’s vessela and his work isn’t finish with her yet, she was never shame to praise God being a pop star, she did it openly and unashamely and for that I simply love and respect her so much.
both her and Kim ministered to me last night. Loved it! Continue to keep God first Whitney
I see the “girls” at Classicwhitney are eating up this performance for the most part, except for the little Queen JayD. Well let me agree with the Queen when he says “She just doesn’t sound like a singer. I get tired of looking things over because of emotion etc. I expect a technically good performance. Not someone who gets beat singing their own song in a duet.” Kim Burrell indeed kicked Whitney crack ass.
What are some people listening to that think Kim outsung Whitney???
That was a f****** mess. How is Whitney going to let somebody else sing her song and sound 100 times better? Kim sounded amazing but Whitney was horrible.
All Whitney did on that stage was shout hallelujah every other word. Girl hang it up. Go back to acting or something because this is just embarrassing.
Whitney went from vocally competing with Mariah to Rihanna. I’m going to watch The Bodyguard and remember the days when she could sing. This is the last post-crack Whitney performance I will ever watch. Bye b****.
I thought Whitney did a beautiful job last night. It was so beautiful to see Ms. Burell and Whitney. I know of Ms. Burrell and think she started Whitney’s song very beautiful and then when Whitney came in blended well together. I love the song with Whitney on it and now the both of them with their vocals and runs together. Their harmonies were absolutely magnificent. Whitney is not like some of the singers we have out in our generations. She is live and is filled with emotion in which she sings. She gives her 110% even when she is sick. Whitney has stood the test of time and we should not judge her by her past mistakes. I think from her voice of last night. Whitney will be here for more years to come with her voice of song and emotion and her beauty that stands the test of time and holds not boundaries. Whitney and Kim, know you are loved and continue to shine your presence of God with your beautiful voice of song. May God continue to bless you of your health and love of family. God Bless and Peace.
@JOHNVIDAL
Yeah I agree with that, that is so true. I think right now Whitney should focus on making albums, because besides the current state of her voice I actually liked “I Look to You” for it’s content and meaning. Making albums is much less strenuous on the voice than singing night after night on tour, so if she focuses on resting her voice and throws in an album somewhere which she takes her time to record, it makes more sense.
@UMMMMMMM
You need to get your ears checked if you think Whitney sounded horrible and Kim sounded 100 times better lol. And maybe get your brain examined as well, cos you’re delusional if you’re expecting TBG vocals. One thing’s for sure: I’d rather listen to Whitney 2011 than listen to Mariah’s pathetic lipsynched vocals. I’m sure you’re in the minority
kim killed it and helped whit whit out for real..
follow me
Not her best vocal performance but her stage presence, conviction, her relationship with god, and pastor kim burrell (yes, she IS a pastor IRL and head of her church in Houston) shone on stage. Expected more vocal range but seem to be stuck in the same octave. It’s like, something physical is stopping her voice from going all powerful and higher octave. She gets stuck and then the hoarseness, raspiness starts. I wonder if the rumor of vocal surgery in 2007 impaired her voice. That’s when the changes were noticeable. Hmm. Agreed, her tour performances in Italy (Rome & Milan) were much better. However, this duet works and the ad libs in the end playing off each other reminds me of her duets of past with Cece Winans and Mary J Blige. Kim’s mic was def set higher than Whitney’s and no matter how hard she yelled/belted it wasnt as strong, that sucked.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
@TIMMI
Stop being FAT-riah’s tampon. Why are u here in every freakin thread if all u care about is her lipping and that nice backing track of hers thats pondered off as real singing?? F*** off, d***** bag c***. Lick it.
This amazing women in not finished yet, her work is a life long artistry and i know she is yet to produce her finest work. Her faith has never wavered and in her own time she will rise to her finest hour on her own terms, her own time and by her own will and belief. She is a true inspiration and a fighter, none of us are perfect and we must learn from our lessons which i believe Whitney Houston is living proof of this. I will always love you Ms Houston xxx
She soundss like S***.
S***.
Shes over. The voice is dead. She has nothing.
~~
Support Ms Kelly Rowland!
Make believe. Kelly for 2011!
Praise God. That was Amazing. Emotional stuff.
Whitney never need 2 get on stage ever again! She’s embarrassing the Legends lol! She need 2 turn and look 2 Queen Bey 4 some vocal lessons and singing lessons. Bey might be willing 2 help. Still Horrible!
Whitney sounded great, the best she’s sounded in years! While I won’t go so far as to say we have our Whitney back, she has improved tremendously vocally, that cannot be denied. With all that she has been through in recent years, I applaud the fact that she has been doing her best to get her career back on track.
Check me out on SpreadDaWord.com!
Gospel is the arena for rasp? FAIL..smh
LOVED IT! I felt the annointing these women have and they opened up the gates of HEAVEN!
I agree w/ Sam, probably not the vocal performance we were all expecting for but it was truly emotional!! I reallyy enjoyed it, Whitney is one of the very few who cannot be on her best -singing- days and people will still give her a standing ovation, you gotta love that! Well done Whit.
That was a moving experience !!!! Whitney and Kim were great
f****** terrible! it was painful to listen and watch.
@Kelendria Rowland
Dint Beyaaawnce put “her career is dead” Rowland in her place and sat her fat ass on the curb?? Ooops, she did now STFU. No one is checking out Kelly. Go fly to the UK to be part of the sheeple movement. Now that one rat has fallen off the cliff hope the rest of you sheeples follow suit. Next.
@ X_posed99
Don’t try and throw Kelly under the bus because of that idiot who’s more than likely not even a Kelly fan–just someone on here (probably paid by Matthew) to make Kelly look bad. Kelly’s real stans/fans wouldn’t have said anything like that. I for one am a really Kelly stan, and I thoroughly enjoyed this performance.
The anointing makes the difference, and this performance was truly anointed. GOD bless Whitney and Pastor Burrell both. When you think about what Whitney went through, just to see her up there giving GOD the praise cracks and all is enough for me.
STFU.
MS KELLY is ten times da star Whitney is.
Kelly has HITS. Whitney dont
Kelly CAN sing. Whitney cnt
Kelly puts out records. Whitney smokes the PIPE
Kelly looksz beuatiful and natural. Whitneys fat, wears wigs and powders her nose.
Whitney voice is GONE and BURIED. Shes ova. She might feature on a Kelly Price record if she lucky. LULZ!!!!!
~~
Support Ms Kelly THE QUEEN OF DANCERNB
Whitney didn’t sing at all last night. She talked through that entire performance. Kim was amazing though.
LOL! Are you serious???? What a friggin hot ass mess!
Whitney sounded downright awful! This is the performance that people have been ranting, and raving about!?!? Are you kidding!? The way these Whitney fans were raving, I thought Whitney was about to put on the performance of the decade thus far.
She was out of breath like something awful, and once again, all I heard was talk-singing. Girl was looking like she was having a hard time keeping up with Kim smdh.
Whitney, girl. Your voice is shattered to pieces. You don’t got it no more, girl. But God bless you anyhow!
OMG I was shouting SANG Whitney Sang! She touched my soul last night and I was not expecting her too. Living Legend!!
OMG, I was shouting SANG Whit SANG! When she came back and did that ‘halleleujah and adlibbed with kim, ‘thank you God for allowing us to look to you’ on my heart, I so felt that, I don’t know what it was but I almost started to well up and cry. Her voice and testimony really hit me in the gut and I wasn’t expecting to be moved. I think it had something to do with how genuine she and Kim seemed, so at ease, so lving and supportive to each other. It just seemed real and heartfelt.
Nuff respect from Ms. Houston from me. She looked beautiful and awesome by itself. I can’t wait to see what any new album she puts out will bring. Kim did her thing. You can tell that this seems to be a real friendship and non of that industry fake ish!
I LOOOOOOVE WHITNEY!!! BUT, she did an ok job. I with Sam- this was a middle of theroad performance but very solid. She has sang this song better overseas IMO. But this performance served its purpose, she did the damn thing and Kim was good too.
Whitney and Kim shut it down- loved it
She didn’t sing, she spoke most of the verse and shouted the chorus. I saw her live and it was just as terrible as this performance.
I Live Nippy! I live….. 🙂
@X_POSED99
LMAO, why are you superglued on my d***?
Who even mentioned Mariah? Stay mad because Mimi can actually still lay down the vocals she “lips” to, unlike Whit, who seems to have a cheesegrater stuck in her throat.
And as for ye-ol-16th-century F****** “joke” (who’s laughing with you?), tell me why Whitney’s belly looks rounder without the two twins in it.
Thanks and goodbye.
And I’m literally crying at you telling yourself someone is out to plot against Whitney and turned Kim’s mic up…
*Flops in grave and closes casket*
Yeah you guessed it.. LMAOOOOOO
“rihanna will outshine her, she is more talented, has more grammys, tons of awards, new movie on the way, the list goes on and on”
@Sugar
I’m a Rihanna stan, and that had me rollin’. I needed to laugh today. Thank you.
@Timmi
I love the Whitney vs. Mariah threads. They’re such a hoot. Keep it coming!
@MARI
LMAO, anyday baby.
And @SUGAR
I didn’t even see you wrote that, but LMAOOO.
#ThatIsAll
I’m sorry but Whitney Voice is not back. She sounds better but she shouldn’t be on stage with Kim Burrell. Kim Killed this song, I mean put a fork in it and killed it. Love Whitney and will forever be a Whitney fan, but her best days are far far far behind her.
I LOVED THIS!!! Whitney keep it goin’ what a testimony , AMAZING woman.so proud & honored to be a fan.
THIS WAS A REALLY GOOD PERFORMANCE……HANG IN THERE WHITNEY WE’RE ROOTING FOR YOU!!!
THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL, SHE SOUNDED JUST FINE, WE KNOW SHE LOST IT, BUT GOD IS WORKING IN HER LIFE & SHE LOOKS AMAZING! PRAISE HIM!
Whitney brought me to tears, it is just so beautiful to see her progress. I’m proud of our Black community for always welcoming her back with open arms because as we’ve learned from those that we have lost in recent times, we never know what can happen in life and its best to embrace when we still can. Kim is such a great friend by also complimenting Whitney so well without taking away from the moment. To me it wasnt about critiquing the voice because we ALLLL know what Whit can do and has done–she doesnt have to prove anything to anyone. But the spirit was in that room and it channeled through to us at home and I just felt the magic she always seems to bring when she steps on a stage! Go Nippy!!!
Ms Houston did tha Damn thing! That.Is.All!
Who else gets a standing ovation before they even hit the stage, just based on people knowing what her voice sounds like!
#Legend #Icon
Whitney was not epic last night…..she was decent……could’ve been better…..
Wait a minute. Do no bring Miss MiMi into this. It aint her fault Whitney sounded like s***. And this past X Mas era Mariah slayed live so don’t….
Well, here is a HONEST viewpoint of the performance: Good Job Whitney Elizabeth Houston!!!!!
I don’t know why those who are criticizing the performance are expecting Whitney Vocals circa 1986-1999? Her voice isn’t that anymore, and guess what? It don’t need to be. Because even though her voice isn’t as “pretty” anymore or as full, she DOES have is great interpretative skills vocally and I felt every lyric she sang. A voice don’t have to be super pretty to be effective especially if that artist has MUSICIANSHIP. That separates the Whitney’s from the say, Christina’s….
And not mention, I LOVED use of her head Voice. That’s a GREAT sign because as all music fans know, she is a beast at chest to head voice transitions from the perspective of a Mezzo Soprano and she still has that.
I loved it!!! Go Whitney and Kim!!!! Neither were 100% vocally, but they both sounded so great together. YAY!!
R.I.P. Whitney’s voice.
She has sang song better on our and on the Wetten Das show, I think the spirit had her caught up. It was kinda average but no where near horrible. Whitney did good.
Whitney could sound worse than Rihanna live, she will ALWAYS be THE VOICE to me! 🙂 Love her!
It’s about time!
Why all these excuses (Emotional? WTF? Since when p** slaughtering sounds emotional?), when it’s plain and simple, her voice is gone. Who cares about her stage presence when the voice is not there?
you guys have to hear whitney sing ‘precious lord’ yesterday at bobby brown’s mother’s funeral.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWTiQ_3YsP8
It’s time to give credit where credit is due. Kim & Whitney personified the meaning of Gospel music. It touched our hearts, and it fulled our souls with what we all have lost along the way. The ability to see something good and not judge, is what we learned. For those of us raised in the church, we feel it in our hearts, something greater than words of a song. It was Gods way of touching us all, from a place we least expected.
Tears came to my eyes as the memory of sitting in Church listening to the Gospel, reminded me of something so important in my life; My faith!. For some of us, it holds great meaning, it is the trumpet sounding to our faith as Christians, to come back home. Welcome back Whitney…
I look forward to your voice and example, to lead us back home.
All the haters need to fall back. First of all ANYONE who has smoked weed,done drugs,or has a drinking problem has NO RIGHT to judge Whitney because you also fall short of the glory of Gpd. We’re ALL sinners and have done things God doesnt like,so calling Whitney a crackhead is completley out of line. She OVERCAME her drug problem,unlike other celebs who died on overdose, which is the most important thing. It’s ashame that other celebs like Wiz Khalifa,and Snoop Dogg( who BOTH smoke more weed than every person on earth) can glorify drugs and even make songs about getting high,but Whitney does something positive and people want to diss her.SMH Whitney still can sing but not as good as she used to. Before everyone starts judging her take a look at yourself,because NOBODY’S PERFECT!
I loved this performance. It touched my heart. Whitney is amazing
Saw it on TV today!!!!! LOVE WHITNEY!!!!!