A lot has been written and said about Whitney Houston in the last few months since she started – what she herself would not call – her comeback. Particular interest has been shown in her 2010 World Tour which was preceded by two concerts in Russia in December 2009.
The least of the media coverage has been kind and fair to the great talent of Whitney Houston. The focus has been laid on the what has been labeled as the vocal decline of the international diva. Unfortunately, most of the reports and articles didn't stop there. They went beyond what musical criticism is supposed to stand for.
We have seen pre-written articles and reviews (one Berlin review headline published weeks before the actual concert would take place, cf. Yahoo! Germany). We have seen reviews being published 60 minutes after the concert started while another hour was still to go (cf. Tagesanzeiger, Zurich). And we have seen in most cases articles based on wrong information (claiming things that never happened during the concert, (cf. Stimme, Südwesten), bad research (misspelling the names of Whitney Houston's opening act Azaryah Davidson and mother Cissy Houston, (cf. Frankfurter Neue Presse, Frankfurt) and repeated monotonous argumentation. The opinion of a few disappointed was often times quoted and declared to be representative of an entire audience while in reality the vast majority of concert goers enjoyed it very much and were cheering and clapping.
In most cases, none of the writers even tried to understand what Whitney Houston's art as of today is all about mostly repeating the one (and often only) argument of her no longer sounding the “same”. We as fans ask as opposed to when? Since she came out with a sensational debut, her voice has been continuously maturing, developing and from the Bodyguard era on also declining in range and power. But the main point is that she has indeed matured. Most of the reviewers didn't see the point. A pop star is obviously not allowed to change and age. On one hand, the media always finds fault with those actors and singers that go through every possible kind of procedure to keep a youthful image including surgery. On the other hand, they keep attacking Whitney Houston for not being the same as 20 years ago. Anybody else seeing the hypocrisy here?
Granted, Whitney Houston does not sound like 1992 but that in itself is not a criteria for criticism. Her voice today is richer and full in the lower registers. She has started to incorporated elements from jazz into her performances (just check out one of the many fantastic renditions of “I Learned From The Best” during this tour) and her gospel songs come from deep down a soul that has seen a share of darker days and isn't afraid to let it show.
We as fans could be forgiving to the media not understanding the art when it wasn't for the lies that have been spread and have got nothing to do with the art.
From being pregnant to being near death, everything a sensationalist journalist's mind can come up with has been said about this woman with the unique talent. Some have predicted her life expectancy, others what her diet looks like. This is no longer acceptable.
That's why a group of fans have decided to start a campaign to 'fight against the media' by enlightening people on how the media work and what is true and what is not. Please join us!
