UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 22 March 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Album has left the chart.

NEWSFILE: 16 MARCH 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 15 March 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.58 (from No.42) - 19 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 9 MARCH 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 8 March 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Up to No.42 (from No.54) - 18 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 2 MARCH 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 1 March 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.54 (from No.29) - 17 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 24 FEBRUARY 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 23 February 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Up to No.29 (from No.55) - 16 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 17 FEBRUARY 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 16 February 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Up to No.55 (from No.56) - 15 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 10 FEBRUARY 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 9 February 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.56 (from No.51) - 14 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 3 FEBRUARY 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 2 February 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.51 (from No.42) - 13 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 27 JANUARY 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 26 January 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.42 (from No.29) - 12 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 20 JANUARY 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 19 January 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.29 (from No.28) - 11 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 13 JANUARY 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 12 January 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.28 (from No.12) - 10 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 6 JANUARY 2008
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 5 January 2008:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.12 (from No.11) - 9 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 30 DECEMBER 2007
 

Cover...

[Billboard Report]

'X-Factor' Alums Rule U.K. Holiday Charts

December 24, 2007, 10:30 AM CT
Paul Sexton, London

Domination of the Christmas U.K. charts by ITV's "The X-Factor" was completed yesterday (Dec. 23), as 18-year-old Scottish singer Leon Jackson, who won the final of the contest on Dec. 15 and had his version of Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston's 1998 ballad "When You Believe" rush-released by Syco Music/Sony BMG, went straight to No. 1. Last year's winner and Syco labelmate Leona Lewis started a sixth week atop the album chart with "Spirit."

Guessing the winner of the race for the Christmas No. 1 was once almost a national sport in the U.K., producing all manner of idiosyncratic entries. But since the arrival of "The X-Factor," with its mass audience ratings and a final timed to produce a winner at the ideal strategic moment, the festive chart-topper is now a foregone conclusion. Jackson, who had pre-recorded "When You Believe," sold 276,000 copies of the track, which was available as a download within hours and was issued as a physical single last Wednesday (Dec. 19).

Last week's No. 1, "What a Wonderful World" (Dramatico) by Eva Cassidy & Katie Melua, fell to No. 2, while Lewis herself dipped 2-3 with the former chart-topper "Bleeding Love." "Fairytale of New York" (Warner Bros.) by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl rose again 8-4. After hitting No. 2 in 1987, the track has now reached No. 3, No. 6 and No. 4 in the last three holiday seasons.

While festive titles by Wham! and Wizzard slipped slightly, Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" (Polydor) became a top 20 hit again, climbing 22-20, as Shakin' Stevens' "Merry Christmas Everyone" (Sony Music) rose 23-22 and Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" (Mercury) jumped 27-24.

Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse's "Valerie" (Columbia) climbed back 11-8 and Sugababes' current single, "Change" (Universal Island), jumped 26-13. Former Arab Strap member Malcolm Middleton's "We're All Going To Die" (Full Time Hobby) debuted at No. 31 and download sales of Kylie Minogue's next single, "Wow" (Parlophone) took it into the top 40 at No. 32.

The Killers' festive download "Don't Shoot Me Santa" (Vertigo) climbed 43-34, the dance hit "Anthem" (Positiva) by Filo & Peri featuring Eric Lumiere rocketed 62-39 and Kate Nash's "Pumpkin Soup" (Fiction/Polydor) rose 58-40.

Lewis retained her album chart crown for Christmas, starting a sixth week at No. 1 with "Spirit." Westlife's "Back Home" (S/Sony BMG) retained the runner-up spot and Michael Buble stayed at No. 3 with the special edition of his "Call Me Irresponsible" album (Reprise/Warner Bros.). Rounding out the festive top five were Andrea Bocelli's retrospective "Vivere" (Sugar), up 6-4, and the Eagless' "Long Road Out of Eden" (Polydor), holding at No. 5.

Amy Winehouse managed the new achievement of two berths in the top 10 for her current Universal Island album. The deluxe edition of "Back to Black" rose 25-9 while the original, which is on course to be the U.K.'s bestselling album of 2007, dipped 9-10 in its 60th chart week.

On the last editions of Billboard's pan-European sales charts before Christmas, Led Zeppelin's "Mothership" compilation (Rhino/Atlantic) surged 6-1 in its fifth week on European Top 100 Albums to top the survey for the first time. "Apologize" (Mosley/Blackground/Interscope) by Timbaland presents OneRepublic leads Eurochart Top 100 Singles for a fifth week.
 

NEWSFILE: 24 DECEMBER 2007
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 29 December 2007:

WHEN YOU BELIEVE
Top 75 Singles Chart - Re-Entry at No.65 - 14 Weeks on Chart.

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.11 (from No.10) - 8 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 23 DECEMBER 2007
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 22 December 2007:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.10 (from No.7) - 7 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 16 DECEMBER 2007
 

Sugababes...

[Manchester Evening News Report]

Heaven sent babes

A MAGICAL night over at the "secret" Sugababes gig at St Philip with St Stephen Church in Salford last night.

The chart-topping girl group were certainly in angelic form at the event - singing pitch-perfect acoustic versions of some of their biggest hits - including Freak Like Me, Push the Button, Stronger, Ugly and their new single Change

And in the candle-lit setting they also did their own festive version of White Christmas.

I was among the lucky 250 guests at the Up Close gig organised by Emap Radio Events and Sony Ericsson Walkman phones, and hosted by Manchester's own Key 103 DJ Chelsea Norris.

After the exclusive performance, the girls took part in a Q&A session with fans, revealing that straight after the concert they were heading over to the M.E.N. Arena to watch everyone's favourite manband, Take That.

When asked what had been their proudest moment, band member Heidi Range said: "A few weeks ago we did a duet with Patti La Belle and Whitney Houston introduced us on stage. That was amazing because Whitney Houston has been an inspiration to all of us."

NEWSFILE: 12 DECEMBER 2007
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 15 December 2007:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Up to No.7 (from No.10) - 6 Weeks on Chart;
R&B Album Chart - Down to No.4 (from No.3) - 6 Weeks on Chart.

Sales of 'The Ultimate Collection' exceed 230,000 in the UK.

NEWSFILE: 9 DECEMBER 2007
 

Kuala Lumpur: Comeback In Full Gear...

[Fox 411 Report]

Whitney Houston's Comeback in Full Gear
Wednesday, December 05, 2007

By Roger Friedman

Some good news for a change about Whitney Houston. She made a tremendous comeback last Saturday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, performing several of her hits as if little time had passed.

Were we worried that drugs and alcohol had killed her voice? Yes, indeed. But video and audio from the concert, thanks to fans at the Live & Loud KL 07 show who posted on YouTube, reveal a cheery-looking, healthy Whitney hitting high notes and striking the right chord every time.

Among the songs posted are two difficult ones to sing: "I Will Always Love You" and "I Believe in You and Me." Each time, Whitney is singing with little musical accompaniment. She’s out there on her own and finding her way. On the latter number in particular she sounds like her old self. It’s a brave performance and to be commended.

Whitney also taped some promotional spots for Live & Loud which can be seen on YouTube. Again, she looks clear-eyed and sounds extremely coherent.

Now all Whitney has to do is finish recording her new album for Clive Davis, who will no doubt want to debut something from her on Feb. 9 at his annual pre-Grammy dinner and show.

Maybe Whitney will even team up with Alicia Keys. How refreshing to think that 2008 will be the year that the best singer of her generation will make a sterling comeback after a decade in the wilderness.

Belting Performance...

[EURWeb Report]

WHITNEY PERFORMS CONCERT IN KUALA LUMPUR:
Singer 'belts' greatest hits at annual Live and Loud fest.

Whitney Houston was in Kuala Lumpur last weekend to entertain some 10,000 fans at Malaysia's Live and Loud festival, marking one of the few times she has performed publicly since leaving a stint in rehab.


The singer hit the stage shortly after midnight dressed in leather pants and a white overcoat. The song list included most of her biggest hits, including "I Will Always Love You," "Saving All My Love" and "Heartbreak Hotel."


A YouTube user strung together short clips of her performances here. In the video snippet below, she sings her hit single "I Will Always Love You."

NEWSFILE: 5 DECEMBER 2007
 

Live & Loud Review....

[New Strait Times, Malaysia Review]

Wonderful Whitney

There were some wobbly moments but Whitney Houston still delivered. SHUIB TAIB remains a fan.

THEY were there for her! And Whitney Houston could do no wrong. Despite several announcements made prior to her performance requesting that no photographs nor recordings be done while she performed had the crowd go “boo”... they waited.

Then there was the time factor. By the time “Mr Lover Lover” Shaggy ended his segment, it was 11.30pm. It took another hour for the stage to be set for Whitney and despite it being past midnight, the crowd stayed on.

The presence of a journalist from BBC London also showed the magnitude of the event. After all, the diva was making a comeback and Kuala Lumpur had the honour of being the venue of her first stage re-appearance!

“Beyonce may have given us a miss but thank God for Whitney!” said a fan just before the tall and stylish singer came out.

When the stage lights were off, the 8,000-plus crowd started to chant her name. They got even more excited when the six musicians and three back-up singers who included brother Gary Houston walked to their stations.

Then she appeared. Clad in silver-coloured pants, beaded mid-riff, leopard-print shoes and a trench coat, Whitney opened the show with If I Told You That, a duet originally sung with George Michael.

Anyone who has been following her career would have known by now that Whitney “live” is not quite the same as Whitney the recording artiste.

Even in her heyday, Whitney had always performed differently when on stage.

However, at Live & Loud KL 2007, it was not only different, it was clear from the start that Whitney would struggle with the high notes. However, there were time when her superb vocals were back, especially the lower registers.

Whether the fans were in awe or in shock or simply knackered, most of the time they were rather subdued.

Whitney told the audience that it was the first time that she had ever been to beautiful Kuala Lumpur and that she was coming out with a new album soon.

If the crowd were rather reticent early on, they came to life when they heard the introduction of the songs that followed which go back to 1985 when Whitney just started.

Saving All My Love for You, Greatest Love of All, All at Once and You Give Good Love were rendered in a medley.

The crowd sang with her, sometimes a note faster, and that made her smile. At times she appeared distracted by the off-key singing of her fans — so much so she had to politely request them to “shush” at one point so that she could do a better job.

Whitney is also one singer who has the habit of ad-libbing the lyrics and doing “sing-talk” to her audience.

Instead of saying “You give good love”, for example she changed it to “Malaysia, you give good love, yes you do...”

Hardly pausing in between songs, Whitney continued with Waiting to Exhale (Shoop Shoop), Heartbreak Hotel and It’s Not Right (But It’s Okay).

Sensing that the crowd were getting restless, she would walk and sometimes run from one end to the other and get them to clap to get them come alive again.

Although Whitney hardly communicated with the crowd, the smile never left her face. The “I love you Whitney!” shouts were responded with “I love you too!”

Whitney treated the audience with Step by Step and for the following song, My Love is Your Love, she surprised the audience by introducing daughter, Bobbi Kristina, who sang along with her. The already grown-up and at times forgetting-the-lyrics Kristina certainly had Bobby Brown’s smile on her.

The impromptu singing was certainly one of the highlights of the evening.

After the segment, Whitney went backstage to change while brother Gary took over and delighted the crowd with his version of Eric Clapton’s Change the World.

When Whitney came back, she launched into the fast number, I Wanna Dance with Somebody and How Will I Know.

“Do you love my dress? I put it on just for you,” said Whitney who was decked in a one-piece royal purple gown.

With a towel in hand (which she later threw to the audience) and her trademark stylish hand movements, Whitney soldiered on with an impromptu number, I Believe in You and Me, a song she obliged after fans requested for it.

She capped the night off with I Go To The Rock and I Will Always Love You before coming back for an encore belting out I’m Every Woman.

“I don’t care that she struggled a bit. I still love her. It’s Whitney, man,” said a fan.

NEWSFILE: 4 DECEMBER 2007
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 8 December 2007:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Up to No.10 (from No.13) - 5 Weeks on Chart;
R&B Album Chart - No.3 - 5 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 2 DECEMBER 2007
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 1 December 2007:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.13 (from No.12) - 4 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 25 NOVEMBER 2007
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 24 November 2007:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Down to No.12 (from No.3) - 3 Weeks on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 18 NOVEMBER 2007
 

UK Chart Update...

UK Chart For Week Ending 17 November 2007:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - Up to No.3 (from No.5) - 2 Weeks on Chart;
R&B Album Chart - Down to No.3 (from No.1) - 2 Weeks on Chart.

First two weeks sales of 'The Ultimate Collection exceed 74,000 copies.

NEWSFILE: 11 NOVEMBER 2007
 

UK Sales...

[Excerpt from Music Week Sales Analysis]

They’ve had their problems but Britney and Whitney are both back in the charts this week. While Britney delivers a whole new album, Whitney is still working on hers, and instead releases new compilation The Ultimate Collection, which debuts at number five on sales of 37,228.

Houston’s last album of new material, Just Whitney, peaked at number 76 in 2002 and sold just 42,114 copies but her 2000 Greatest Hits album topped the chart and sold 1,646,809 copies, while another compilation, Love Whitney, got to number 22 in 2002 and sold 46,264 copies.
 

NEWSFILE: 5 NOVEMBER 2007
 

UK Chart Debut...

'The Ultimate Collection' has debuted at No.5 on the UK Album Chart this week.:

UK Chart For Week Ending 10 November 2007:

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Top 75 Album Chart - New Entry at No.5 - 1 Week on Chart;
R&B Album Chart - New Entry at No.1 - 1 Week on Chart.

NEWSFILE: 4 NOVEMBER 2007
 

The Ultimate Collection...

[Noble PR Press Release]

For the first time ever in a single CD version Sony BMG Music Entertainment is pleased to announce the 29th October 2007 U.K. release of Whitney Houston ‘The Ultimate Collection’.

Enjoy 18 of the greatest tracks from the original diva of R&B; ‘I Will Always Love You’ The Bodyguard’s signature song which spent 10 weeks at Number 1 in the U.K. charts creating Houston’s longest run at the top spot, the uplifting ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, unforgettable ballads such as ‘One Moment In Time’ and ‘Run To You’, plus magical duets with other music luminaries including Mariah Carey and George Michael.


When you can call Dionne Warwick your cousin and the legendary Aretha Franklin your Godmother, it’s no wonder Whitney Houston is one of the biggest, and best-selling, female artists of all time. Having sold approximately 170 million albums and singles world-wide, broken countless records throughout her career, Whitney has had consistent success in music and film since her debut single, ‘Saving All My Love For You’ in 1985.

Celebrate the voice, the career and the songs of the best selling and most award winning female R&B singer ever, this CD is truly The Ultimate Collection for any Whitney Houston fan.

TRACK LISTING

01. I Will Always Love You
02. Saving All My Love For You
03. Greatest Love Of All
04. One Moment In Time
05. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
06. How Will I Know
07. So Emotional
08. When You Believe (Duet with Mariah Carey)
09. Where Do Broken Hearts Go
10. I’m Your Baby Tonight
11. Didn’t We Almost Have It All
12. Run To You
13. Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
14. If I Told You That (With George Michael)
15. I Have Nothing
16. I’m Every Woman
17. It’s Not Right But It’s Okay
18. My Love Is Your Love
 

NEWSFILE: 28 OCTOBER 2007