Sydney Fans Bail...

Herald Sun: Sydney fans bail on woeful Whitney Houston
Kathy McCabe From: The Daily Telegraph February 25, 2010 10:12AM

WHITNEY Houston got off to such a great start at her concert at Sydney's Acer Arena last night.
After the savaging she copped after her opening Australian show in Brisbane on Monday night, the Sydney crowd were undoubtedly on her side and for the first 50 minutes, both performer and the 12,000 strong crowd seemed to be having a great time.

But when Houston returned to the stage after a 13-minute costume change it all went downhill.

Her acoustic set of old favourites unfortunately could not hide the very obvious problems with her voice, the strain and those coughs that punctuated the Brisbane show were back.

By the time she got to the gospel section of the show a steady stream of disappointed, saddened and angry fans started streaming out the doors.

"Some of it's been beautiful and some it is just horrible," Shane Norquay said.

"It feels like she's trying to be herself but it's not working."

Another fan, Bernadette Latta, didn't mince her words as she left the show she had been looking forward to since her son gave her the $200 ticket for Christmas.

"It's terrible. I have never walked out before a concert finished but that was just terrible," she said.

"I'll be suggesting my son tries to get a refund."

But to be fair, the vast majority of the crowd stayed, willing Whitney on.

They were rewarded as Houston rallied with the final three songs delivering an energetic and upbeat finale with I Wanna Dance With Somebody, How Will I Know and her signature hit I Will Always Love You.

Before Houston took the stage, her daughter Bobbi came out the front to rev the fans up, waving as they screamed and cheered her.

The 46-year-old appeared defiant and strong as she opened with For The Lovers and the crowd continued to roar their approval as she sang Nothing But Love in dedication to them.

Houston was singing about her life and was putting every bit of emotion into it, determined to show she had regained her strength after battling drug addiction and her divorce from singer Bobby Brown.

She was hitting some impressive high notes and girlishly engaged her fans, blowing kisses and reminding them how much she had appreciated their support through the tough times.

She performs again at Hope Estate in the Hunter Valley on Saturday, then the tour is scheduled to continue in Melbourne and Adelaide.