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Setlist Encore: Thursday Night's sold out Wembley Arena audience demanded a good time and stayed with Whitney throughout the show - there wasn't the need for Whitney to build the audience as she had done the night before. Vocally, once again, Whitney was on. Stories of effected vocal performances following back-to-back shows have dogged Whitney for some time and tonight's show was testament to the fact that she is able to pull off multiple shows in her gruelling European tour. From the bass heavy closing of "Get It Back" to the vibe laiden closing to "Heartbreak Hotel", Whitney clearly has changed from the days of being able to sing her songs perfectly - she appears now to have become her songs. There is a marked difference. "Saving All My Love For You" retains it's status as the intro to the pitch perfect "Until You Come Back To Me" number - once again, Whitney nailed this performance with considerable ease and surpassed the vocal she committed to history on this last album. For "I Learned From The Best", the song maintains it's 'torch song' ideal and driven instrumentation which so easily could have been a performance by Tina Turner or Celine Dion. For the closing note, Whitney chose to break the end into two or three smaller parts but each still long and complex enough to warrant the standing ovation that followed. "Step By Step" is always going to be one of the anthems of Whitney's career - certainly for British audiences who took to the song initially for Annie Lennox' trade mark backing vocals. The song had Wembley on it's feet.] Following Gary Houston's "Change The World" (is it me or is he getting better as a vocalist?) the band and singers launched into a medley which began with the "I Have Nothing" intro - it's just a shame this song does not form a part of Whitney's tour. The set list was changed around a little from here on as "My Love Is Your Love" saw Whitney return to the stage following an outfit change - it's great to see 10,000 people really get into this song and just reconfirms how wide a reach it's had over Europe this summer. "I'm Every Woman" proved Whitney's vocal presence tonight - the intro was performed perfectly and Whitney fed off the intense vibe of her audience. Does the remixed "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" not have the same effect as the original or the Junior Vasquez remix which Whitney normally performs? She's certainly feeling the latin vibe in song of the dance moves she makes - it's great to see how well Whitney has come along as a dancer over the past few years. Clearly she demonstrates the ability to perform live and move to her music in ways which Michael Jackson and his like (male or female) can learn a thing or two about. The highlight of the evening, as with last night, must be "I Love The Lord". It's not so much because it's a great song (it is) but more that Whitney feels this song more than any other and her performance of it far outruns anything else - the best parts of this aren't within the main body of the song itself but in the closing ad-libs which run for around five minutes (Omega, Alpha....). After "I Go To The Rock", things noticeably speed up - Whitney speeds through her movie medley. If you ever wanted to hear her sing "I Believe In You And Me" as she recorded it for "The Preacher's Wife" album rather than her usual re-arranged live version, tonight was your night. "I Will Always Love You" began almost un-noticed initially. Remaining seated, Whitney again chose to run through the song alot quicker than she normally would and the seconds before the climax were just that - seconds! She nailed the closing of the song though - no doubts there. The encore came swiftly, the audience erupted with the opening bars of "It's Not Right But It's Okay" - the song marked the perfect ending to a perfect evening of song. An impressive evening on many levels. MANISH
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