*Whitney Houston’s former voice coach says he refuses to watch her final big-screen performance in “Sparkle” because it pains him to watch her trying to hit the high notes.
Houston hired Gary Catona to help plot her comeback following a period of prolonged drug abuse. He admits she was not ready to return to the studio – or the film set – when she signed on for her last film.
Gary Catona
“When I first started working with her in 2005, she had lost 99.9 per cent of her voice. She could barely speak, let alone sing,” he tells the New York Post. “Her lifestyle choices had made her almost completely hoarse… She was not a disciplined person in her personal life, and, away from our sessions, she was under the influence of so many forces. She allowed other people to control her.”
Catona said Houston made a lot of progress, but it still wasn’t up to his gold standard when filming began, and he hates the thought of her legacy being anything less than her personal best.
“If we’d been given the proper amount of time, we would have got her voice back to 95 per cent of where she once was,” he said. “She went out and performed when she was nowhere near ready. I don’t think I can watch Sparkle, as seeing her performing below what I know she is capable of is too upsetting.”
Eventhough Whitney had lost most of her voice, I will always remember her as one of the all time great female voices in her hey day.
She was indeed.
I will not watch either. It’s too painful.
The previews aren’t that great…I’ll wait until it comes on dvd.
Sparkle should never have been remade in the first place and just because Whitney Houston died doesn’t make it any more sensible. I frankly don’t see the interest in it, other that that she is no longer here. I won’t be seeing it.
ITA. I’ll stick to the original.
I plan on seeing the movie because I liked the original. I do feel the feel Mr. Catona’ pain regarding Whitney’s voice. I felt bad for Whitney before she passed away because the one thing I thought about was when Obama was running for president in 08 and he won and was inauguarated in Jan 2009, I wished Whitney could’ve been a part of that and Michael Jackson too, But she will always be remembered as “The Voice”. I just wished she would left this world with it.
I plan on seeing the movie because I am fan of Whitney and the movie. But people act like Sparkle was some masterpiece that shouldn’t be touched. The original left a lot to be desired. The movie was filmed way too dark and the story line could have been better. And many people still never seen the original movie so if the new one is any good maybe a new generation will check out the original. And this vocal coach needs to sit down some where. He told his story several times since Whitney’s death so if he doesn’t want to see the movie then fine, why run to the media to say it. If Whitney was alive we would have never heard from this guy.
music101, ITA, the original IMHO, was pretty bad . .I may see it when the chinamen comes ‘roun’ the way with a bootleg. My real hesitation to not seeing this is because in the ads, the wig Whitney is wearing is absolutely horrible!!, looks like spun yarn, just plain terrible. And Jordin Sparks couldn’t set a match on fire, but she’s a looker.
No, it wasn’t a masterpiece but what is the point of remaking it since girl groups haven’t been on the scene since the late 90s? How can today kids relate to that? If the storyline, as you say, wasn’t good back then, why would this remake be any better?
The original did tell a story about the perils of showbiz, heartbreak and tragedy. The time period in which the movie came out was perfect because girl groups were still existence and the audience could relate. As for the look of the movie, I see nothing wrong with it. Nightclubs in general are usually dark and that’s where most of the singing scenes took place. Nightclubs back in the day are very different than now. Now there are just clubs. Plus, the time period the movie was based was the late 50s to the early 60s.
Everything does not need to be ‘remixed’ or ‘updated’ to appeal to a new audience. Perhaps they should see and learn what life was like back when. Their present would not have existed if there wasn’t a past.
Well that’s your opinion. And the movie hasn’t been updated to modern times. It was changed to the 60′s doing the Motown days. And it doesn’t matter if girls groups are in today because the movie isnt based on today, it is a period piece. And things recycle so maybe girls group might come around again but overall the movie was never just about girl groups. And don’t know the script because we haven’t seen the movie yet. Based on your logic Dreamgirls should have never been made into a movie.
Again, that’s my opinion. Dreamgirls the movie wasn’t that good either.
Obviously, if this movie is being remade, it is being ‘updated’ for modern times. They are still using some of the themes from the original, which, btw, Houston loved and wanted it remade in the first place. I love groups but the reality is that nowadays, the focus is on solo acts and the idea of groups, particularly girl groups, is kinda foreign to the young crowd. And I know that the movie wasn’t simply about ‘girl groups’ but it was about sisters who were a girl group who faced alot of obstacles on their way to success.