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*In one of her first public appearances since undergoing rehab and ditching husband Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston dressed herself in a floor-length black Armani gown and an ear full of diamonds to attend the 17th annual Carousel of Hope Ball Saturday in Beverly Hills.
The 43-year-old singer arrived on the arm of record mogul Clive Davis, who discovered Houston as a teen and signed the New Jersey native to her first record contract at his former label, Arista. He is currently overseeing her highly-anticipated comeback album, due sometime next year.
"She's been through emotional trauma, and everybody's rooting for her," Davis told People magazine. "We're going to make a killer album."
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Usher, Clive Davis and Whitney Houston
For MORE photos, check out Nikky Dorsett's Players, Haters and Imatators blog.
Houston posed for photographers at the event and told reporters “"I feel great." (Watch video footage here, courtesy of TMZ.com.) Inside of the Ball, a fundraiser for juvenile diabetes research that raised more than $70 million, Houston sat at the main table with Halle Berry – who herself is a diabetic – and the actress's boyfriend Gabriel Aubry.
Quincy Jones, an honoree for the evening who has known Houston since she was 16, said the singer seems to have turned a corner, telling USA Today: "She's looking at the light, instead of darkness."
Other celebrity attendees included Naomi Campbell, Brooke Shields, Teri Hatcher, Hilary Duff, Kristin Davis, Sharon Stone, Minnie Driver, Sidney Poitier and couple Warren Beatty and Annette Bening.
Houston’s presence at the event prompted the evening’s entertainment, “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee, to ditch her signature number, "Over the Rainbow," in favor of Houston's "I Have Nothing." Houston threw McPhee a head nod of approval during the performance and led a standing ovation, reports USA Today.
Afterward, Davis brought McPhee over to meet Houston, who took McPhee's hands in hers.
"She said she was really proud of me," McPhee told USA Today. The event's founder, Barbara Davis, sparkling in $12.5 million in Leviev diamonds, guided Stevie Wonder over to sit with Houston. "This is my baby," said Houston, taking Wonder's hand. "He's my baby, too!" piped Barbara Davis.
Barbara Davis, an “American Idol” fan, also invited former Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson to sing one of her songs from her upcoming film, “Dreamgirls.”
Hudson told USA Today: "It would be a dream to hear Whitney perform again. She had the greatest voice of all time."
Whitney has entered rehab twice during her 14-year marriage to Bobby Brown. She filed for divorce from the New Edition vet earlier this month after filing for separation on Sept. 8. In the separation papers, Houston asked for custody of the couple's 13-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, and that Brown, 37, be allowed visitation rights.
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