On February 18, Whitney Houston’s funeral was celebrated in Newark at the N.J.’s New Hope Baptist Church. What was actually a private service, with 1,500 of Whitney Houston’s loved ones, was broadcasted in its entirely on TV and online in order to give Houston’s worldwide fans the chance to say farewell to the beloved star.

The funeral went on for almost four hours; it was a celebration of Whitney Houston’s life and legacy. Several friends and family members took the stage to share their memories and pay homage to the late diva. Unfortunately, Houston’s godmother, Aretha Franklin, was unable to attend the service due to health problems. Furthermore, Whitney Houston’s ex-husband, Bobby Brown, left the church before the beginning of the service. Aside from these two unfortunate elements, the celebration was glorious. An amazing gospel choir gave a very touching farewell.

All of the people who had the chance to participate in the ceremony shared something special and emotional. Donnie McClurklin sang ‘Stand’, and Tyler Perry passionately described Houston’s personality and her love for the Lord. BeBe Winans, standing with his sister, CeCe, by his side, sang the song ‘I Really Miss You’ right before Bishop T.D. Jakes spoke.

The pastor underlined how love is greater than death, ending his speech with, ‘Love will last forever, for God is love.’ Kim Burnell then gave a touching performance of ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’, adapting it to a description of Whitney Houston’s approach to life and faith.

One of the sweetest speeches was given by Houston’s friend, actor Kevin Costner. He shared with the crowd personal and funny moments. He stressed how he and Houston, despite different thoughts, were very similar. ‘The church was our private bond,’ Costner said. He also talked about the infamous movie ‘The Bodyguard’, which starred Costner and Houston together.

He told the whole story: how he choose her in the first place and how not all of the people involved in the movie’s production were ready to go along with this decision, due to Houston’s inexperience with acting and her race. During his speech he looked very emotional and deeply connected to the late artist and her family. He also described Whitney Houston’s insecurity. He explained how she would often worry about not being good enough or pretty enough and how she was afraid people did not like her.

‘People didn’t just like you, Whitney, they loved you,’ said Costner. ‘God himself wonders how He created something so perfect […] When you sing in front of Him, don’t you worry, you’ll be good enough.’ Alicia Keys then sat at the piano, visibly moved, and talked about how important the 48-year-old singer’s life was. She passionately sang ‘Prelude To A Kiss’, ending it by singing, ‘Whitney is an angel.’

Next, Clive Davis went through a memory of his personal relationship with the artist and her long career, and he talked about being her mentor and producer. He closed his speech by saying, ‘I loved her very much […] Whitney was purely and simply one-of-a-kind […] When I needed her, she was there […] Bobbi Kristina, always be proud of your mother.’

Ray Watson, Houston’s brother-in-law and longtime bodyguard, gave a touching speech and stated, ‘We gotta give back to our entertainers; treat them well, with dignity, treat them with love, and stop ridiculing them.’ Stevie Wonder gracefully took his place at the piano, thanking God for letting him live at the same time as Whitney Houston.

He added that he had a little crush on her when they worked together and said, ‘We loved her so much, and that won’t stop.’ Wonder sang an alternate version of ‘Ribbon in the Sky’, which he modified on his way to the funeral, then concluded with a joyful performance of ‘Love Is in Need of Love Today.’

Patricia Houston gave a long, moving speech, underlining the positive attitude that characterized the late singer, as well as her respect for the Lord. R. Kelly, visibly heartbroken, performed ‘I Look to You’ with the choir.  It was a song he had written and that Whitney Houston had sung in her last studio album. Houston’s cousin, Dionne Warwick, who presided over the funeral, introduced speakers and singers, then read a poem, right before CeCe Winans sang ‘Don’t Cry For Me’ and ‘Yes, Jesus Loves Me’.

After this, Rickey Minor explained how Whitney Houston changed his life and how lovable the artist was from every point of view. As a conclusion, Pastor Marvin Winans sang with his entire family before he started preaching. The ceremony ended with the casket of Whitney Houston leaving the church while her famous performance of ‘I Will Always Love You’ embraced the congregation.

Image Courtesy of    http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaconradio/

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Coldplay’s fifth studio album, “Mylo Xyloto,” is the group’s third album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart.  Coldplay’s previous two albums, “Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends” in 2008 and “X&Y” in 2005, both debuted at No.1. Their single, “Princess Of China,” which features Rihanna also made a debut this week at No. 20 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The album’s sales were significantly less compared to the previous two albums which debuted on the chart with 721,000 and 737,000 albums sold. According to Nielsen SoundScan, “Mylo Xyloto” is the third biggest debut this year, selling 447,000 physical and digital copies.

Only Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne have managed to sell more in one week this year. Gaga’s “Born this Way” sold 1.1 million albums, and Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV” sold 964,000. Kelly Clarkson’s new album, “Stronger,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 and sold 163,000 copies.

This is the American Idol winner’s fifth studio effort as she stands as the most successful artist to come out of the popular show. The Canadian singer, Michael Buble, finds success in his holiday album, “Christmas,” which sold 141,000 copies and debuted at No. 3 behind Coldplay and Kelly Clarkson.

Rihanna had a big week, too, as her new single, “We Found Love” in which she collaborated with the Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Rihanna takes the crown from Adele’s “Someone Like You” who held the No. 1 spot for four weeks in a row.

This marks the Barbadian’s eleventh No. 1 ranking on the chart since her career began in 2005. She now ties with Whitney Houston, but surpassed Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson, both of whom had 10 No. 1 hits. Her sixth album titled “Talk That Talk” is due to be released later this month, just a year after the release of her successful fifth album “Loud.”

Justin Bieber’s holiday album, “Mistletoe,” is set to debut at No. 1 next week, though the single of the same name dropped in rank from 11 to 73 in just one week on the Billboard Hot 100. In the meantime, a young woman by the name of Mariah Yeater hit the Canadian singer with a paternity suit claiming they had a sexual encounter after a concert last year in Los Angeles.

A California court will have a hearing next month, but Island Def Jam records have publicly denied the accusation and stated they will do everything they can to protect the young singer.

Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

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25 years of history making, and life changing television, ended yesterday, on May 25, 2011.  An atmosphere full of emotions surrounded Oprah’s final show. Goodbye is always a sad word. That denotes that something has ended and its time to say farewell. After being an iconic figure, a role model, and an admirable woman, she says goodbye to the screen.

Taking once again the stage, and standing in front of her audience, she began to say the first words of her final episode “”There are no words to match this moment.” The showed reveal all the greatest achievements that Oprah considered were made by her, or the ones that she had most pride for. “Every day that I stood here I knew that this was exactly where I was meant to be.”

The show had around 7 million of spectators that day. Exposing a remarkable cipher, and becoming the most important Oprah moment, in her 25 years debut on T.V.  The Oprah Winfrey’s Show was one of the longest running talk shows in United States. It began on 1986, and had emitted 24 seasons, and more than 4,000 episodes.

Everyone has a platform, Winfrey said. “Mine is a stage in a studio. Yours is wherever you are, with your own reach.” We’ve seen Oprah grow, and we have watched her ups and downs during her career. With a rough background and childhood, she found a way to start again, and succeeded becoming one of the most powerful women on the world.

Remarkably, every advertisement that was emitted during the final episode, having duration of 30 seconds was valued in one million of dollars.

The final program was recorded in the United Center and 15.000 people attended as an audience. During the record of the last episode, many artists, and important figures were present such as:  Beyonce, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Halley Berry, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Dakota Fanning, Jamie Fox Queen Latifah and many others.

“Well, I say, all sweet, no bitter. And here’s why. Many of us have been together for 25 years. We have hooted and hollered together, had our a-ha moments, we ugly-cried together and we did our gratitude journals. So I thank you all for your support and your trust in me. I thank you for sharing this yellow brick road of blessings. …I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration for me as I’ve tried to be for you. I won’t say goodbye. I’ll just say, until we meet again. To God be the glory.

But for her fans out there not everything is sad news, because she will not be leaving the small screen completely. She will dedicate her time completely to the channel OWN T.V, that stands for Oprah Winfrey Network. Released a couple months ago.

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