I joined a singing contest for the first time, in third grade, with my Kuya Angelo. It was in 1993, a year when almost every girl was taught to sing a Whitney Houston song. I was a boy, but that didn't stop me from having my mom teach me Whitney Houston's "Run to You." It was not an easy song to sing, I tell you. Wait, I don't have to tell you, at all.
It's just that I was an ambitious little girl --I mean-- boy, so I chose it, 'though just a few hours before the contest began I chose another song, instead. I remember the reason for the change was the "Ooohoooh" part which made me sound as if I was having an early puberty. My problem would have been solved if not fot the medley part of the contest. And in the medley, I had to sing the dreaded "Ooohooh" of Whitney's song. The rest is history. Don't ask me what happened, when I finally sang it.
That was in 19 years ago. The adults at that time were amused at the thought that it seemed all their children wanted to be Whitney Houston. I'm sure many of those children being referred to are feeling a certain loss now. I do. I was one of them.
Whitney Houston's career went downhill in the 2000s. She lost her singing voice and it seemed everything we heard from her were, if not about her drug addiction or her relationship with then- husband Bobby Brown, it was her failed attempts to make a comeback, due to the voice which has obviously deteriorated. Now that she's gone, these are not the things I'll remember when I think of her.
I'll remember that beautiful woman who touched my young heart with the greatness of her voice. And the things I learned from her, especially the way she expressed emotions when conveying the message of a song she's interpreting, will always remain with me.
Rest in Peace, Whitney.
