Jennifer Hudson's tribute to Whitney Houston at the Grammys on Sunday evening was a heartbreaking showstopper. And it is easy to see why.
The producers of the 54th Annual Grammy Awards needed to scramble to find a technique to revamp the awards present to honor Whitney Houston simply hours after the singer was declared dead under mysterious circumstances in her Beverly Hilton room in Beverly Hills. The forty eight-year-old pop legend had long struggled with drug addiction.
Houston's memory loomed massive over the awards, with host L.L. Cool J. beginning the present by addressing the challenge of celebrating music on a night tinged with such heartache. "There is no method round this. We had a demise in our family," he said earlier than leading the audience at Staples Middle in a prayer for "our sister Whitney."
But all agreed - including Houston's mentor, Clive Davis - that Houston would have needed the present to go on. So it did.
Hudson's emotional rendition of "I Will Always Love You" didn't attempt to compete with Houston's model of the song. Instead, it paid homage and deference to a voice for the ages, a voice that influenced so many different performers, Hudson amongst them.
Carrying a somber yet elegant black dress and backlighted, Hudson's hair and make-up (notably those shiny, nude lips) recalled Houston in her heyday. Nonetheless, Hudson nonetheless put her own twist on the track, finishing it this manner: "Whitney, we love, we love you."
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