Florida Sentinel Bulletin

The biggest names in entertainment clapped hands, swayed to gospel hymns and sang along with the choir at Whitney Houston’s hometown funeral Saturday in the church where the future pop star once wowed the congregation as a young girl.

Mourners including singer Jennifer Hudson and Houston’s mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston, stood, swayed and clapped along in the aisles as gospel singers CeCe and BeBe Winans and the Rev. Kim Burrell joined with pop stars like Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder and R. Kelly in paying tribute to the 48-year-old pop superstar who first began singing in the Newark church.

Others were more mournful; singer Ray J., who spent time with Houston during her last days, broke down crying. His sister, singer Brandy, put her arm around him. Cissy Houston and Whitney Houston’s daughter, 18-year-old Bobbi Kristina, clutched each other in the front row.

Filmmaker Tyler Perry praised Houston’s “grace that kept on carrying her all the way through, the same grace led her all the way to the top of the charts. She sang for presidents.”

Wonder and Oprah Winfrey were among the biggest names gathered to mourn Houston, along with Hudson, Monica, Brandy and Jordin Sparks — representing a generation of big-voiced young singers who grew up emulating her. Houston’s voice, a recording of “I Will Always Love You,” was to close the funeral.

Houston’s cousin, singer Dionne Warwick, presided over the funeral, introducing speakers and singers and offering short comments about Houston between them.

Houston’s mother was helped by two people on either side of her as she walked in and sat with her granddaughter and other family to begin the service.

Houston’s ex-husband, Bobby Brown, briefly appeared at her funeral, walking to the casket, touching it and walking out. Security guards said Brown was upset that he would have to sit separately from the people he arrived with, and left.

After all the testimonials from relatives and friends, the songs from legends and pop stars, the preaching and even laughter, the raw emotion of Whitney Houston’s funeral came down to just one moment: The sound of her own voice.

As the strains of her biggest record, “I Will Always Love You,” filled the New Hope Baptist Church at the end of the nearly four-hour service Saturday and her silver-and-gold casket was lifted in the air, the weight of the moment was too much for mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston, to bear. As she was held up by two women, she wailed, “My baby! My baby!” as she was led out of the church behind her daughter’s body.

A few steps behind her was the pop icon’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, also crying uncontrollably as she was comforted by Houston’s close friend, singer Ray J.
Houston was buried next to her father, John Houston, in nearby Westfield, N.J.

LOS ANGELES — “The Help” collected three prizes at the NAACP Image Awards, including top actress honors for Viola Davis, the supporting actress prize for Octavia Spencer and outstanding motion picture.

Davis and Spencer have collected armloads of accolades for their work in the film about black maids who speak out against their white employers during the Civil Rights Movement. Both are up for Academy Awards next week.

Davis said the film has “just been the joy of my life.”

“I found my voice,” she said. “I just emerged through `The Help.’”

The ceremony Friday at the Shrine Auditorium, which honored diversity in the arts, was punctuated by moving tributes to Whitney Houston, the Black Stuntmen’s Association and George Lucas and the Tuskegee Airmen.

Suave blue-eyed soul singer Robin Thicke was arrested for marijuana possession on Friday afternoon in New York City after police allegedly claimed they saw him light up a joint inside a black SUV.

The multi-award winning crooner and husband of actress, Paula Patton was sitting in a parked Cadillac Escalade with another passenger.  He was the only one whom police spotted lighting up a joint.  Police took Thicke, who is the son of famed television sitcom actor Alan Thicke, into custody.  The other unidentified passenger was not arrested.

According to police, Thicke put up no resistance and was actually good-natured throughout the entire arrest process.  The 34-year-old agreed to take pictures with several officers and even handed out a few autographs.

Thicke, who recently debuted his fifth album “Love After War” was issued a desk appearance ticket and then allowed to leave.

There is a new football documentary that is generating substantial buzz and rave reviews from film critics.

The Oscar-nominated ‘Undefeated’ tells the story of a struggling, inner-city, high-school football team that beat the odds on and off the field.

Filmed during the 2009 football season of the Massilon Tigers of North Memphis, Tennessee, Undefeated is an intimate chronicle of three underprivileged student-athletes from the inner-city and the volunteer coach trying to help them beat the odds on and off the field.

The Massilon Tigers once went almost 14 years without winning a game, which mirrored the crumbling, forgotten neighborhood surrounding the high school.

The Oscar-nominated documentary is directed by Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin and is now showing in select theaters nationwide.

Rapper DMX, born Earl Simmons, is being accused by ex-girlfriend, Patricia Trejo of owing over 1 million dollars in child support.

The couple were in L.A. Superior Court Thursday morning because the former “Ruff Ryder”  filed a motion asking for permission to perform in Europe.  In paternity cases where significant back pay is due, the owing parent is prohibited from leaving the country unless they obtain a court order.

Though X did not say whether he had any intention of paying his support, he did reveal why he has not thus far: He does not believe the girl is his. He says that before he pays one dime, he wants to obtain a paternity test.

Whitney Houston’s family announced that the late singer’s funeral will be a private event.

Talk of a large scale farewell for Whitney Houston has changed. Plans were announced Tuesday for a much smaller farewell for the late singer.

The same Newark, NJ church where Whitney Houston sang as a child will now be the scene of her funeral Saturday.

Houston’s fans are honoring her memory through her music.

According to Billboard Magazine, digital sales of I Will Always Love You have gone from less than 3,000 in the week preceding her death to more than 200,000 since.

Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick And More To Headline Funeral Choir For Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston’s funeral may be private, but the congregation will be packed with stars. Reports have leaked out suggesting an all-star cast of singing icons (including Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and Houston’s mom Cissy) will be joining together to form a choir in tribute to the late R&B star. International Business Times reports:

Whitney Houston funeral invite list, choir plans and more are leaking out through the media as the memorial approaches.

The choir at the funeral, slated to be held Sunday at New Hope Baptist Church, the Newark, N.J. congregation where Houston began her singing career as a child, is slated to be filled with “music legends,” according to the New York Daily News.

NEWARK, New Jersey — Whitney Houston’s funeral will be held Saturday in the church where she first showcased her singing talents as a child, her family choosing to remember her in a private service rather than in a large event at an arena.

The owner of the Whigham Funeral Home said Tuesday that the funeral will be held at noon at Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church, which seats up to 1,500. Gospel singer Marvin Winans has been chosen to give the eulogy.

The country singer Dolly Parton stands to make millions following the death of Whitney Houston.

Sales of Houston’s hit “I Will Always Love You“, which was originally written and performed by Parton in 1974, have soared since Houston died on Saturday.

Downloads of the single topped 195,000 in the US by Sunday, and the track is forecast to reach No 10 in the UK. Houston covered the song for the soundtrack to her 1992 film The Bodyguard.

Queens rapper Nas forgot to pay the IRS $339K in taxes for the year 2010. But the eye opener is that the former Nasty Nas owes over $6 million in back taxes.

The government has now put a lien on Nas’ property. This is just the latest in money woes for the rapper who returned $300K to a promoter, who was kidnapped after Nas didn’t show to a concert in Africa, and has had well documented alimony struggles.

Well, this surely means that new Nas album, Life Is Good, should be dropping sooner than later.