(July 24, 2021). Tickets are ranging from $52 to $82 (for the good seats) to see Whitney Houston – that is, the late Whitney Houston – perform in hologram form beginning the week of Halloween and going through April 30, 2022.
I’m sure the Halloween part was just an unfortunate coincidence, but the prospect of seeing Whitney Houston perform “live” nearly a decade after her death really is kinda creepy.
Her image – created by BASE Hologram in conjunction with her estate (run by sister-in-law Pat Houston) – will be performing nearly nightly at the Harrah’s Showroom in Las Vegas. The shows will reportedly feature holograms of Houston from various stages of her life singing and dancing alongside “in-the-flesh” backup singers and dancers (and musicians).
Pat Houston justified, err explained, the decision to go forward with the Vegas residency. In an interview with Rolling Stone last year she said, “While Whitney’s no longer with us, her voice and legacy will live on with us forever. ‘An Evening with Whitney’ is another chance for us to relive and celebrate the talent that we were so lucky to receive for more than three decades and we’re excited to bring this cutting-edge musical experience to the fans who supported the pop culture phenomenon that was Whitney Houston because they deserve nothing less.”
Pat Houston continued, “It’s a dream that was realized by (Whitney). So that’s the production. This isn’t something that we’re just putting together. This is something that she wanted to do, and I get very emotional watching this because it is so close to what she wanted. The only thing missing was her, physically.”
Is it just me or is there a strange bit of irony in that last statement?
At the time of the interview – in February 2020 – Whitney’s holographic tour was slated to begin in the U.K. Covid restrictions put the breaks on those plans.
Now with those restrictions easing, concert tours are being rejuvenated, even those of people who were dead long before Covid existed.
Can you just hear Whitney’s ghostly, pandemic-related banter on a 2021 concert stage? “Hey you all, I know you’re happy to finally be able to get out after being locked down for nearly two years, now that this Covid thing is under control.”
Or maybe there won’t be any banter, just a holographic Whitney segueing from one familiar classic to another. The 3-dimensional image of the iconic pop superstar is expected to perform hits like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “I Have Nothing” and “I Will Always Love You.”
“People need to understand, no one is trying to recreate our Whitney,” said Pat. “This is a show to celebrate her music and introduce her to people who never got to see her live.”
Note to those people: you still won’t have had that experience. And knowing the tragic manner in which Whitney left us in 2012 only makes this ghost even creepier.
Contrary to what Pat says, maybe Whitney fans do deserve less…a lot less.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from somewhere on the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, pop and rock genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Twitter at @djrobblog.
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