The rumored rivalry between Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston seems to be growing.
Those of us who were lucky (or unlucky) enough to catch the duo's duet during the Academy Awards broadcast Sunday might have noticed some competitive moaning and wailing.During "When You Believe," from the animated flick "The Prince of Egypt," Carey and Houston appeared to be trying to outdo each other. The wails got stronger and longer, and the moaning became more "soulful."
Well, both seemed to give it their all, but if there had to be a winner, it was Houston.
Toward the final seconds of the piece, Carey ran out of breath, which left the resourceful Houston to end the song with a determined "ohhhh."
YUUUCK.
-- TOP TRIBUTE: Last week's column dealt with various tribute albums. Everyone from Metallica to David Bowie to Madonna was mentioned. But there was one left out.
"A Tribute to ABBA: 25th Anniversary Celebration" will be released later this month on the Relativity label.
Peter Cetera and Ronna Reeves sing "SOS," the Lemonheads' Evan Dando performs a downer version of "Knowing Me, Knowing You," Eurasure gets techno on "Take a Chance on Me" and CoCo Lee does a doozy on "Dancing Queen."
Sure, a lot of these covers were released separately throughout the decade. But this is the first time they can be found in one place.
-- FALLWELL'S FOLLY: Remember that uproar over the purple Teletubby named Tinky Winky? The Rev. Jerry Fallwell claimed ol' "TW" was giving young viewers blatant homosexual references. To Fallwell, the color purple symbolizes homosexuality and the triangle antenna on the Teletubby's head is a gay symbol. And to top things off, "TW" carries a red purse!
So why is the reverend just attacking the Teletubby? If he's so worried about flamboyant entertainers that appear on children's shows, he should have seen "Sesame Street" on Monday. (No, I don't mean Bert and Ernie living together.)
One of rock 'n' roll's early glam-boy pioneers, Little Richard, sang a "Tutti Fruiti" version of "Rubber Duckie."
The man who calls himself the "backbone" of rock flashed his soap, washcloth, scrubbing brush and makeup, while sitting on a piano bench inside a quaint bubbly bathtub.
Oh, well. We all have to choose our battles.