Some fans criticized the Grammys for not doing enough to honor the late Whitney Houston, who was found dead in her Beverly Hills hotel bathtub the day before the awards show.
Now the Academy Awards are on the horizon, and even though Houston was known more as a singer than an actress, sure enough, the debate has turned to how the film world's biggest night will honor Houston, if at all.
Generally, the Oscars keep it simple when it comes to paying tribute to fallen stars, mentioning them in the Memoriam montage and moving on. Sometimes they don't even manage that -- the Academy took heat in 2010 when Farrah Fawcett, admittedly best-known for her television work, was left out of the tribute.
Houston made her big-screen debut in 1992’s “The Bodyguard,” and went on to star in several other popular features, including “The Preacher’s Wife” and “Waiting to Exhale.” At one point in her career, she was one of Hollywood’s top-paid actresses, and her soundtracks were even more popular, going platinum in all cases.
The Grammys received some heat after their recent tribute to Houston, given the pop star’s even greater impact on the music community and Jennifer Hudson’s relatively short performance in her honor at this year’s event. Houston was also honored last week by the NAACP Awards, with a variety of mentions throughout the ceremony, and Kirk Franklin’s closing performance of “Greatest Love of All.”
The Academy has yet to make a statement on the matter, but Twitterers and fans are already making demands. Maki M says, “Whitney Houston BETTER be included in this year's "Oscar: In Memoriam Tribute."
Adds Jason Michael Martin, “Let's hope they do a better job than @TheGRAMMYs.”
But some fans put it in perspective, pointing out that Houston may have starred in some films, but was not herself an Oscar-winner.
Writes J on E! Online, “She should get the same treatment as the other deceased actors. Just show a brief clip or picture and move on. She did less than a handful of movies and never won an Oscar. I can understand doing something extra at the AMAs or some other music award show but not the Oscars."
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