Last night, aspiring singer and Ex Ex-Factor contestant Stacy Francis (age 42), decided to go live and do a Ustream for her Twitter fans. Viewing the Ustream, Stacy Francis hawked T-shirts promoting herself and offered to sing a Christmas song for her hundreds of thousands of fans (insert sarcasim) - 132 fans to be exact.
Things took a detour when Stacy's son stated that he wanted to watch a Michael Jackson DVD so he could dance to MJ's 'Wanna be Starting Something'. Apparently, there were Whitney Houston fans present watching Stacy's broadcast and suggested to Ms. Francis that she should 'get her son into some Whitney Houston'. Her response below is what generated an avalanche of tweets from Ms. Houston fans to Ms. Francis expressing their displeasure:
“Nooo! We don’t want any bad influences [laughs] - I can’t believe I said that. She was amazing. I mean, I love Whitney, but come on. Come on!!
Urrrgg! What I just said was sort of shady right? I'm sorry, I just, Michael Jackson is a better influence than Whitney Houston.”
In response to a viewer telling Francis that Whitney is no longer on drugs and starring in a movie, Francis goes on to say:
"Ok, so she's in a movie? Ok, well listen, everybody deserves a comeback. I'm 42. I got my second chance you know. Umm, did I record this? Yes I did and I'm going to be very embarrassed when it's all like up on the internet that I said something shady about Whitney Houston. but I didn't mean to! I want , I want, I want ummm, good influences for my babies. [lol]
After some viewers pointed out that Ms. Houston was doing much better, Ms. Francis said:
"Good influence, she's off drugs. Ok, well listen if she's off the drugs and she's doing good, she's a great influence. Ok, I mean, listen, second chances, listen! "
After being deluged with angry tweets from Ms. Houston fans expressing their disappointment in her comments; especially as many of them had supported her, she made the video private. As of this article, @StacyFrancis has not addressed her comments regarding Whitney Houston. Stacy made her Ustream private, link below:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19349681/highlight/228208
Having had the opportunity of not just reading a transcript of what Ms. Francis said and having watched the video ourselves, some would be left with the impression that Ms. Francis was being hypocritical at best and most disrespectful to Ms. Houston's legacy and career. Even though she made attempts to clean up her remarks on one hand, she seemed to take it back by repeating that Ms. Houston was a bad influence.
Stacey performed her "idol's" rendition of 'Queen of the Night' on XFactor, which received bad reviews from the judges and the viewing audience. It was this performance that ironically ushered her out of the competition. Here is Whitney Houston performing the same song 'Queen of the Night' live from her 44 million selling cd 'The Bodyguard' soundtrack. The release of this cd just a mere 7 years into Ms Houston's career, cemented her iconic and legendary status.
After-all, Stacy had a close encounter with Ms Houston back in 1998 at one of Houston's concerts in Connecticut, where Houston asked Stacy (then a concert goer), on stage to "shoop", according to a former American Idol contestant who was there. Read the full story here.
While every parent has a right to instill their own values and beliefs on their child, we must ask the question that popped into our heads after Ms. Francis made her comments: that if two artists both engage in self-destructive behavior, how is one a better influence than the other? Why go on a public forum and disrespect one of the world's most beloved, prolific and successful female entertainers that has helped opened doors for many including Ms. Francis?
The irony is abundant! Scattered throughout the musical landscape that is called showbiz are literally hundreds of artists who made personal mistakes in their careers including drug usage and other issues: does that mean we don't acknowledge their contributions because of their transgressions?
Whitney Houston by all accounts has acknowledged her personal problems, sought help and is on a daily recovery plan. She released the successful album 'I Look to You' in 2009, which topped the Billboard 200 Album and R&B charts which went on to sell 2.5million cds worldwide. Whitney is currently starring in and executive producing the 1976 remake of 'Sparkle', and is rumored to star in the 'Waiting to Exhale' sequel based on Terry McMillan's sequel book, 'Getting to Happy'.
Here's to hoping Stacy Francis learns a lesson in the old rule-book of Entertainment: never run your mouth in distaste of other artists, it could end your career; and in Stacy's case, never begin.
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