Welcome Back Whitney

September 1, 2009 Whitney Houston's 7th album will be released. This is her first album since that great career distraction, Bobby Brown. The leading single off the album has been out for a few weeks. I Look to You is number 20 on the R&B charts. Not a great showing for what Guinness Book of Records calls the most awarded female artists in the history of music.

The song, written by R. Kelly, is a melodic inspirational song that would have ranked higher than number 20 on the Gospel charts. It sounds heavily produced, but I look forward to hearing it performed live. It's hard to judge if her voice has sufficiently recovered from a riotous life style and the ravages of time. So far not so great. But it is a long awaited step in the right direction.

My prediction is that this particular single will find its greatest success among liturgical dance ministries on youth Sundays. I can just see chubby pre-teen girls, heads tilted back, in black leotards, stretching their white gloved hands skyward to a moving refrain from I Look to You.