The Nation’s Online Editor Carol Martindale looks at What’s Trending in Barbados today.
This afternoon the eyes of many across the globe will be focused on the funeral service for the late singing legend Whitney Houston who died exactly one week ago.
Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin will sing the Whitney Houston hit The Greatest Love of All at Houston’s funeral, in what is sure to be an emotional moment during the three-hour service.
A source close to the Houston family provided a program of the funeral, taking place at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, where Houston got her start.
The service will also feature performances by Stevie Wonder — singing one of his hits, Ribbon in the Sky — R&B star R. Kelly, Alicia Keys, and gospel greats Kim Burrell and BeBe Winans.
The New Hope Baptist Church Mass Choir and the New Jersey Mass Choir will open the service. Pastor Marvin Winans is expected to deliver the eulogy.
Bishop T.D. Jakes will deliver remarks, along with Kevin Costner, Houston’s co-star in the movie “The Bodyguard;” her mentor, music mogul Clive Davis; and director-producer Tyler Perry.
Patricia Houston, the singer’s sister-in-law and former manager, will speak at the end of the service, followed by Houston’s cousin, singer Dionne Warwick, according to the program.
Some 1,500 people are expected at the invitation-only service, which may have to be delayed from its noon start because of the number of people. The service may also last more than its scheduled three hours.
A golden hearse with a black-and-white picture of Houston carried the singer’s body to the red-brick church this morning. She will be laid to rest tomorrow at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, just south of Newark.
Houston, the six-time Grammy Award winner and only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 hits, died in Beverly Hills, California, at the age of 48. (cNN)
