JAPAN: Tokyo's top cross-dresser tribute acts put on their finest frocks to pay homage to the late Whitney Houston

Record ID: 466154

  • Title: JAPAN: Tokyo's top cross-dresser tribute acts put on their finest frocks to pay homage to the late Whitney Houston
  • Date: 18th March 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 44-YEAR-OLD CROSS-DRESSER TRIBUTE SINGER, 'MAKO', SAYING: "She always sings so nicely but it's hard for me to perform, well, because she's just too good. Of course I'm not really singing -- just pretending to."
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA3CFGCJHNBZ26YT4HUXQFVMKY2
  • Story Text: Pop diva Whitney Houston may be gone, but for Tokyo's cross-dressers she'll always be Queen of the Night.
    Houston was found underwater and unconscious in her Beverly Hills hotel room on February 11, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
    But in the Japanese capital on Saturday (March 17) her memory was very much alive, with local cross-dresser 'Mako' paying tribute to the star's long list of hits -- albeit without actually singing a word.
    "There's no-one like Whitney, no-one who can bring sunshine to people's hearts quite so well, no-one with such a sweet voice," 44-year-old Mako told Reuters as she added the finishing touches to her Whitney-themed hairdo.
    "She always sings so nicely but it's hard for me to perform, well, because she's just too good. Of course I'm not really singing -- just pretending to," she added.
    Houston rose to fame in the 1980s and enjoyed a long career that peaked with her 1992 hit "I Will Always Love You" from the movie "The Bodyguard."
    She won six Grammys, 30 Billboard awards and 22 American Music Awards in her career. Her best-known songs include "Saving All my Love for You," "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and "My Love Is Your Love."
    But under the red lights of Tokyo, it was her role as a symbol for the city's cross-dressing community that many mourned.
    "Well of course we've grown up with Whitney, she's of our generation. She's been there beside me ever since I first hit the cross-dressing scene," Regine said.
    Others were more extreme.
    "Whitney - please come back to us, even as a zombie," added Jasmine.
    Officials have said prescription drugs were found in the hotel room where Whitney Houston died, but a cause of death is still pending toxicology tests which are expected later this month.
    She was 48 years old when she died.
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