USA: Family of late singer Whitney Houston premiere their reality show

Record ID: 868813

  • Title: USA: Family of late singer Whitney Houston premiere their reality show
  • Date: 23rd October 2012
  • Summary: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA, UNITES STATES (FILE- FEBRUARY 12, 2011) (REUTERS) WHITNEY HOUSTON POSING FOR PHOTOS WITH DAUGHTER BOBBI KRISTINA HOUSTON WALKING DOWN RED CARPET
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2012 12:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVADBBZE3FCC63T2NHTYZHE6YLRI
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  • Story Text: Family and friends of late singer Whitney Houston gathered at a Manhattan hotel on Monday (October 22) to celebrate the premiere of a reality show that will chronicle their lives as they try and pick up the pieces after her untimely death.
    Titled "The Houstons: On Our Own," the show stars Whitney's daughter Bobbi Kristina (Krissy), her brother Gary, mother Cissy, her sister-in-law and manager Pat, Pat's daughter Rayah and family friend Nick Gordon.
    It shows the mourning process of the family in the months following Whitney's death in February when the singer died at age 48 from accidental drowning in a bathtub at a Beverly Hills hotel. Authorities deemed her death was also a result of heart disease and cocaine use.
    The filming of the series started four months ago.
    Its director Zo Wesson said that they needed the time to get used to the camera.
    "We started shooting this show four months ago. And we were on this show for four months," Wesson told Reuters.
    "It's a long process, you know because it takes time to get comfortable around the cameras, especially when you are revealing such deep intimate parts of yourself. And luckily we have had a family that was very brave, very courageous and everybody was willing," he said.
    A clip from the trailer shows how Bobbi Kristina, still 19, announces to the family that she is engaged to long time friend Nick Gordon.
    Another clip shows her grandmother Cissy disapproving the relationship.
    Wesson explained that he was mindful during the filming sessions not to disrupt the flow of the Houstons' everyday lives.
    "You use a lot of long lenses. You don't get up in their face all the time," he said.
    "You don't try to manipulate things, you don't try to stage things, you let things happen. There were some things that happened that made me cry as I was directing this, and there were some things that made me go "oh boy," as I was directing this. So it's an amazing process."
    The series is scheduled to debut on U.S. cable channel Lifetime on October 24.
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