Talent show star laments loss of 'celestial' Houston

Houston was pronounced dead Saturday, Feb. 11 in Los Angeles. As of press time, the cause of death is unknown.

“I am heartbroken,” said Lin to local media on Sunday.

In 2010, Lin appeared on the Taiwanese talent show “One Million Star” (超級星光大道) with a Whitney Houston-style cover of Dolly Parton's “I Will Always Love You.” The performance shot Lin to global fame and gained him a record deal with Sony Music Taiwan.

Said Lin yesterday, he had heard talk of Houston's death around 10 a.m. on Sunday, but immediately assumed it was a prank.

He believed the news only after turning to the internet — where “everybody was discussing” Houston's death — and then tuning in to cable television, where Houston coverage was nonstop.

Whitney the 'Greatest Influence' of All: Lin

The first time he saw a Houston performance was on television — he had been in the fifth or sixth grade. Houston's voice was so startling and celestial that he had raced out to purchase her album, said Lin.

He spent the next month listening to Houston on repeat.

Since then, he has looked to Houston as a model, he said.

Lin professed that he knows almost all of her songs. “Whitney is the greatest influence in my life. She is the most important person.”

“My biggest dream had been to share a stage and a song with her. Or to tell her in person, 'I really like you and your music,'” he said.

He quoted Houston's “Don't Cry”: “... And when I'm gone, still carry on. Don't cry for me.”

“It's like she's singing to us,” he said in tears.

Concert Manager Regrets 'Debt'

Meanwhile, the manager of Houston's first Taipei concert expressed remorse that he failed to help her break into the mainland Chinese market fifteen years ago.

Whitney Houston appeared in Taipei on May 25, 1997, as part of a Pacific Rim Tour to promote her 1996 album “The Preacher's Wife.”

Yu Kuang (余光), who managed the Taipei concert, said yesterday that Houston and her then-husband Bobby Brown had been “extremely cordial” and “quite respectful” to him.

Houston had “considerable expectations” that Yu would be able to introduce her in the mainland market, he added.

That the project ultimately failed is “my greatest debt to her,” said Yu, “And that's the only thing I can say in response to Whitney's passing.”

Taichung Mayor Wanted Houston Concert

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) said that he had tried for years to get Houston to perform in central Taiwan. Her death comes as a surprise that's deeply regretful, said Hu.

The city's invitations produced no response, according to Hu, who added that Houston also had not toured internationally in recent years.

Houston's artistry is “astonishing” and her voice is “kissed by God.”

Hu said it is “inconvenient to say too much” on possible causes of death. But many figures in the entertainment industry experience “extreme pressure,” he said.

“Alcohol addiction will turn into regret. Drug use also turns into regret,” he said.

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