Kevin Costner was flying in to deliver a eulogy. (MATEI/bauergriffinonline.com)
SADNESS: Bobbi Kristina Brown arrives for mom Whitney Houston’s viewing last night after invites went out for today’s memorial service. Kevin Costner was flying in to deliver a eulogy. (
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Whitney Houston is finally going “home.”
The late music icon will be remembered at an emotional noon memorial service today in her hometown of Newark by a galaxy of her famous celebrity friends and loved ones.
The ceremony is being called a “home going service” by her family, according to a copy of the invitation sent out to the exclusive who’s-who list of guests, TMZ reported yesterday.
The “home going service” — at the New Hope Baptist Church — is meant to be more joyous and uplifting than a funeral.
The ceremony is expected to be telecast to the world over the Internet and on TV, including on BET and CNN, allowing Houston’s fans to view the final farewell to the “I Will Always Love You” singer, who died last Saturday at age 48 in a Los Angeles hotel. Her cause of death has not yet been officially determined.
Hundreds of fans were expected to gather today outside the church, where Houston sang as a child.
Inside, the 1,500 invited mourners will include luminaries such as Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, David Bowie, Brandy, Tyler Perry, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, CeCe Winans and the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.
Kevin Costner — Houston’s co-star in her blockbuster film “The Bodyguard” — will make a special tribute at the ceremony, while Houston’s godmother, Aretha Franklin, will sing.
Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, will also attend after falling ill earlier in the week, while the singer’s troubled ex-husband, Bobby Brown, has also been invited.
Yesterday, preparations for the service were under way at the Whigham Funeral Home, where Houston’s body was taken earlier in the week.
In the early-morning hours, a shimmering dress was placed on a mannequin in the home’s window. Whigham officials declined to say if it would be the gown in which Whitney will be buried.
At about 5 p.m., loved ones started to arrive for a private family viewing. Houston’s mother, Cissy, was among the first to arrive in a limo.
A group of roughly 200 fans huddled outside the funeral home, some lighting candles to honor the late star.
Houston’s megahit “I Will Always Love You” was the title of a program distributed at the viewing last night, TMZ reported.
Last night, Franklin appeared in concert at Radio City Music Hall, and recalled memories of Houston for the crowd, telling them “Whitney is in a better place and we were lucky to have had her for the short time that we did,” according to one attendee.
Houston is expected to be buried beside her father, John Russell Houston, in a service set for tomorrow at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield.
As preparations for Houston’s memorial service were finalized yesterday, Radar Online reported that shortly before her death Houston’s inner circle begged her to go to rehab — and her mentor Clive Davis even offered to pay for it.
Meanwhile, people who want to remember Houston at her best can catch midnight screenings of “The Bodyguard” at Clearview Cinemas on West 23rd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues this weekend.
Additional reporting by Frank Rosario