Steve Granitz/WireImage.com, Larry Busacca/wireImage.comNow that Whitney Houston's divorce from Bobby Brown has been finalized, the songstress is one step closer to her comeback.
And I'm happy to report there's good news coming from her recording studio.
R&B singer and songwriter Ne-Yo has heard some of Houston's new work, and he's impressed. "It's all good," he told Planet Gossip's Matt Donnelly last night at Lobby nightclub in West Hollywood, where he was celebrating his new album, Because of You.
And he hopes to make it even better. He's writing some tracks for Houston, but he wants to avoid songs that scream "My name is Whitney Houston and this is my triumphant comeback," he said. "My contribution is just going to be regular songs. You been through this, you been through that—cool! We feel you on that. But two songs of that is really all you need."
He thinks Ms. Houston should take a look at Mariah Carey's comeback for inspiration. "Mariah didn't even discuss the drama that she went through," Ne-Yo said. "She just went right in with good, quality tracks."
Ne-Yo is also working with my favorite recent Oscar winner, Jennifer Hudson, on her debut album. "We're just going to show the world who Jennifer Hudson is," he says. "Everybody knows who Effie [White, Hudson's character in Dreamgirls] is, but nobody knows who Jennifer is."
And if that's not enough, Ne-Yo is in talks to collaborate with Will.I.Am to write new tracks for—get this!—Michael Jackson.