Singer Whitney Houston's family has decided against a public memorial for her at a New Jersey sports arena, and will hold an invitation-only service at the church where she first sang publicly, and where her mother, singer Cissy Houston, still attends services. On Monday, it was reported that the Houston family was considering a wake and funeral at Newark's Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils and temporarily of the New Jersey Nets. That facility can seat up to 20,000. But Carolyn Whigham, owner of the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, told the press that there will be no wake, and instead a private funeral at noon Saturday at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where Houston first publicly showcased her powerful voice. The church seats about 2,000, but those without invitations will not be admitted. Whigham also said the family had completed arrangements and that no details would be released. There will be no public viewing of any kind.


Whitney Houston's Death Won't Halt 'Waiting To Exhale' Sequel
Those of you who have been patiently waiting for a "Waiting to Exhale" sequel since falling in love with the original in 1995 might soon have a reason to "Exhale" again, despite the tragic death of co-star Whitney Houston.  Fox wants to make something positive of the tragedy and is planning on moving forward with the project in honor of Houston. "I don't think she would want it to [be shelved]," Fox 2000 Pictures president Elizabeth Gabler told . "It's almost in her honor that we think to soldier on." Gabler, who worked on the original film, said the feel-good movie about four middle-class African-American women dealing with love and loss in the suburbs was a ground-breaker. Although Houston's co-stars have not yet commented on their intentions to continue plans with the sequel, they did express their extreme sadness upon hearing the news of their friend and former co-star's death.

Whitney Houston's Medical Records Sought by Investigators

Following the death of Whitney Houston, investigators are looking into the singer's medical history. "Prescription medication was recovered from the scene" of where Houston, 48, was found unresponsive in her Beverly Hilton hotel room, L.A. Coroner Asst. Chief Ed Winter says, "We are trying to locate some of her doctors to get all possible medical records." Winter declined to comment on what drugs were found in Houston's room, but he does say investigating the records "is normal procedure for us." Asked if the case appears to be similar to the Dr. Conrad Murray investigation, he says, "It doesn't appear so." Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death.

Miranda Lambert: Chris Brown at the Grammys 'not cool'

Country star Miranda Lambert was far from impressed with Chris Brown's performances at Sunday's Grammy Awards, because she feels the R&B singer had no place at the ceremony -- on the third anniversary of his assault on ex-girlfriend Rihanna. In a series of Twitter posts on Monday, Lambert wrote, "Chris Brown twice? I don't get it. He beat on a girl... Not cool that we act like that didn't happen." Lambert, whose parents ran a shelter for abused women when she was growing up, even suggested Brown listen to her country song about a woman preparing to murder her abusive husband upon his release from jail -- to put him "back in his place" after his night at the Grammys. She later appeared to backtrack on her outrage, posting, "As for my tweets 'it's just one clowns opinion'. I love music and that's what it's all about." The singer made a big return to the prestigious awards show on Sunday as he took to the stage to sing his new track "Turn Up the Music" and take part in a dance tribute to late "Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius. He also won the night's Best R&B Album prize.

Whitney Houston estate seeing post-mortem boost
Whitney Houston‘s career is getting a post-mortem boost, but it isn’t likely to be as big as the one that enriched the King of Pop’s estate after his death. Like the late Michael Jackson, Houston was in the midst of an attempted career revival. She was found dead at age 48 on Saturday in her Los Angeles hotel room on the eve of the Grammys, a stage she once ruled. It could be weeks before the coroner’s office completes toxicology tests that could establish the cause of death. In an outpouring of grief — and a desire to remember her soaring voice and upbeat personality — Houston’s fans have propelled her decades-old recordings to the top of sales charts on iTunes and Amazon.com. Twitter recorded more than 2.5 million Tweets about her within two hours of her death. In the day and a half after she died, U.S. sales of Houston’s albums skyrocketed. Weekly sales through Sunday jumped nearly 60 times the previous week’s level to 101,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Radio airplay soared and her best-selling single, “I Will Always Love You,” jumped to 195,000 downloads in the week through Sunday, up from just 3,000 the week prior. Online music service Spotify said Houston’s songs were streamed 2.4 million times between Saturday and Sunday alone. Not unlike Jackson’s posthumous star turn in the movie “This Is It,” Houston will star in a film that is set for release this fall. In addition, dozens of the six-time Grammy-winner’s unreleased recordings may someday be released to a public grieving her loss.


TV NEWS
Encore will pay tribute to the late Whitney Houston this Friday, Feb. 17 by airing her films Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher’s Wife beginning at 8/7c.


Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal project just got a direct-to-series order. NBC has picked up 13 episodes of the thriller TV series based on Thomas Harris’ classic cannibal serial killer. Logline: “One-hour contemporary thriller series featuring the classic characters from Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon – FBI agent Will Graham and his mentor Dr. Hannibal Lecter – who are re-introduced at the beginning of their budding relationship.”


Comedy Central has ordered a 10-episode second season of its sketch comedy series Key & Peele just two weeks into its freshman run.


Alana De La Garza has landed a lead role in NBC’s medical drama pilot Do No Harm. The Law & Order/CSI: Miami alumna will play a confident neurosurgeon who has loads of chemistry with the series’ yet-to-be-cast top doc.


Kelli Williams has been promoted to series regular on Army Wives. The Practice/Lie to Me alumna nabbed what was initially the recurring role of General Kevin Clarke’s wife. Season 6 of the Lifetime drama premieres March 4.


Outsourced‘s Parvesh Cheena has joined the cast of Friend Me, CBS’ Groupon-themed comedy, playing a new pal of the series’ two leads.