newsmakers

April 8, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

newsmakers

Restyling is needed

hudson, ohio

“Project Runway” style master Tim Gunn tells an Ohio newspaper the show needs to make some decisions of its own about what’s in and what’s out.

The mentor to the program’s fashion-designer contestants tells the Akron Beacon Journal that the competition, now in its seventh season, needs to “really change things up” and reinvigorate for its next go-round. He says the program has been in a “struggle” since moving from Bravo to Lifetime last year, after a legal battle that kept the show off the air for a while.

During a visit to Northeast Ohio on Tuesday, Gunn gave a speech with some of his usual advice to “make it work.” He told students at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson to stay alert for opportunities and not be afraid to move outside their comfort zones.

More Houston dates to be rescheduled

NEW YORK

Whitney Houston has again pushed back the European leg of her first tour in years on the advice of doctors who are encouraging her to take time to recover from a respiratory illness, according to a statement issued Wednesday.

Houston already had postponed the European kickoff, originally scheduled for Tuesday in Paris, because of illness. A statement from a representative said doctors advised Houston to reschedule concerts today and Friday in Manchester, England, and a Sunday performance in Glasgow, Scotland.

All dates are being rescheduled, and the 46-year-old singer’s tour now is supposed to start next Tuesday in Birmingham, England. The statement noted she delayed the tour with “great disappointment.”

Houston, one of pop’s all-time best-selling artists, had been on a hiatus from music as she battled drug addiction and ended a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown. But with her new CD, “I Look to You,” she returned at the top of the charts and declared herself healthy and free from substance abuse. The tour has been troubled; performances in Australia and elsewhere were negatively received by some fans and critics, who complained Houston did not showcase the majestic voice she is known for. Video snippets of her performances showed Houston sweating and struggling to hit notes, leading some to wonder about her health.