Among other things, the '00s will be remembered as the decade of the diva flameout, a long national nightmare of public crackups, disastrous marriages and no-panty flashings from which only Christina Aguilera has emerged unscathed. Whitney Houston, 46, has had the most spectacular catalogue of troubles -- rumors of hard-core substance abuse, her once-fabled voice poised at the edge of ruin, a marriage to bad-boy Bobby Brown -- and her comeback has taken the longest; at times it seemed the most in doubt.
Finally comes her first regular studio album in seven years, "I Look to You," hitting stores today. It's an exercise in high-class image rehab intended to restore her dignity (battered by years of embarrassment and spectacle) almost as much as her sales figures. It also can't help but serve as a divining rod, gauging the ability of old-school superstars to move product in an era that treats old-school superstars as though they were as disposable as the regular kind.
