Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks "Celebrate" Video

Whitney Houston’s final movie, Sparkle, will hit theaters on August 17, 2012 and, of course, it will be bittersweet for the late singer’s fans.  The film follows the career of an aspiring vocal trio (Sparks, Carmen Ejogo and Tika Sumpter) and features American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, as the daughter of a single mother (Houston). 

The video is for the upbeat song from the movie, “Celebrate” and is a sobering reminder of what we’ve lost.  The track begins with a verse sung by Houston who sounds stronger than she had in recent years but still pales in comparison to the powerhouse she was at the height of her career. 

Still, the video, which features footage from the movie blended with new shots of the cast, takes advantage of the song’s title and makes it as much about promoting the movie as about celebrating Houston’s life.  Sparks told BET: "We planned on it being Whitney and me, but she's not here, so we wanted to make it a tribute to her."  Sparks is shown wearing a Whitney Houston t-shirt at one point in the video and says “we love you, Whitney” as the camera fades.

Sadly, the ladies not only were unable to appear together in the video, they also didn’t get to record together either.  "I would have loved to be in the studio with her, but with Whitney's schedule it got so crazy [we never] found the time to get together, so we recorded it separately," says Sparks. "But it was amazing to be able to go in after she had already finished her part… It was so cool because you could just hear the smile in Whitney's voice when she was singing it."

Whitney Houston passed away by accidentally drowning in her hotel room’s bathtub on February 11, 2012.