Houston had an ethereal voice. And what a set of pipes and lungs.
One of my faves was her tune One Moment In Time, done for the 1988 Olympics, which I can say I had the privilege of attending. I remember standing in my hotel room in Seoul - the games were over, and there was a video compilation of the athletes/events with the song overlaid.— Commenter on DailyKos
The live performance at the Grammys is what most people remember of the song, but I’ve always favored this m/v for the 1988 Olympics, even though I saw it years later. Seemed to capture a piece of history of a nation and a world in transition.
This was a year after nation-wide demonstrations forced the military dictatorship to relinquish power and hold direct elections in Korea.
This was a year before the fall of the Berlin Wall. There was the Western bloc and the Communist bloc, participating again after the boycotts in 1980 and 1984. But this would be the last time many of the athletes would compete under the Eastern German and the Soviet flags.
The grandfatherly figure carrying into the torch into the main stadium was Sohn Kee-Chung, the first Korean Olympian, who won the gold in marathon at the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin, but who bowed his head in shame and protest at the podium because he had to compete as part of the Japanese delegation (Japan having annexed Korea in 1910).
Tennis was re-introduced again, allowing Steffi Graf to achieve a career Golden Slam (sweeping all four Grand Slams + the Olympic gold in the same year). Ben Johnson won the 100m against his long-time rival Carl Lewis, only to be disqualified when he failed his drug test a few days later. Greg Louganis was a favorite with the public, as he won the diving events despite suffering a concussion when he struck his head on the board. This would create another controversy when years later he disclosed he had been diagnosed as HIV-positive before the Games in Seoul.
A valuable footage of history. Seems appropriate she was part of it.
