Christina Aguilera deserves a "B-" for her AMAs Whitney Houston tribute, this according to Houston's former voice coach.

Gary Catona, who coached Houston for years tells The Blast he gives Aguilera an "A" for effort, but there were a handful of issues, like pitch, with her tribute performance.

Aguilera got roasted on social media for her Houston tribute at the American Music Awards where she performed a medley of songs from the "Bodyguard" soundtrack.

Catona, who is credited with helping Houston get her voice back in shape for her comeback album, "I Look To You," says he "would have advised her to sing the song in her own way and not try to copy Whitney as much as she did." Catona says a simpler, more personal approach would have been successful, because "Whitney is the gold standard vocally and artistically, so in my opinion, Christina fell below that."

The coach added, "On top of that, Christina had some pitch issues, phrasing difficulties, and she over-used Whitney’s trademark 'melisma' singing (moving between notes on certain syllables or vowels)."

As for who could've pulled it off, Catona thinks Adele would've nailed it. In the end though, Catona says it's "a fool's errand" for any singer to try to compete with Whitney's version of the song, however he thinks Whitney would have appreciated Aguilera's effort.



Gary Catona