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The headlines were dominated by comeback queens this week--starting with Whitney Houston, who on Tuesday released her first single in six years, the R. Kelly-penned "I Look To You," as a free download on her official website. The title track of her much-anticipated first album since 2002, which finally comes out September 1, is a stripped-down piano ballad that showcases Whitney's world-famous voice, and it is being heralded as a true return to form for the once-troubled diva.

"I Look To You" was previewed last week by Sony honcho/longtime Whitney mentor Clive Davis at a star-studded Beverly Hilton Hotel listening party (attended by the likes of Jane Fonda, Barry Manilow, Halle Berry, Stevie Wonder, and Magic Johnson), along with eight other well-received songs that indicated that the fallen queen of R&B/pop might finally be ready reclaim her throne. "I know that if I did not have faith, I would have not been able to go through life's tribulations that I have gone through," Whitney declared at the bash via a statement read by Clive, who has been working with Whitney on I Look To You for the past three-and-a-half years. And now the full album's unveiling is only six weeks away! Welcome back, Whitney.

Another diva who's no stranger to comebacks--Mariah Carey, who rebounded from her Glitter career disaster and emotional breakdown with The Emancipation Of Mimi in 2005, and has stayed on top ever since--made news this week regarding her own upcoming new album, Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel. But it seems fans will have to wait a little bit longer for that release. Memoirs was originally slated for an August 25 street date, but it has now been delayed until September 15 so that Mariah can put the finishing touches on the project. (Lil' Wayne, Diddy, and Amerie also announced this week that they're all postponing their respective albums, so this seems like a puzzling music-biz trend here.)

Perhaps the more interesting Mimi-centric headline this week had to do with the ongoing Mariah/Eminem feud. The two superstars reportedly briefly dated years ago, before Mariah married Nick Cannon (although Mariah denies this), and Eminem recently released a Mariah diss track about their alleged relationship, "Bagpipes From Baghdad," that had Nick fuming on his personal blog. Mariah retaliated with her new single "Obsessed," which asked the musical question, "Why're you so obsessed with me?" and was accompanied by a hilarious video starring Mariah as a stalker Shady lookalike who gets run over by a bus.

So this week, Eminem threw Mariah UNDER the bus and struck back with another defamatory anti-Mimi song, "The Warning," threatening to release photos and audio tapes as proof that they were once a real couple. Critics argued that this was a bad PR move for Eminem, further cementing his jilted-psychopath image, while Mariah continued to look like a class act by keeping her mouth shut about their dating past. And such critics had a point. Why is Eminem so obsessed with Mariah, huh?

In other comeback-diva news, a new single by the woman who's reinvented herself more times than Whitney and Mariah combined, 50-year-old Madonna, came out this week. "Celebrate," a new track to be included on her forthcoming greatest-hits compilation, was supposed to be "officially" released August 3, but in what was surely a shrewd marketing move typical of the media-savvy Madge, it leaked online this past Thursday instead. The clubby Paul Oakenfold song is very 1990s, some might say even a little too retro...but if there's anyone who can revive a sound, no matter how dated, it's Madonna.

Meanwhile, the world is still waiting for Amy Winehouse to record her much-awaited follow-up to her Grammy-sweeping breakthrough album, Back To Black. Recently cleared of criminal assault charges, seemingly living a healthier lifestyle in St. Lucia, and newly divorced from her husband "Blake Incarcerated," Amy will hopefully stay out of trouble long enough to get back in the studio. But getting her act together is going to be a major battle for the rehab-resistant British tabloid star. In fact, her ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, just gave an interview this week in which he revealed that she once almost died in his arms from an overdose.

Blake claimed he tried to revive Amy with the kiss of life after she collapsed following a three-day drug and alcohol binge. "She started having a fit on the bed. She slid down onto the floor before I could stop her. She started quivering again and it suddenly grew into what seemed like a full-blown epileptic fit," he recalled. "I was panicking. I didn't know how to help her. I was out-of-it on drugs as well--and was sobbing and crying out...It was the most frightening thing I had ever seen. I felt sure I was watching her die right in front of me. I didn't know what to do or how to save her. I held her to me--and I thought she was dying in my arms...I loved her so much, I couldn't bear for her to die in front of me."

Added Blake about Amy's career downward spiral over the last couple years: "She had everything going for her. But she ended up behaving badly just to shock. After a while that just becomes a bore. I'd warned her to stop. But she always wanted to keep taking the drugs...It's just a shame because she's very funny, very clever, and she's very loving. I can think of all these good points about her. But she just put everything going for her--all that talent and personality--and hid them behind drink and drugs." So it remains to be seen if Amy can stopping blacking out long enough to follow up Back To Black. We hope so.

Meanwhile, the current comeback by American Idol Kelly Clarkson was jeopardized this week. Even though on her latest album, All I Ever Wanted, she returned to her signature sugary pop sound after famously feuding with the aforementioned Clive Davis over artistic differences, this week she battled Sony-BMG over her latest single, "Already Gone." According to an interview she did on Canadian radio this past weekend, Kelly attempted to keep the song, which she co-wrote with OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, from being included on her fourth album after she realized it bore an uncanny resemblance to Beyonce's "Halo"--a song that, perhaps not coincidentally, was also written by Ryan Tedder. Kelly even claimed that only when the album was completed did she get to hear the final recording--and it was then that she noticed that that the same backing track from "Halo" was used on "Already Gone."

Kelly told Canada's CBC that she actually phoned Ryan Tedder in a rage, telling him: "I don't understand. Why would you do that? No one's going to be sitting at home, thinking, 'Man, Ryan Tedder gave Beyonce and Kelly the same track to write to.' No, they're just going to be saying I ripped someone off." But despite her protests, All I Ever Wanted was released as-is, with "Already Gone" still on the tracklisting. "I fought and fought [to stop the song's release]," she said in the Canadian interview. "In the end, they're releasing it without my consent...It sucks, but it's one of those things I have no control over. I already made my album. At this point, the record company can do whatever they want with it."

The other big American Idol controversy this week came courtesy of this season's top 36 semi-finalist Ju'Not Joyner, who in an online chat with the Idol website AI Now came right out and said that the TV talent show is in fact rigged, and that its contracts (which he called "slavetracts") are unfair to contestants. The self-described "troublemaker" said he wanted to reveal "truth of Idol" because "Idol ain't all it is cracked up to be...It's certainly not the fairytale most think it is." He claimed he was cut from the competition and not invited back for the Wild Card round because of his concerns regarding the fairness of the Idol contract and unwillingness to exploit his sympathetic back story of growing up in "the 'hood" for ratings, and he even questioned the validity of the public's votes, saying, "Do you think a billion-dollar enterprise is subject to the whim of the public?"

Some fans applauded his honesty; others wrote off his remarks as just a case of sour grapes. And some people, like former contestant Phil Stacey, argued that the show is not rigged and is totally fair. The accuracy of Ju'Not's inflammatory statements (which, as of this writing, have not been addressed by Idol's production company, 19 Entertainment) is still up for debate. But there is no debate that Ju'Not is, as he worded it in the AI Now chat, "a straight-up person." He definitely did not mince words.

And finally, we'll conclude this week's post with the obligatory wrapup of Michael Jackson news, which has pretty much become a weekly feature at this point. Michael was on the verge of his own comeback at the time of his death, just a couple weeks away from his "This Is It" London concert dates, but ironically he's made a comeback after his passing, with a number-one album for a fourth week and a continued dominance of music headlines.

The big Jackson news this week centered on Michael's offspring. On Thursday, a judge ruled that his three orphaned children will live their grandmother, Katherine Jackson, and that his two oldest children, Prince I and Paris, will be visited by their estranged mother, Jackson ex-wife Debbie Rowe. Meanwhile, Michael's father, Joe Jackson, acknowledged in an exclusive interview on the TV One cable network that Michael did indeed have a "secret" fourth child, 25-year-old Norwegian rapper Omer Bhatti, the result of an alleged one-night stand in 1984. "I knew that he had another son," Joe said. "Yes, I did. He looks like a Jackson, he acts like a Jackson, he can dance like a Jackson."

Michael's brother, Jermaine Jackson, could not confirm that Omer was Michael's son, but he did tell Britain's Daily Mail that the Jackson family would accept Omer. "If Omer's his son, he's his son," he said. "We won't deny it. We are going to give him the same love and care that we give Prince and Paris and Blanket. I can't clearly say if he is Michael's, but I saw this kid around him." Oddly, according to the Daily Mail, Omer (who lived with Michael at Neverland Ranch in the '90s) actually denied Joe's claims, saying Michael was not his biological father but merely a "best friend." So it seems that the "kid is not my son" line in Michael's hit "Billie Jean" is becoming truly prophetic.

And finally, while Michael's autopsy results were delayed "indefinitely" this week, the manslaughter investigation surrounding Michael's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, continued apace. Authorities investigating the King Of Pop's death referred to Michael as an "addict," and via search warrants sought evidence related to Dr. Murray's "excessive prescribing" of the powerful anesthetic propofol. Watch this space for more developments as this case unfolds in the coming weeks.

And with that MJ update, we conclude another week in news. Come back next Friday for more reports, and until then, goodnight and good music.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 1O STORIES:

1) More Doctored Evidence - The investigation surrounding Michael Jackson's personal physician continues.

2) Jackson Family Matters - Katherine Jackson gets custody, while Joe Jackson acknowledges Michael's secret "lovechild."

3) What Does Ju'Not Know? - The ex-American Idol contestant claims the talent show is rigged.

4) Clarkson Vs. Label, Round 2 - Kelly is angry that her third single was released without her consent.

5) Eminem Vs. Mariah, Round 3 - Shady sends Mimi a "Warning" via a new diss track.

6) Free Whitney! - Houston offers a free download of her comeback song online.

7) Madonna Leaks! - Her new song "Celebrate" ends up online as well.

8) Amy's Near-Death Experience - Winehouse's ex reveals that she once almost died in his arms.

9) Worth The Wait? - Mariah Carey, Lil' Wayne, and Diddy's albums all get delayed.

10) Slammertime? - Marv, star of rapper MC Hammer's family reality show Hammertime, is accused of a violent crime.

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