At the start of the evening, Adele picked up the statuette for British female solo artist and finished off proceedings by scooping the coveted best album honor for “21″ at the end of a two-hour televised show.

In between, the 23-year-old captivated a packed O2 Arena in her native London with a vocal display that suggested her husky voice was on its way back after surgery on vocal cords late last year which forced her to cancel part of a tour.

Adele sang the same song earlier this month at the Grammys, where she managed a record-equalling six awards in one night.

The only BRIT award she did not win from three nominations was best British single, which went to TV talent show contestants One Direction for “What Makes You Beautiful”.

Receiving her album award, Adele said:

“Nothing makes me prouder than coming home with six Grammys, then coming to the BRITs and winning album of the year. I’m so proud to be British and to be flying the flag and I’m so proud to be in the room with all of you.”

She was cut off half way through her speech by presenter and comedian James Corden, presumably to squeeze in band Blur’s closing set for broadcast.

Still photographs showed Adele making a gesture with her middle finger, although it was not clear whether it was caught on television.

The gesture quickly became a hot topic on social media sites, forcing broadcasters ITV to apologise for cutting the singer’s acceptance speech short.

“The BRITs is a live event. Unfortunately the program was over running and we had to move on. We would like to apologise to Adele for the interruption,” an ITV spokesperson said in a statement after the show.

A Brit Awards spokesperson also added their apologies to the singer in a post-show statement.

“We regret this happened and we send our deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short this evening due to the live show over-running. We don’t want this to undermine her incredible achievement in winning our night’s biggest award. It tops off what’s been an incredible year for her.”

Blur, titans of 1990s British pop scene, closed the show with some of their biggest hits including “Girls and Boys”, “Song 2″ and “Parklife”. They had just picked up a lifetime achievement honor.

WHITNEY, WINEHOUSE REMEMBERED

Coldplay opened the show with “Charlie Brown” from their hit album “Mylo Xyloto”, and Florence + The Machine came next with “No Light No Light”.

There were brief video tributes to U.S. superstar Whitney Houston, who died on the eve of the Grammys in California, and Britain’s “Rehab” singer Amy Winehouse, found dead in her London home last July aged 27.

The most-nominated act this year was Sheeran, the 21-year-old singer/songwriter who was shortlisted for best album (“+”), best single (“The A Team”), best British male solo artist and British breakthrough act.

After singing his acoustic guitar number “Lego House”, in a typically understated performance, he picked up two awards — breakthrough and male solo.

Rihanna, who won the international female award for the second year in a row, got the thumbs up for a high-energy rendition of “We Found Love”.

“At times, when I feel misunderstood, my fans reminded me it’s OK to be myself,” she said, accepting her award.

Lana Del Rey, the “Video Games” singer tipped as an artist to watch in 2012, scooped the international breakthrough act.

“I just want to say that without the support of everyone in this room and everyone in the UK I would really be lost, so thank you,” she said.

Foo Fighters were named best international group, Coldplay scooped best British group and Bruno Mars won the international male solo honor.

The long parade of women in glamorous gowns and expensive jewelry that starts in January at the Critics Choice, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards finally ends with the Oscars. The best looks, experts say, have been saved for last.

Colorful gowns that show some skin and classical looks from Hollywood’s Golden Age will again be de rigueur, with perhaps a white dress or two. Recent fashion shows in New York and Paris will bring out fresh looks, and while eyes will be on Angelina Jolie, as always, new fashions are in town with names like Rooney Mara and Viola Davis.

“The Oscars are the biggest fashion show on the planet,” said designer Marc Bouwer.

His is no understatement. Unlike catwalks in New York and Paris, Oscar’s red carpet walk-up to the world’s top movie honors is televised live and seen by tens of millions of people around the world. Photographs and videos of the celebrities appear in newspapers, magazines, the Web and are sent on mobile phones to fans and friends. One slip up, and it’s curtains for the stars.

“If you’re wearing bright colors, you’ll pop more and that’s important in a photograph,” said designer David Meister. “This is the night where the cosmetic and jewelry companies are looking for their next women, their next big contracts. You want to look beautiful, pretty and sexy.”

While some gowns this year on Hollywood red carpets have featured long, luxurious sleeves, actresses need to exhibit sex appeal, too, and show a touch of skin, “a bare back or plunging neckline,” he said.

Bouwer sees more white, ivory and silver.

At last month’s Golden Globes, Angelina Jolie showed up in a white satin Versace dress with a slash of red for color, and it made a splash with fashions everywhere.

“It sort of shocked everybody into realizing that white can look so well on the red carpet if it’s done right,” said Bouwer.

FRESH OFF THE RUNWAY

Old Hollywood glamour has been showcased this season, but In Style Magazine’s Hal Rubenstein said designs at Paris’ couture shows in January and New York’s recent Fashion Week could creep onto the carpet because they have not yet shown up elsewhere.

And the right dress can certainly make all the difference.

“A dress can make the celebrity, but the celebrity cannot make the dress,” said fashion designer Allen B. Schwartz. “An ugly dress will be ugly on anyone. A gorgeous dress will make that actress look that much more exciting.”

The normally stylish Gwyneth Paltrow learned her lesson in 2002 in an embarrassingly sheer black Alexander McQueen gown. On the other side, risk taker Cate Blanchett will always be remembered for her 1999 Oscar Jean Paul Gaultier sheath dress whose back was embroidered with flowers and a hummingbird.

While Angelina Jolie has been flawless on the carpet all season, Rooney Mara has been turning heads, too, with an often dark look that seems fitting for her Oscar-nominated role as Lisbeth Salander in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Bouwer is a fan of Mara, calling her “major fashion player” this season.

But Mara is not the only one who has been a standout this season. Rubenstein says the “The Help” stars Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer – nominated in the best actress and best supporting actress categories, respectively – have emerged as unexpected fashion plates.

“You don’t normally think of Viola and Octavia as fashion girls,” Rubenstein said. “But Viola has both an extraordinary fashion presence on and off the screen. She radiates womanliness and power. And Octavia proved beauty is not about being a size 2, it’s about looking your best and she’s been looking her best for every single red carpet occasion.”

It also served as a clever marketing opportunity for Harvey Weinstein, the movie impresario who has made a history of tweaking rules set by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to restrict Oscar campaigning.

With balloting for the Oscar only a month away, the event was aimed not so much at citizens of Tinseltown as at the nearly 5,800 Academy members who could vote for “The Artist,” one of the nine films nominated this year for Best Picture.

“The Artist” is the only one among this year’s contenders for the world’s top movie awards that was truly filmed in Hollywood, and the plaque being presented to the makers of the black-and-white, mostly silent movie about 1920s Los Angeles was a none-too-subtle bit of lobbying to movie folk who have seen film jobs leave for Toronto, New York and elsewhere in recent years.

What’s good for Hollywood is, naturally, good for the Oscars and good for show business.

“The Artist” wasn’t the only Oscar hopeful using the marketing ploy of a thinly veiled civic or educational event this year. Fox Searchlight, a unit of News Corp., sponsored “A Tribute to Classic Family Dramas From Oscars Past and Present” and sent “The Descendants” star George Clooney to a question-and-answer session at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles.

The Fox studio event was co-sponsored by the nonprofit American Cinematheque, some of whose members are also Academy members.

Dreamworks, which produced the “The Help,” a tale of Southern maids in the 1960s, sponsored a symposium on “the power of films to create social change” with the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

“It just felt organic,” a Dreamworks spokesman said in describing the “Help” seminar, at which Oscar-nominated star Octavia Spencer and writer/director Tate Taylor appeared on the panel. “This was a movie that was about something, a movie that resonated with a lot of people because of what it stood for.”

Fox executives declined to be interviewed for this story, and a spokeswoman for the Weinstein Co. had no comment.

Why the use of so many nontraditional and educational symposiums around Los Angeles this year? Studio executives had to get creative, because that’s what they’re paid for.

This year, the Academy clamped down on past Oscar campaigns that included lavish parties for members where the food and drink flowed. In September, the Academy passed new rules that prohibited receptions after screenings, a longtime Hollywood lobbying ritual, and limited to two the number of panel discussions that filmmakers can attend.

The rules also barred inviting Academy voters to attend events designed specifically to promote a nominated movie or individual. What the changes didn’t prohibit was nominees like “The Help’s” Spencer from attending a panel discussion at which she talked about growing up in the Southern United States and encouraged USC students to reach for their dreams.

“I’m just here to talk about how powerful a film can be to change people’s minds,” Spencer said after posing for pictures in the lobby of the Landmark Theater in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, where the seminar was taking place.

But it’s not only prestige that Oscars bring. The box office for last year’s winner, “The King’s Speech,” jumped 10 percent the week after the film was crowned, even though it had been in theaters nearly three months. This year, online ticket seller Fandango reported a doubling of ticket sales for “The Artist” and a 65 percent bump for “The Descendants” the day after they were nominated.

To meet that demand, the studios rolled out their films to more locations. “The Artist,” for example, added nearly 800 theaters to its release schedule between the January 17 nominations and a recent peak on the February 3 weekend. Its U.S. and Canadian box office more than doubled over the same period, from around $9 million to more than $20 million. “The Descendants” also aggressively boosted its theater count, and “The Help,” which was released in theaters late last summer, will look to increase DVD sales and future TV revenue from all the Oscar hype.

“You particularly see the Oscar bump for end-of-year indies, movies not fueled by star power,” said Fandango editor-in-chief Chuck Walton. “Moviegoers are more selective these days, and once the competition has been narrowed, they’ll take a chance on seeing a movie that’s an Oscar winner.”

And as studio executives know these days, it’s hard to win an Oscar if you don’t campaign for one.

The pop star, whose powerful voice fueled her rise to fame in the mid-1980s with self-titled albums that made her a global pop star, died in a Beverly Hills hotel room last week. She was found underwater in a bathtub, but an exact cause of death has yet to be determined.

Dozens of fans lined the edge of street barriers as the procession carrying Houston’s body drove by under tight security from a funeral home in Newark, New Jersey to the Forest Lawn cemetery in nearby Westfield where Houston’s body was buried next to her father.

“It was emotional,” Teresa Giannetta, 35, who lives in Westfield and showed up with her daughter, Julia, 8, said after the hearse went by. Like many fans, Giannetta said she grew up listening to Houston’s music and likened the singer to “the voice of my childhood.”

“It’s bittersweet to have her buried so close to home for us,” she said.

Houston was laid to rest in her burial site after stars, family and friends mourned her in a spirited Baptist funeral service at her hometown church on Saturday. The New Hope Baptist Church in Newark was where Houston honed her wide vocal range as a young choral singer with her mother Cissy Houston, a backup singer for Aretha Franklin.

She recorded stirring love songs and vibrant dance tunes during a 30-year career that peaked with her 1992 signature hit “I Will Always Love You” and paved the way for a generation of singers such as Mariah Carey.

But Houston suffered a turbulent personal life and volatile marriage to singer Bobby Brown, and she admitted to heavy use of cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and prescription pills. Officials have said prescription drugs were found in the hotel room where she died, but they have not yet linked her death to drug use.

“People judge her for the last few years. You cannot do that. She gave 30 years of her wonderful, beautiful voice and shared with us. And you have to love that. You have to respect that,” said Donna Wesolowki, 48, of New Jersey, who had watched Sunday’s procession.

Houston’s family decided against a public memorial service, as was done for pop star Michael Jackson after his 2009 death, but agreed to allow Saturday’s four-hour tribute in the church to be broadcast live by television networks.

The former “Friends” star demanded that the topless scene from the Judd Apatow-produced film, which hits theaters February 24, be replaced with a tamer version, an individual with knowledge of the movie told TheWrap.

A spokeswoman for Universal, which is releasing the movie, said: “The scene was shot a bunch of different ways, and we have the best possible version.” (Which isn’t exactly a denial.)

Aniston’s publicist, Stephen Huvane, denies that the scene was altered at the actress’ behest. “The scene is how it was always supposed to be,” Huvane told TheWrap.

The scene in question features Aniston going topless in front of TV news cameras. In the version that will be included in the film, Aniston will be seen topless from behind, with her bare breasts shown pixelated on TV screens, as they would appear on a TV news broadcast.

But the movie insider who spoke to TheWrap said that when the film was edited with the frontal nudity in it, Aniston pleaded for an alternate version due to her blossoming relationship with Theroux, whom she met on the set of the film. (The two are now cohabitating.)

The 43-year-old actress, it seems, decided it just wouldn’t be right to share her naked breasts with anyone except her new beau.

In the film, Aniston and Paul Rudd play a Manhattan couple who suddenly become unemployed and seek an alternative living situation, ultimately landing on a rural, free-love commune. Theroux, 40, plays commune inhabitant Seth.

Aniston performed a brief, semi-topless scene — though her breasts were concealed by an open lab coat — in her recent comedy “Horrible Bosses.”

The actress has also displayed a penchant for skin-happy photo-shoots on the pages of magazines such as “Rolling Stone” and “GQ.” (Her most recent appearance in the latter, for its March 2012 issue, features Aniston posing in little more than a black bra with her co-star Rudd.)

Perhaps those hoping for a glimpse of Aniston’s flesh would be better off heading to the newsstand instead of the movie theater.

The network declined to comment on Sunday on social media reports that political satirist Stephen Colbert switched the show to reruns at the end of last week to care for his ailing 91-year-old mother, Lorna.

“We are not commenting on any speculation about the nature of the cancellations last week,” Comedy Central spokesman Steve Albini said in an email to Reuters.

He said Colbert would be filming original episodes this week, starting with a show on Monday that features best-selling author Ann Patchett.

Colbert turned to social media to thank fans for an outpouring of support after the abrupt switch to reruns ignited online speculation.

“My family and I would like to thank everyone who has offered their thoughts and prayers. We are grateful and touched by your concern,” Colbert posted on Twitter on Friday.

The break in the show came during a crucial stretch for Colbert’s show, with the Republican presidential primary season in full swing. Last month, he took his political satire to South Carolina before its primary, staging a mock campaign rally and urging fans to vote for former Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain.

The comedian also has a super PAC, or political action committee – “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow” – that had raised more than $1 million as of late January.

Comedy Central is owned by Viacom Inc.

Gospel and soul music greats, celebrities and family members swayed to gospel hits and delivered tributes both sung and spoken to the crowded New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where Houston honed her wide vocal range as a young choral singer with her mother Cissy Houston, a backup singer for Aretha Franklin.

“Whitney returns home today to the place where it all began,” said actor Kevin Costner, who starred opposite Houston in the 1992 hit film, “The Bodyguard.”

He urged those around the world to “dry our tears, suspend our sorrow – and perhaps our anger – just long enough, just long enough to remember the sweet miracle of Whitney.”

Houston, who died in a Beverly Hills hotel room last week, recorded stirring love songs and vibrant dance tunes during a 30-year career that peaked with her 1992 signature hit “I Will Always Love You” and paved the way for a generation of singers that followed.

She was among the greatest singers of the 1980s and 1990s, but later admitted to heavy use of cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and prescription pills. Officials have said prescription drugs were found in the hotel room where she died.

Her death at age 48 shocked her family, fans and the music industry. Houston was found underwater in a hotel bathtub on the eve of the music industry’s Grammy Awards. Her cause of death has yet to be determined.

She suffered a turbulent personal life and marriage to singer Bobby Brown, who said in a statement he left the service early after being repeatedly asked to move by security, who prevented him from seeing the daughter he shared with Houston, Bobby Kristina Brown, 18.

“This was a day to honor Whitney,” Brown said. “I doubt whether Whitney would have wanted this to occur.”

During the service, her cousin and famed soul singer Dionne Warwick read out a funeral poem and introduced music greats from the past and present, including Alicia Keys who said “it was so obvious the way she just crept into everybody’s heart” before singing an emotional rendition of “Prelude to a Kiss.”

GOSPEL AND SOUL

Singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder spoke of once having “a little crush” on Houston before singing a version of his 1982 R&B hit “Ribbon In The Sky,” inserting the lyrics “No more, Whitney, No more, Do you have to cry – You’ll always be a ribbon in the sky.”

Others spoke eloquently of Houston’s passion, strong-willed spirit and once hopeful future, including Clive Davis, the founder of her label Arista Records, who discovered and molded Houston into a global pop phenomenon. He said shortly before she died, Houston had promised she was getting back into shape.

“You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime. You wait for a face like that, a smile like that, a presence like that, for a lifetime. And when one person embodies it all it takes your breath away,” he said. “Music was her passion. Whitney lived music. Whitney loved music.”

R. Kelly performed the 2009 song he wrote for Houston, “I Look To You,” and director Tyler Perry talked about Houston’s “grace that led her all the way to the top of the charts.” The service was dominated by gospel music, by singers Kim Burrell, Donnie McClurkin and others.

Houston’s family decided against a public memorial, as was done for pop star Michael Jackson after his 2009 death, but they agreed to allow the four-hour service to be broadcast live by television networks and on the Internet.

Many of Houston’s fans left cards and balloons around the church dedicated to the singer, who became a global star with her 1985 debut album, which included the hits “Saving All My Love For You,” “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love Of All.”

Police urged fans to stay home and watch the funeral on the Internet or television, but some flew and drove from around the country to get as close as they could to the late singer.

“This is history,” said fan Hedwig Berthold, 40, who flew from Miami and watched the broadcast with dozens of others in a nearby cafe. “I bought her records, I saw her concerts, I saw her in the good times. So I wanted to be here for her final farewell.”

‘THEY LOVED YOU’

Others gathered on the streets, including Wendy Saunders, who drove from Detroit to pay her respects to Houston and said “She meant so much to me,” while Renee Taylor, from Baltimore, held a sign, “You gave us more love than we will ever need.”

Houston grew up surrounded by gospel and soul music legends like Franklin – who fell ill and was unable to attend the service – as well as Warwick. She later forged new territory for a black female artist who brought R&B and gospel touches into pop music’s mainstream.

After her debut, her popularity grew exponentially with her second album, “Whitney” (1987), with all four singles – “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” – hitting No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Her music videos featuring her 1980s style and innocent, fun-loving image made her wildly popular around the world. In “The Bodyguard,” with Costner, Houston played a character not far removed from her real self: an international singing sensation coping with fame.

Costner recalled during his speech that Hollywood executives were hesitant to cast Houston in her first starring role, preferring “somebody white,” but she soon won everyone over. He also spoke of Houston’s immense talent – and insecurities.

“The Whitney that I knew, despite her worldwide success and fame, still wondered, ‘Am I good enough, Am I pretty enough, Will they like me?’ It was the burden that made her great, and the part that caused her to stumble in the end,” he said. “People didn’t just like you, Whitney. They loved you.”

She made other films, including “The Preacher’s Wife,” but the 15-year period when she was married to singer Brown coincided with a decline in the quality and frequency of her albums. The couple, who have an 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, divorced in 2007.

Houston’s powerful voice suffered in recent years. On her last world tour in 2010, she struggled to hit the high notes.

But the service ended by focusing on the old, soaring voice she had promised to reclaim. Her inimitable “I Will Always Love You,” rang out as the casket was carried out of the church.

The black-and-white movie, called “Cesare deve morire” in Italian and directed by veteran brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, was among the favorites to scoop the coveted honor.

The Tavianis – Paolo is 80 and Vittorio 82 – followed a group of convicts in the Rebibbia jail on the outskirts of Rome as they rehearse “Julius Caesar” for a prison production.

The play’s themes of power and corruption, murder and vengeance clearly resonate with hardened convicts serving sentences of between 14 years and life, resulting in moving performances from a mostly untrained cast.

The Golden Bear, which can help launch a film onto the international stage as it did the feted Iranian drama “A Separation” in 2011, is the Tavianis’ biggest award since “Padre Padrone” won the Palme d’Or in Cannes 35 years ago.

The prize ceremony brought to a close the 10-day cinema showcase, where hundreds of films vied for the attention of the world’s media and movie executives at the European Film Market.

Once again, festival director Dieter Kosslick had to juggle getting established stars on the red carpet with selecting hard-hitting, low-budget films that might otherwise struggle for audiences.

Critics said he just about managed it in 2012, with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep and “Twilight” heartthrob Robert Pattinson drawing big crowds to the festival’s central cinema.

The main competition of 18 movies was generally viewed as an improvement on recent years, and the Taviani brothers are likely to be popular winners for their well-received entry.

PLUCKED FROM OBSCURITY

Arguably the highlight of the night was the Best Actress Silver Bear for Rachel Mwanza, a 14-year-old girl plucked from obscurity in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to star in “War Witch.”

Her portrayal of Komona, a young girl who is raped and brutalized by rebels who force her to join them in an unnamed African conflict, belied her age and inexperience.

Addressing journalists on the day of the film’s world premiere she spoke movingly of being abandoned first by her parents and then by her grandmother.

“I don’t have a family any more, the people you see on each side of me are my family now,” she said, meaning the cast and crew of the movie, shot in her home country.

She struggled to hold up her Silver Bear statuette for the photographers as it was too heavy and, asked by reporters if she wanted to carry on acting, said: “I would like to make films forever, until I die.”

The Jury Grand Prix prize, effectively the runner-up to the best film, went to the Hungarian drama “Just the Wind,” based on the real-life murder of a Roma family.

Christian Petzold took home the best director prize for the German Cold War drama “Barbara,” which had been many festival goers’ tip for Best Film.

“A Royal Affair,” based on an 18th-century royal scandal in Denmark, scooped two prizes – Best Actor for Mikkel Boe Folsgaard as the deranged king and Best Screenplay for co-writers Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg.

Lutz Reitemeier was awarded the artistic achievement Silver Bear for his camera work on the epic, three-hour Chinese period drama “White Deer Plain.”

“Tabu” by Portuguese director Miguel Gomes was a love story that played with cinematic conventions by mixing color and black-and-white, sound and silent and 35 mm with 16 mm, and was awarded the Alfred Bauer Prize for innovation.

And “Sister,” about a young boy who steals ski equipment from an upmarket Alpine resort to make ends meet, won a special one-off Silver Bear.

But to hear the gospel choir sing on Sundays, which once featured teenager Houston and her mom Cissy, was to be briefly transported to a faraway, trouble-free world, its patrons say.

“You ain’t never heard anything so beautiful in your whole life,” Adgelean Thomas, 75, said on Friday after looking at some of the flowers, balloons and other tributes left in Houston’s memory at one corner of the church.

Houston died late last week at age 48 in a Beverly Hills hotel room on the eve of the music industry’s Grammy Awards. She was found underwater and unconscious in the room’s bathtub, but a cause of death has yet to be determined pending toxicology tests that could take weeks.

The shocking news of her demise led to an outpouring of grief by family, friends and fans, and earlier this week, her body was returned to Newark from Los Angeles for Saturday’s memorial service and burial.

Stephannie Miller, 54, was a little older than Houston when she first joined the New Hope choir as a teenager, but she knew from the start her own voice could not compete with Houston, who would go on to claim pop superstar status with hits such as “I Will Always Love You.”

Miller said that, on special occasions, Charles Thomas, then the church’s pastor, would ask Houston to lead the choir in one of his favorite songs: “He Would Not Come Down From the Cross.”

“She would do the solo,” recalled Miller, who now lives in South Carolina. “Every time she hit that special note the church would be knocked out, the spirit was so heavy, so strong.”

POLITE, DOWN-TO-EARTH KID

Besides her exceptional voice and looks that would earn her teenage modeling gigs in New York City, Houston was remembered as a polite, down-to-earth kid.

“She was not a teenager that hung out. She was very conservative,” Miller said, adding that the Houston family was fairly low-key and private.

The old, Houston family home is situated in East Orange, New Jersey, a quiet suburb outside Newark that became a magnet for a wave of middle-class families, including the Houstons, who left the city in the wake of 1967′s six-day riots.

The white clapboard house is one of the smaller properties along the street, with a small front yard and no sign that its most celebrated resident ever lived there.

“It was a good city then, the cleanest city in the country,” said William Nicholas, who has worked at a diner only a short walk from the Houston home for more than 50 years. He said the Houston family frequently ate there during the 1970s and 1980s.

“It was always a neighborhood that was family oriented and very safe,” Diamond Walker, 37, said outside Houston’s old elementary school, now a performing arts school known as the Whitney E. Houston Academy, a short walk down a tree-lined street past neat clapboard houses and handsome stone churches.

Although Walker was a neighbor of Houston for awhile, they only met after she was cast as a dancer for one of Houston’s music videos. She went on to perform with Houston on several other occasions, she said.

“She was very down to earth,” Walker said about Houston. “If she slept in a hotel, she made sure her dancers slept in the same hotel she was in. She made sure everyone was fed. She never made herself seem separate.”

The Houstons left their East Orange home in 1986, according to Lewis Hogans, whose family moved into the property afterward and has lived there since.

Not long before that, Williams, Houston’s former choir-mate, recalls watching television and seeing the debut music video from a then young, unknown singer.

“Oh my god,” she remembers screaming out to her husband, “that’s Whitney!”

On Friday, the 19-year old heads to the big screen, voicing the title character of the animated Disney film “The Secret World of Arrietty,” and that has given rise to the idea Mendler may be the next Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez or Demi Lovato.

But Mendler, who was born in Washington, D.C. and raised outside of San Francisco, is quick to point out that she’s her own person looking to expand her career in her own way.

“I’m not just following a trend. The Disney girls are presented with so many awesome opportunities that it’s something to really take advantage of,” she told Reuters.

“Arrietty” is based on Mary Norton’s children’s book series “The Borrowers” where a family of very tiny people live undetected underneath the floorboards of a country house, “borrowing” things they need from human beings. Mendler voices the spirited “borrower” Arrietty who breaks the family rule when she befriends a human boy who moves into the country house.

“Arrietty” was originally released as a Japanese film by Studio Ghibli in 2010 and has now been re-recorded in English with Mendler in the title role. Will Arnett, Amy Poehler and Carol Burnett are also among the cast of voices.

Mendler even wrote and recorded a song for the film’s soundtrack called “Summertime.” And, like past and present Disney stars such as Cyrus (“Hanna Montana”), Gomez (“The Wizards of Waverly Place”) and Lovato (“Sonny With a Chance”), Mendler now has a record deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records. Her debut pop album is scheduled to come out this summer.

“Working with Disney has been such a great way for me to expand my horizons,” Mendler told Reuters. “They really believe in their kids and putting them out there. It feels awesome to have this pedestal that I can work off of.”

RISE TO DISNEY FAME

Mendler came to Disney’s attention as a 14-year-old when she auditioned for a TV pilot. She didn’t get the part, but Disney Channel talent executive Judy Taylor recalls her being “so poised and so smart, it was evident there was real potential.”

Disney “tracked” the young actress over the years and in 2009, booked her in a guest starring role on the Jonas Brothers’ series “JONAS.” That was followed up with a character who appeared in nine episodes of “Wizards of Waverly Place.”

When Disney was preparing a new show, “Good Luck Charlie” about a teenage girl who creates video diaries of advice for her baby sister, Mendler was brought in for an audition.

“We needed an actress who was relatable and accessible but could also talk straight to the camera and then go right back to talking to her family,” said Taylor. “That’s not easy to do but Bridgit made it look effortless. She just nailed it.”

The series is currently in production on its third season with Mendler singing the theme song to “Charlie.” Her fan base grew even wider when the teen starred in the Disney Channel original film “Lemonade Mouth,” a musical drama based on the book of the same name. A sequel is now in the works.

HER OWN PERSON

Though some of her former Disney contemporaries have gone through public battles with addiction (Lovato) or have engaged in questionable behavior (Cyrus), the diplomatic Mendler has nothing but praise for those who came before her.

“I think they all have unique ideas of who they want to be in the industry, and I think that’s the way it should be,” she said. “For me, I would be in music regardless of whether I was a

Disney girl or not and it’s something I take really seriously.”

Mendler cites former Disney male star Shia LaBoeuf as a model for her foray into the future. He starred in the Disney series “Even Stevens” a decade ago and has found success in the “Transformers” and “Indiana Jones” film franchises.

“Shia LaBoeuf is a great example of somebody who was able to transition into more serious movie roles,” said Mendler, who recently strayed outside the Disney realm and shot an episode the Fox TV medical drama “House.”

“There’s possibilities of doing more adult material without having to be racy with it. I don’t feel like I need to make some sort of aggressive transition,” she said.

For now, Mendler is contracted for a fourth season of “Charlie,” but as she continues with the show, as well as her forthcoming album, the singer/actress is adamant about also continuing her education.

“I just applied to college, so hopefully I’ll get in and can go to school in the fall,” she said. “I’m thinking that a liberal arts major would be good to start with. I want to use college as an experience to learn more about the world outside of the field that I’m already in.”