Whitney Houston funeral tributes begin

The final preparations for Whitney Houston's funeral have begun. Flags are flying at half-staff across New Jersey. Makeshift memorials of flowers, balloons and signs sit outside the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark where a private viewing was held Friday night for family and friends as well as outside the nearby New Hope Baptist Church, where an invitation-only funeral will be held at noon Saturday.

Starting at 11 a.m. today, we will be blogging about the funeral for Houston, found dead in her Beverly Hills hotel room a week ago today. Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Freeport's Pastor Donnie McClurkin, who told us about his memories of Houston yesterday, are expected to perform during the service.

In the meantime, here is the touching tribute from Yolanda Adams last night at the NAACP Image Awards. Adams performed “I Love the Lord,” which Houston performed in her movie “The Preacher's Wife.”