Whitney Houston is touring Australia in February next year, and today announced that she will be performing at Hope Estate Winery in the Hunter Valley on Saturday, 27 February 2010, smack bang in the middle of Mardi Gras season.

The full dates of her Australian tour have not yet been released. It will be her first tour since 1988.

Dubbed ‘The Voice’, Whitney Houston is the ultimate soul-pop diva. She has sold over 170 million records in a glittering career, producing world-famous tracks such as The Greatest Love Of All, Saving All My Love For You, I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), My Love Is Your Love, and of course, I Will Always Love You – the theme track from her starring role alongside Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard.

Earlier this year Whitney released her comeback album I Look To You, re-instating her diva status. Listen to a stream of the album here.

But the question on the gay community’s lips – will she be performing at Mardi Gras? “We make announcements about performers in our own time – if indeed we choose to announce them,” says Head of Marketing at Mardi Gras, Damien Eames. “Until such point we won’t confirm or deny any speculation about who’s appearing.”

Tickets to Whitney’s Hope Estate Winery concert are on sale from 9am, 11 December through Ticketmaster. Diamond – $195, Gold – $165, Silver – $125 and GA – $95. Full National Tour Dates To Be Announced On 30 November 2009.