Whitney Houston accepts the International Artist of the Year award...

Whitney Houston accepts the International Artist of the Year award at the 2009 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. The pop singer was found dead Saturday in a Los Angeles hotel room; she was 48. (Nov. 22, 2009) Credit: Getty Images

OWN this Thursday at 9 has one of the more notable tributes to Whitney Houston -- a rewind, with perspective added, of Oprah Winfrey's 2009 interview.

The interview -- a sprawling two-parter -- opened the 2009 season of "Oprah" accompanied by numerous headlines. It was a skillful interview, as O addressed the drug and alcohol issues repeatedly with O's own special (and patented) non-accusatory tone, but a tone nevertheless that pretty much also said, "what are you thinking girl?"

This interview followed Diane Sawyer's also  famous 2002 sit-down, and Bravo's painful/intimate look at her marriage during, "Being Bobby Brown," in 2005. But she seemed in pretty good form here, even though her voice has a sand-papery rasp.

Here's the top of the interview. Worth another look:

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