I’ve got a few updates on the forthcoming funeral plans for the late Whitney Houston. We already know that plans for a big public memorial service have been scrapped in lieu of a smaller, by-invite-only funeral for family and friends at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ (the church that Whitney grew up in) but today we learn that the Houston family have agreed to allow one camera inside the church to broadcast the funeral online. Additionally, we learn that Whitney will be buried at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, NJ next to her father John Russell Houston, Jr. (who died in 2003). Finally, we learn that Whitney‘s death certificate has been released with the cause of death listed as “pending investigation” until the full toxicology report can be completed.

Fans worldwide who want to bid Whitney Houston farewell will be able to watch her private funeral on the Internet. Her publicist, Kristen Foster, announced that The Associated Press will be allowed a camera at the Saturday ceremony in Newark, N.J. The AP will stream the service on . The event also will be available to broadcasters via satellite. http://livestream.com/aplive Houston was born in Newark. She died in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday at the age of 48. Her body was flown back to her native New Jersey on Monday. The service will be at New Hope Baptist Church, where she sang as a child.

Honestly, this is probably the best way to share the final goodbye to Whitney Houston with her legion of fans worldwide. Even if a large, public memorial was allowed, the majority of Whitney Houston fans would not be able to attend … by allowing the funeral to be broadcast online, the maximum number of people who want to be “included” can watch the ceremony wherever in the world they may be. I greatly applaud the Houston family’s generosity of sharing this special event with all of us.

Whitney Houston will be laid to rest in the plot right next to her father’s grave at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey … multiple Houston family sources tell TMZ. According to Whitney’s official death certificate, Houston will be buried Saturday at Fairview … and sources tell TMZ, the decision was made because Whitney WANTED to be laid to rest next to her dad. Whitney’s father, John Russell Houston Jr., died in 2003

It is very common knowledge that Whitney loved, adored and even worshipped her late father … so it only seems right that she be laid to rest in eternal slumber next to him. I suspect Whitney Houston will be given a sizable gravestone so it looks like there is plenty of room for that accommodation. Now that people know where she will be buried, I expect legions of Whitney fans will be making pilgrimages to her gravesite once she is laid to rest.

Whitney Houston’s official death certificate has been filed in L.A. County — and according to the document, obtained by TMZ, the cause of death is still undetermined. The manner of death is listed as “pending investigation” — and the immediate cause of death is “deferred.” Whitney’s occupation is listed on the document as an “entertainer” who worked in the industry for 33 years — beginning when she was just 15. As we previously reported, the L.A. County Coroner’s office is awaiting toxicology results in order to determine an official cause of death — a process that typically takes 4-6 weeks. The autopsy was completed Sunday.

Altho Whitney will be laid to rest this weekend, the questions surrounding her death will live on … until the matter can be settled once and for all when the toxicology report is in and the coroner can determine an official cause of death. But, as I said before, no official cause of death will lessen the pain of loss at all. No matter how it happened, Whitney Houston is gone :(

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