Kevin Costner: Whitney, you were great

Newark – Kevin Costner delivered an emotional tribute to Whitney Houston at her funeral on Saturday.

Costner, who co-starred with Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard, consoled the group of invited guests, saying "Whitney returns home today to the place where it all began, and I urge us all to dry our tears, suspend our sorrow and anger just long enough to remember the sweet miracle of Whitney."

Speaking about how he and Houston became friends, he jokingly said: "Whitney and I had a lot in common. Many of you are probably thinking, really? She's a girl, you're a boy; you're white, she's black."

"We both grew up in the Baptist church," said Costner. "The church was what we knew, it was our private bond."

Costner also said that the Whitney he knew, still wondered whether she was good enough and pretty enough.

He ended his tribute with a message directed to Houston: "You weren'ty just good enough, you were great (…) You weren't just pretty, you were as beautiful as a woman could be. I was your pretend bodyguard once, now you're gone.

"So off you go Whitney, off you go, escourted by an army of angels to your heavenly father, and when you sing before him, don't you worry, you'll be good enough."