Are They Worth It?

Whitney, you can exhale. Bubba, go ahead and inhale. In early August, two jaw-dropping deals rocked the entertainment world. How will we know if Whitney Houston and Bill Clinton are as good as gold? Only time will tell.

WHITNEY HOUSTON
THE DEAL Arista will pay $100 million, plus bonuses, for six new albums and two hits compilations. PRO With eight consecutive multiplatinum albums, six Grammys, and 11 No. 1 hits, her track record is stellar. Says Arista chief Antonio ''L.A.'' Reid, ''She's such a major star I don't think there's any risk for us at all.'' CON It's been three years since the embattled singer's last studio album, and a 2000 greatest-hits disc sold just 2 million copies. ''She'll have to sell tens of millions of records for them to make their money back,'' said Fred Croshal of rival label Maverick. With an aging fan base, Houston, we may have a problem.

BILL CLINTON
THE DEAL Knopf buys the ex-President's memoirs for a reported $10 million plus -- which would be a record for nonfiction -- besting wife Hillary ($8 million) and Pope John Paul II ($8.5 million). PRO He eschewed an unseemly auction, choosing highbrow editor Robert Gottlieb (who handled the late Katharine Graham's 1997 best-seller). Given public interest, rival publisher Peter Osnos says, ''This is as safe a bet as you would want to place.'' CON ''I don't think anybody is worth $10 million,'' counters ICM lit agent Esther Newberg. ''The publisher had better pray to God he'll tell the stories of why he did you-know-what in you-know-where.''