Personally, I prefer Dolly's original version to any of the covers. It's just so much more poignant and heartfelt. Most of the others just feel like performances.
I am going to assume you are joking; Dolly herself said Whitney's version was way better.
I never said anything about which version was better. I just indicated which one I prefer, and I prefer Dolly's for the reasons I stated.
Both Dimash and Diana Ankudinova were discovered and promoted by Russian producer Igor Krutoy. He's provided Diana with an apartment in Moscow as she continues her studies.
I am 79 and that beautiful song actually brought tears to my eyes. That's very rare for me, but I had a loss about a year ago. That made it more personal for me. I still enjoyed the song very much and listened to it a few times.