Rian role plays with Whitney Houston impersonator

The Complimentary Breakfast gets a taste of what it would have been like to meet the legend herself... 

 

Belinda Davids has taken on the role of Whitney in “The Greatest Love of all – The Whitney Houston Show,” showing at the Joburg Theatre from 22 Jan – 15 Feb.

 

This morning she joins The Complimentary Breakfast in studio and the resemblance is uncanny! 

 

Listen to her belting out a tune, what she had to say about living in her icons shoes and growing up inspired by the woman she gets to impersonate today. 

 

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THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL - THE WHITNEY HOUSTON SHOW

Starring Belinda Davids

 

After debuting with a sold out 6-week run in Joburg last year, The Greatest Love of All – The Whitney Houston Show starring Belinda Davids will be returning to the Joburg Theatre for a limited season from 22 January - 15 February 2015.

 

This brilliant concert featuring South Africa’s own Belinda Davids is equal parts fun, touching and uplifting. Accompanied by a live band and dancers, Davids pays tribute to one of the world’s most revered singers by performing over 2 hours of Houston’s pop hits.

 

And there is no person better equipped to do so. In addition to having a voice described as “jaw-droppingly similar” to the pop diva, Davids openly acknowledges that Houston is her personal idol and was the original inspiration for her own career when she began singing at the age of 14.

 

“I want people to come and remember Whitney when she was at the top of her game and when she was fabulous”, says Davids.

 

And people all over the world have done exactly that, with South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA already hosting sold-out performances in the show’s first year of touring.

 

The show includes over 20 of Houston’s most popular tracks taken from the full span of her career, including ‘I Will Always Love You’, ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, ‘Didn’t We Almost Have It All’, ‘I’m Every Woman’, ‘Exhale (Shoop Shoop)’, ‘Million Dollar Bill’ and more.

 

Davids will again be directed by Showtime Management CEO John Van Grinsven Snr. and joined on tour by the production team responsible for the worldwide hit show Michael Jackson HIStory starring Kenny Wizz.

 

THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL opens on The Mandela stage at Joburg Theatre on January 22nd and will run until February 15th. The show runs from Thursdays - Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm.

 

Ticket prices range from R160 to R350, and are on sale by visiting www.joburgtheatre.com, or by calling the theatre’s direct ticketing line on 0861 670 670.

 

Discounted rates for groups of ten or more are available by calling the theatre on (011) 877 6853.

 

 

Belinda Davids Biography

Belinda Davids was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and began performing professionally at the age of 14. She has never had vocal training and is blessed with a 4 octave vocal range, and hence the ability to sing any genre. Her musical heart has always been R&B; Belinda's inspirations as a child were Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Michael Jackson and the one artist whom she still, to this day, honours in every show she performs – Whitney Houston.

 

As a young girl one of the very first LP’s Davids ever owned was a song called “Hold Me” by Teddy Pendergrass and Whitney Houston. The quality and style Whitney portrayed in this song struck a cord and Davids’ fascination with the icon grew. She sang Whitney’s music at every chance: at family gatherings, talent competitions and to friends whilst playing on the street. Like many young girls at that time her bedroom walls were plastered with posters and magazine cut-outs of the icon. Whitney’s influence was so strong it inspired everything from her dress sense to her hairstyles.

 

As a young woman Belinda had the burning desire to live out her dreams and follow in her idols footsteps. She took on the club circuit and her performances left many people amazed at how similar she sounded to the icon.

 

In the mid 90’s Belinda caught the eye of record executives at Tusk Records, which spawned the album “Belinda Davids”. Three of the songs on this album, which Belinda wrote, were released as singles: “This I Swear”, “This Is My Life” and “We Go Together”. The latter was number one for six weeks in South Africa.

 

Davids promoted her album all over South Africa for a number of years at various hotels, clubs & cabarets. She opened shows for many international acts when they visited South Africa including Michael Jackson’s History Tour, The Manhattans, The Temptations and Peaches and Herbs. Years after her debut album Davids decided to travel abroad to expand her musical career, which took her to Dubai, London and Hong Kong to perform in major hotels and clubs, with renowned success.

 

Whilst performing “I Will Always Love You” at a hotel in Hong Kong she was requested by the audience to sing acapella as they thought she was lip-syncing to the original Whitney Houston song, after which she received a standing ovation.

 

After many years on the road she finally settled in Los Angeles where she started to focus on getting her solo career back on track. In L.A she collaborated with R&B singer/producer Sam Salter who worked on a couple of her promotional tracks. She also caught the attention of many R&B artists who asked her to perform and tour with them, such as Keyshia Cole, Monica, Johnny Gill, Kelly Price and Keri Hilson. She appeared on The Jay Leno Show and The George Lopez Show as a back-up vocalist for Monica.

 

In 2015 Belinda Davids will once again showcase her exquisite voice as she takes on the lead role in the Showtime Management production, The Greatest Love of All – The Whitney Houston Show, a show dedicated to keeping alive the music and spirit of the late, great and incomparable Whitney Houston.