Whitney Houston tribute: Cape Town native living the dream singing the songs of her idol

Whitney fans can rejoice.

“The Greatest Love of All,” a Whitney Houston tribute show plays New Bedford’s Zeiterion Theatre Oct.7.

And the star of the show, Belinda Davids, of Cape Town, South Africa, sounds uncannily like the late superstar.

A live band and dancers will accompany Davids as she belts “I Will Always Love You,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” “How Will I Know,” “Didn’t We Almost Have it All,” and other hits in tribute to Houston.

They couldn’t have cast a better powerhouse vocalist than Davids, who clearly lives and breathes the music of Houston, whom she calls "my idol.”

Davids has Passion, capital P for this show, this artist, and this music.

It would be like if I was asked to be in a Bob Dylan tribute.

Davids is made for this. The fervor and love for this music all but seeps from her when she talks about Houston.

Houston's "music transcended race, age, color... whenever I listened to her music it brought me so much joy,” she said. “With this show, I get to bring that similar joy to the die-hard fans who continue to celebrate and appreciate her music.”

She told me she’s grateful for “the opportunity to pay homage to my idol on stage …as well as doing my part to keep her memory alive…Whitney was one of the greatest singers of all time.”

Pure passion aside, Davids, who has a four-octave range, is built for belting power ballads. Her lungs… Wowza.

With your eyes closed, you’d be hard-pressed to say whether it was Houston or Davids singing. YouTube her.

She’s also worked with The Temptations, backed various R&B singers, appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” backing Monica, and, last fall, appeared on FOX’s “Showtime at The Apollo” hosted by Steve Harvey. She also won the BBC’s “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” a UK talent show, last year.

This show, which is not affiliated with Houston’s estate, makes its U.S. debut with this tour, having already played for Houston fans across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, South Africa, Australia, Israel, New Zealand and beyond since launching in 2013.

As a little girl growing up in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Davids “knew very early on” she could sing.

“I grew up singing in church, and [at] every chance I had. I wanted to belt out songs because I saw in church that when I did sing, it brought joy to” listeners, she said.

She grew up on Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Michael Jackson and, of course, Houston.

One of the very first LPs she owned was “Hold Me,” by Teddy Pendergrass and Houston — and something about the song turned her world around.

“I fell in love with her singing style, and that's when I knew I wanted to become a full-time singer myself,” she said.

She sang Houston songs to family and friends, at local talent competitions. As a kid, her bedroom walls were plastered with Houston posters, she wanted to dress like Houston, style her hair the same way.

Houston, she said, “taught me how to sing.”

Houston became such an inspiration that Davids had trouble breaking into the music business as an adult, she said.

Record producers and “other industry decision makers, their mentality was that there was already a Whitney so there was no room for another one,” she said.

Then in the mid-90s, Davids cut her debut album, which spawned a number one hit in South Africa, “We Go Together.”

Later, while performing “I Will Always Love You” at a Hong Kong hotel, the audience thought she was lip-syncing.

“[S]o I cut the music and sang a cappella,” she said. (And got a standing O.)

In 2009, she moved to LA, and became a backup singer for various R&B artists. In 2011, Davids returned to South Africa to raise her two sons.

The opportunity for her dream role in this show came in 2013.

“A close friend of mine rang me up and told me to go audition,” said Davids. Having just had a baby, Davids wasn’t planning on auditioning anytime soon, but eventually took a chance and auditioned, she said.

She eventually won the part over thousands of hopefuls, according to the show’s press.

“The highest accolade of my career is having the privilege and honor of getting to … celebrate the life and music of my idol,” Davids said.

Before each show, she gets into character by “going through the normal stretching and vocal exercises that most West End performers would do before every performance.

“My aim [is] to give audiences the full Whitney experience,” she said. “I must stress this point though: I am not trying to be another Whitney Houston. I am simply Belinda Davids, who is paying tribute to Whitney, so I bring my own tones, sound and stage presence.”

She added, the “purpose of this show is to remember the music and the icon that gave us legendary hit after hit in her music — which will forever be embedded in our hearts.”

Lauren Daley is a freelance writer and music columnist for the Standard-Times. Contact her at ldaley33@gmail.com. Follow her at https://www.facebook.com/daley.writer She tweets @laurendaley1.