South Africa born singer Belinda Davids fell in love with ’80s pop star Whitney Houston at a very young age, so she is showing “the greatest love of all” for her music with The Greatest Love of All — The Whitney Houston Show — a 
tribute act which comes to The University Theatre, May 13.
“I’m excited about it, but very nervous,” said Davids from Winnipeg where she is beginning the Canadian part of the tour.
“All we want to do is give some great memories of her and some great music and maybe people will walk away weeping,” she continued.
The full stage show includes a full band, five different costume changes reflecting different eras of Whitney Houston’s music and all of her hits from the ’80’s and ’90s including 'How Will I Know', 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody', 'Where Do Broken Hearts Go', 'Didn't We Almost Have It All', 'I'm Every Woman', 'Exhale (Shoop Shoop)', 'Step by Step' and of course, 'I Will Always Love You'.
“I want people to remember Whitney Houston as she was when she was at her peak and didn’t lose her voice,” she said.
Davids discovered her music when she was nine years old and her brother found a copy of “Hold On,” Houston’s duet with Teddy Pendergrass. She became an immediate fan.
“ It was her voice. As soon as I heard it, I wanted to be her. I dressed like her, did my hair like her and tried to sing like her. My neighbours started calling me Whitney, some of them still do,” Davids reminisced.
Davids moved out to Los Angeles to embark on a solo career but moved back to South Africa when she had her son.
A few years later a friend of hers put her in touch with Showtime Management who were putting together a Whitney Houston tribute show. She quickly auditioned and was pleased to get the part.
“ I went to audition as soon as the opportunity came up. I was really excited to get the call back,” she said.
The tour as been a hit with audiences in South Africa and New Zealand. A tour of Australia is in the works.
“I really want to do that because her last tour there was difficult. Audiences were picking on her. I’d like to go back and restore her name,” she said.
“Hold On” won’t be part of the show though.
“ We aren’t doing any duets in this show. They‘d have to audition for that,” she said.
Tickets for the show cost between $49-$59.
The show begins at 8 p.m. in the University of Lethbridge Theatre.
