NEWS: DAVIDS WINS AT NTMA’s
Belinda Davids flew to the UK from her home in South Africa this week to accept one of the highest honours from the music industry.
Belinda, star of The Greatest Love of All, was honoured to receive the very first International Special Recognition Award, at the 2019 National Tribute Music Awards.
The NTMA judges said: “Our International Special Recognition Award is given to a tribute act that is well-loved and highly regarded as the best in their genre on a global scale. Belinda Davids’ international fan base is a testament to her musical skill and captivating stage presence. It is hard enough to make a name for yourself as a tribute act in your own country, so breaking the international music scene must be nearly impossible. And yet Belinda has done just that. This award is in recognition of a performer who has made a global contribution to tribute performing, gaining thousands of fans all over the world. Authentic, talented and professional beyond all else, Belinda has made an international, groundbreaking influence on the music industry on behalf of tribute acts everwhere. Regularly mistaken for the real deal and highly respected by the industry, she is recognised as one of the most skilled in the field.”
Belinda said: “I’m honoured by this award and I remain humble in doing my utmost to keep the music of Whitney Houston alive. It doesn’t matter how good I am at this talent, I will never want to fill her shoes but instead pay tribute by honouring her legacy and sharing the gift of music she blessed us with.”
The Greatest Love of All is a heartfelt musical journey through Whitney Houston’s greatest hits including ‘I Will Always Love You’, ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, ‘How Will I Know’, ‘One Moment in Time’, ‘I Have Nothing’, ‘Run to You’, ‘Didn’t We Almost Have It All’, ‘Greatest Love of All’, ‘I’m Every Woman’, ‘Queen of the Night’, and more.
The Greatest Love of All spans the legend’s extraordinary 40-year career with a smash-hit show featuring Belinda’s flawless vocals, multiple fabulous costume changes, the sensational National Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and an amazing team of dancers.
For Cape Town-born songstress Belinda Davids, starring in The Greatest Love of All is the culmination of a life-long connection with the superstar to whom she pays homage. She beat almost 15,000 other hopefuls to take on the role and it was her own eternal love of Whitney that prepared her for the show. Exposed mainly to R&B and gospel as a child, she was innately drawn to Houston’s musical style. Singing professionally from her early teens, Houston songs became a fixture in Davids’ live shows. “I think I’ve sung at least one Whitney track in almost every live show I’ve ever performed,” says Davids. Though she eventually carved out a successful career as a chart-topping solo artist and a session vocalist for such artists as The Temptations, Keri Hilson, Keyshia Cole, Monica and Johnny Gill, in her earlier days Davids encountered resistance from many industry professionals who were unsure how to work with her because she looked and sounded so exactly like Houston.The ultimate realisation of Davids’ affinity with Whitney occurred during a show in Hong Kong. Following a recital of ‘I Will Always Love You’, the audience was so astounded by her performance that they demanded she sing acapella to prove she wasn’t lip-syncing.
Now representing her idol on stage, Davids feels destined: “I’ve essentially prepared my whole life for this show and I feel privileged to be able to honour Whitney in such a way.”
Original source: https://www.broadwayworld.com/uk-regional/article/Belinda-Davids-Wins-The-International-Special-Recognition-Award-At-The-National-Tribute-Music-Awards-20190710
