Houston, we have a tribute show star in PE songstress
● She might not have been there in the flesh, but I swear I heard Whitney Houston singing on stage at Theatre of Marcellus at Emperors Palace on Thursday night.
This was the opening night of The Greatest Love of All, and the woman with the eerie likeness to the late legend was local songstress Belinda Davids.
Belinda, who kicked off the tribute show with a toe-tapping rendition of I’m Every Woman, told us between songs: “You know, I was born just around the corner from here . . . in Port Elizabeth. Ja, ek is ’n Baaienaar. [Someone from the Bay],” to giggles from the audience.
These days Belinda treads the boards around the world after being plucked by producer Johnny van Grinsven of
Showtime Australia from among 15 000 hopefuls for the gig.
Lapping up the performance were wallto-wall celebs including Khanyi Mbau (who brought along her cute 12-year-old daughter Khanukani), TV presenter LeighAnn Williams, soon-to-be-divorced Zwai Bala and his younger bro Loyiso, who was having his first joint night out with his wife, Jen, after the birth of their new bub.
Elsewhere I spotted former Springbok Breyton Paulse, entertainer Refilwe Modiselle and Abigail Visagie, the newscaster on DStv channel Afro Worldview, known as ANN7 back when it was owned by the Guptas.
Belinda was hypnotic to watch — and Whitney fans, you only have until July 8 to check it out before the production heads over to the US.