‘Idols’ star follows in mum’s footsteps
Popular Bay singer follows footsteps of mum, Charmaine
NELSON Mandela Bay singing diva Charmaine Allison and her Idols SA contender daughter, Melissa, are a mother and daughter team with a relationship that goes deeper than a normal parent to child bond.
Melissa currently holds a coveted top-five place in reality television show Idols SA and mum, Charmaine, sings regularly at The Boardwalk’s Action Bar and Vodacom Amphitheatre. The duo bear a resemblance both in looks and musical style. Melissa says she aspires to be as “set in her music style” as her mother – although she still prefers to sing pop and rhythm and blues.
“The song Proud Mary that I sang at the show [on Sunday] really does have that diva vibe that my mother does so well and it is definitely her style. I have been told that we do look alike as well,” said Melissa in an interview earlier this week.
“In a few years, I really do hope to be as settled as she is in her performances. When we talked, she told me that she is proud of me and that I will make it in this industry
‘ She always used to say: ‘Mummy I want to sing’ and she has done that
no matter what happens from here on.”
At Friday’s recording of last Sunday night’s Idols SA at the Mosaiek Teatro in Johannesburg, Melissa wowed the nearly 3 000 strong crowd with her rendition of Proud Mar y after being criticised for her performance of her first song, Ain’t no Sunshine when She’s Gone.
That second performance prompted celebrity Idols SA judge Gareth Cliff to proclaim that Melissa “brings showbiz” to the competition this year.
Charmaine said her daughter started showing signs of being a singer from a very young age. “We are very much a musical family and her brother is also now playing a musical instrument.
“When she was younger, she used to sing with her cousins and at play school. She always used to say to me: ‘Mummy I want to sing, mummy one day I’m going to sing.’ And she has done that.’”
“We’ve always encouraged her to live her dream and now she’s doing that. “When she was singing on the show on Sunday, somebody SMSed me and said: ‘Oh there’s Charmaine on stage’. And I said, ‘no, I haven’t reached that yet, where she is now!’
“She is phenomenal and I have told her to just keep going but she is already a winner in my eyes,” said proud mother, Charmaine.