With her powerful vocals, Belinda Davids transported the audience at the Jabez Sanford Hardin Performing Arts Center to another place and time Monday as she channeled one of her music idols — Whitney Houston.
“I grew up in Port Elizabeth, South Africa,” said Davids, who will perform Houston’s music again at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. “I always wanted to be like her and sing like her. It’s a privilege for me to pay tribute to the Queen of Pop.”
Davids brought songs such as “Run To You,” “I Believe In You and Me,” “How Will I Know,” “You Give Good Love” and “Greatest Love of All” to an exuberant, socially distanced crowd.
As Mike Deas with Augusta Amusements, who brought Davids to the Evans stage, said before the show, it was after closing hours for the adjacent library so patrons could make as much noise as they wanted.
Noise wasn’t enough as Davids encouraged the audience to dance and sing along.
“Let’s forget about the pandemic for a second,” she said. “You’ve got to get up and dance, and you’ve got to sing.”
And the crowd didn’t disappoint Davids.
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They sang along and stood up to dance with her when she sang “How Will I Know?”
Davids earned the role in the tribute show Greatest Love of All in 2013 beating out more than 15,000 singers. She’s appeared on programs such as the BBC’s “Even Better than the Real Thing” talent program, sung “I Will Always Love You” on Showtime at the Apollo hosted by Steve Harvey and performed with the National Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in the U.K.
She made it to the semifinals of “Britain’s Got Talent” in 2020.
Tickets are $44.95 and are available at augustaamusements.com or by calling (706) 726-0366.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Managing Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
