The Grimaldi Forum will transform into a temple of R&B on 27th June when South African singer Belinda Davids takes the stage to honour one of music’s greatest talents: Whitney Houston.
With her remarkable four-octave vocal range—just half an octave shy of Houston’s 4.5-octave tessiture— Belinda Davids is one of the few contemporary artists capable of authentically interpreting Houston’s challenging repertoire.
Davids’ journey to becoming Houston’s most authentic interpreter began in the coastal town of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where she discovered her idol at age eight through the track ‘Hold Me.’
“Whitney Houston has been my idol since forever,” Davids recalls. “When I saw her for the first time on our television screen in South Africa, I decided to become like her. The neighbours called me ‘Whitney’—I sang her songs, cut my hair like hers, even altered my clothes to look like hers.”
The turning point came in 2013 when Davids was selected from over 15,000 candidates to star in ‘The Greatest Love of All’ production. Since then, she has performed across 28 countries in nearly 1,000 shows.
Her international recognition peaked in 2017 when she won the BBC’s ‘Even Better Than the Real Thing’ with a breathtaking rendition of ‘I Will Always Love You.’ This victory led to a performance at New York’s iconic Apollo Theatre—the same venue where Houston recorded ‘The Greatest Love of All’ music video.
Davids has developed a unique approach to her tribute performances, maintaining rigorous vocal preparation while connecting spiritually with Houston’s legacy.
“My biggest pressure is doing justice to her music,” she explains. “None of her songs are easy to sing, even the simplest ones. The climax is ‘I Will Always Love You’—that final high note is a real challenge.”
Her method includes intensive vocal warm-ups, athletic-level physical care, and careful attention to diet. “I embody her, I pay tribute to her, but I definitely don’t try to be her. There’s only one Whitney.”
A night of timeless classics
Producer Richard Walter, whose company has created acclaimed tributes to Queen, Elton John, and Jean-Jacques Goldman, discovered Davids through his wife’s persistent recommendations.
“I thought it was impossible to find an artist capable of reproducing Whitney Houston’s performances,” Walter admits. “But Belinda possesses that exceptional natural gift of a vocal range covering four octaves, which she shares with Whitney.”
The Monaco concert will feature Houston’s most beloved hits, including ‘I Will Always Love You,’ ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody,’ ‘One Moment in Time,’ and ‘I Have Nothing’—each song representing a chapter in the legend’s remarkable career.
For Davids, these performances represent something deeper than mere tribute shows. “Everywhere I perform around the world, I can see how much she’s missed. She connected so many people through her voice. Her songs are part of everyone’s memories.”
The 27th June concert at the Grimaldi Forum’s Salle des Princes promises to be more than just an evening of music—it’s an emotional journey through the catalogue of one of history’s greatest voices, interpreted by an artist who has dedicated her life to preserving Houston’s musical legacy.
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