Belinda Davids - Where I Wanna Be (2007) HQ R&B/Soul (South Africa) Whitney Houston

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Maia aka Belinda Fishman aka Belinda Davids was born in 1976 in a small coastal town of Port Elizabeth in South Africa, where her musical family of seven children spent much of its time in church, singing and surrounded by gospel music. Enduring youth as a ‘coloured’ girl in a difficult, apartheid-ridden South Africa, Belinda found solace and empowerment in music – it was an equalizer, of sorts, for someone so devoid of equality in her life and surroundings, an expression and a pastime that needed no resources, no special education, no permissions, just her own God-given voice.

Belinda began performing professionally at the age of 16. She has never had vocal training. Belinda's inspiration as a child was Whitney Houston. Belinda's vocal range is greater then 4.5 octaves. And although she can sing many different genres, her musical heart is R&B/Soul. She appeared all over South Africa for a number of years at various hotels, clubs, & cabarets. Belida was the opening act for many international artists when they visited South Africa including Michael Jackson’s History tour, The Manhattans, The Temptations and Peaches and Herbs.

In 1996 she recorded an 11-track CD album under her maiden name titled "Belinda Davids" for Tusk Music/One World Entertainment. The CD contained three singles; "This I Swear", "This Is My Life." and "We Go Together" which reached number one for six weeks in South Africa. In 2007 she released the CD "Out Of Sight Out Of Mind" for Play Yosong Records in the U.S.A. under the name Maia.

Years after her debut album, Belinda decided to travel abroad to expand her music career, which took her to Dubai, London and Hong Kong to perform in major hotels and clubs. The influence of Whitney was still undeniable; during a performance at a hotel in Hong Kong the similarity was such that the audience stopped the concert and demanded she sing acapella to prove she wasn’t lip-syncing.

After many years on the road Belinda settled in Los Angeles in 2009 to focus on getting her solo career back on track. In L.A she collaborated with R&B singer and producer Sam Salter on a couple of solo tracks but the link between Belinda and Whitney was so strong that it hindered her solo career in the US. She encountered resistance from record labels who were unsure how to work with her because she looked and sounded so exactly like Houston.

Instead, she ended up with a busy career as a backing vocalist for some of the biggest names in Pop and R&B at the time, including Keyshia Cole, Monica, Johnny Gill, Kelly Price, and Keri Hilson. Her incredible voice, versatility and model-good looks saw her become highly sought-after in this field; she made appearances on The Jay Leno Show and The George Lopez Show and mixed in celebrity circles.

But Belinda eventually chose to put her career on hold and return to her homeland in 2011 to be with family and concentrate on raising her two sons.

Shortly after, however, in 2013, fate knocked. John Van Grinsven, creator and producer of Showtime Australia’s The Greatest Love of All starring Belinda Davids, was on his final round of global auditions to find a star for his new production and Belinda managed to nab a last-minute audition. What had once been a hindrance for her was now a blessing – Belinda beat almost 15,000 other hopefuls to take the marquee role.

Rehearsing and touring began almost immediately and demand has grown exponentially ever since. The show has now performed across much of the globe including the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Lithuania, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and South Africa.

In 2018 Belinda completed her first major US tour with The Greatest Love of All and debuted the show’s special orchestral concert series in the UK, performing with The National Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in some of the country’s most iconic venues including London’s Hammersmith Apollo theatre.

In 2019 Belinda will continue to showcase her exquisite voice worldwide, with major The Greatest Love of All tours already confirmed for Australia and Ireland, a return to the US, and more orchestral concerts in the UK and South Africa.

The song "Where I Wanna Be" is taken from the CD "Out Of Sight Out Of Mind" released in 2007. Enjoy the breathtaking vocals of Belinda Davids!

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