Belinda Davids has always idolised Whitney Houston.
But more recently she's lived and breathed the life of the late singer as she's taken on the role of playing her idol in The Greatest Love of All - The Whitney Houston Show which is coming to Rotorua tomorrow night.
The role features Davids as Houston performing some of her most popular hits.
"We want people to remember Whitney when she was at the top of her game."
Davids was selected for the role from more than 15,000 people who auditioned across 12 countries after a friend of hers emailed the producers to get her a spot.
Davids said she'd been singing the diva's songs for as long as she could remember.
"I'd done other covers but I always found myself coming back to Whitney. It's not just the music but her voice. I clung to her," she said.
"I wanted to sound like her, look like her, be like her."
Once chosen for the role, Davids spent three months finding out as much about her idol as she could - watching videos of Houston performing and reading books to try to get a real glimpse at her personality. "It was really intense for me. As much as I idolised her it gave me an opportunity of deeply getting to know her in detail."
Davids said one of her goals was to sound more like Houston than anyone else - and she hoped that she achieved that in the show.
Those heading along to the show could expect a show with loads of fun, lots of the classic hits, and plenty of beautiful costumes, Davids said.
Tickets for The Greatest Love of All - The Whitney Houston Show are still available from Ticketmaster.
