Emily Robinson
Prince hits will come to life through an Australian reality TV star at North Geelong’s Sphinx Hotel this month.
The 2012 winner of Australia’s Got Talent, Andrew De Silva, from ’90s R&B sensation CDB, will present his Purple Revolution tribute show just months after the death of the international music icon.
De Silva described Purple Revolution as “full on action” from the beginning.
“I’ve been playing Prince’s songs in my set now for nearly 20 years, it’s always been something that the audience relate me to.”
De Silva has previously opened shows for mega stars like Mariah Carey, Boys II men and Shaggy. He recently played the lead role in hit production Let’s Get It On, The Life and Music of Marvin Gaye.
Performing the Marvin Gaye show educated De Silva on paying tribute to beloved artists, he said.
“That show was such a success and got me thinking about doing another one with my band.
“I thought it was about time I did a full Prince show, so I rounded up my musicians who also love his music.”
De Silva and his band performed their first show in Albury just two weeks before Prince’s death.
“About two weeks after the show (opened) I woke up with the news that he had passed away, it was quite surreal.”
De Silva was surprised to recently learn that Prince had actually seen him perform one of his songs.
“In 2006 I sang on The Morning Show with Prince’s drummer. It was only recently that someone told me he actually saw the performance.”
But little did Prince know that De Silva would become his “next best thing”, according to fans on the Purple Revolution Facebook page.
“I don’t expect comments like that but we do our best so it’s great to hear,” De Silva said.
He considered performing Prince’s songs an “honour”.
“It’s electric; the songs are so powerful and funky.
“We’re playing all of his massive songs but we’ve also thrown in a few B-sides for the diehard fans as well.
“We’ve put a lot of time into this show. Prince always had the best musicians and the best live shows and we try to capture all of that.
“It’s a full, polished act, which it has to be, otherwise it’s not Prince.”
De Silva said his favourite Prince song changed nightly he always enjoyed performing opening song Let’s Go Crazy.
“Everybody loses their minds. Purple Rain is also always a big one.”
De Silva said his success on Australia’s Got Talent reminded him that “it’s great to say yes to things in life.”
“Sometimes we can get to a certain age where we get comfortable,“ he reflected.
“That (Australia’s Got Talent) was something I would never dream of really doing but I jumped into it and ever since I’ve been jumping into other things with my eyes shut.”
De Silva plays the Sphinx on 30 July.
