On October 5, 1991, The Fiji Times published an article about a 20-year-old who had a brilliant voice. The report said if fate had anything to do with it, the young lass had a great future ahead.
The subject of the report was none other than Georgina Ledua.
Back in 1991, she was a vocalist with the house band at the Pacific Harbour International Hotel in Deuba, and was probably the only Fiji stage entertainer in that decade (remember Esther King) to sing jazz.
Apart from doing six nights a week at Pacific Harbour, she also did a jazz night with the band which she sang for and with Tui Ravai at Traps Bar, Suva, every Monday night.
With her heavy, strong, and husky tones, she churned out tunes such as Stand by Me, Misty and Knocking on Heaven’s Door effortlessly. The only performing experience she had before she began singing with a band was during Starquest in 1986 where she was placed second.
Since then, Ms Ledua played with Nostradamus at what was then the Hyatt Regency (now The Warwick Fiji); Seru Serevi and Friends; and Sneak Preview. She only started doing jazz in February that year after one of the band members, Niko Bulai, asked if she wanted to try it out.
“I knew absolutely nothing about jazz or jazz artists and found it difficult to do at first, but one needs to listen very carefully to it before making any attempts at it,” Ledua said.
“But I liked the sound. We got together more often and practised. “I suppose jazz is something that you have got to have a feel of, to able to sing it. It is music to be listened to. “When I stand up before a microphone it just all comes out of me. I don’t feel nervous.
“I am quite aware that I have an audience there before me who are watching me. But I don’t find that distracting at all.”
The article said one could not help noticing her enjoyment on stage. Ms Ledua sang, and she genuinely enjoyed what she was singing.
“I do songs like Ella Fitzgerald’s Mack the Knife and Diana Shore songs.
“I do not come from a musical background, but my late father was a choirmaster and maybe that has something to do with it. I have been with this band for 18 months and I have been performing for about three years.
“I also sang at the Centenary Church during the 1988 Methodist Conference in Suva.” What then were her plans she had for the future?
“To keep singing, particularly jazz and blues numbers. Ledua was born in Suva and her family lived at Lami where she attended Dudley High School up to Form Six. She was the only member of her family who sang.
