A Trigg County Middle School student will make her small screen debut Wednesday night on an ABC news program that will spotlight the music career of pop star Whitney Houston.
11-year-old Cadiz resident Ezashia Jones will portray a pre-teen Houston on the program ‘Superstar’, which is a spin-off of the news magazine show 20/20.
Ezashia is the daughter of Kayla Joiner and the late Eric Jones of Cadiz.
Stacie Oakley is Ezashia’s grandmother and is helping oversee her career that requires extensive travel. She said the non-speaking role will feature Ezashia as Whitney Houston in a pre-teen sequence.
click to download audioJones has already embarked on a modeling career that has seen her featured in nearly 20 magazines including several covers. Oakley said one of the biggest modeling campaigns was with Adidas.
click to download audioOakley said it was during the COVID-19 shutdown last year that Ezashia got the idea to give acting a try and that online lessons soon followed.
click to download audioWhile the debate rages on the benefits and drawbacks of kids attending school virtually or in person, Oakley said Ezashia benefited from being able to take classes online while keeping up with a demanding travel schedule.
click to download audio‘Superstar’ will feature a different celebrity who the network said “shaped American culture.” Future episodes will feature Robin Williams and Kobe Bryant, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Tonight’s Whitney Houston episode will include private videos of the singer and archival interviews of her, Bobby Brown, and new interviews with other singers.
‘Superstar’ will air on ABC tonight at 9 and will stream on Hulu starting Thursday.
