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328spotlightnj2_2026-03-28-09-21-42

I have Aiyah K Dimeanta, a singer from New York here in studio. She now lives in Berkeley Heights in Union County. What got you into singing? When did you figure out you had this gift? Oh, OK, so. I guess it was the day I was born. I was gonna say, OK, baby. Growing up, my, my mom told me this story, um, she said, you know, when you were. Less than one year old you were drumming and singing to the song Believe by Cher and from that moment she knew she knew she's like you you've got musical talent and you know I hate to put my parents on the spot but they can't sing to save their lives. And, and that's OK I guess it skipped a generation because both my grandparents, incredible singers, uh, my dad's mom Felicidad, whom I love so much, has an amazing voice, and my mom's father was the Engelbert Humperdink of the family, so you know, I, we. I guess, yeah, it skipped them but then it landed on me to you. You tell me the names of all your family members, mom, dad, sister, everybody, and then say your name for me so people can hear it. It's beautiful. Oh, I'll, I'll, I'll, so Aliyah Kate Dimalanta is my name and my dad is Edwin Dimalanta and my mom is Luanne Marie Altara and I have my little sister who I love so much. Annie Dale, which is an interesting name. It's, it's a combination of all of our names, so it's my mom's name, my dad's, and mine. Really? Yeah, so your sister has that legacy to carry. Absolutely. She's, she's a rock star on her in her own way. Beautiful to come up with that idea. I've never thought of that. Now she's in the Air Force, correct? She is. She's been, she's been in the Air Force for, I wanna say, going on 4 or 5 years now, and I'm. If all goes well she'll be moving back to New Jersey and we'll be together again so I'm, I'm looking forward to that. Are you proud of her for serving her country that way and she's your baby sister, no less incredibly proud and I would never say this to her face because she's my little sister, but. I, I look up to her and she's she's such an inspiration she's the first in our family to join the military and the first woman at that so I, I mean she did the brave thing she left and flew cross country to serve. The country and we thank her for that. How does she feel about your talent? I don't know we're gonna have to ask her because we have a weird relationship. We don't, I, I, I'd like to think she's proud of me, um, you know, she, we don't. We don't open up to each other the way that we should, but I, I think she's proud of me. I like to think so.

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328spotlightnj3_2026-03-28-12-50-57

One nostalgic night and evening with Aaliyah, Kate and Hallie Just live at the Triad Theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan April 19th at 7:30 p.m. Mm Aiyah Kate Dimalanta, singer from New York, now living in Berkeley Heights in Union County, this is going to be your debut on Off Broadway. Yes, I'm so excited. I bet you are. I'm, I'm, you know, I'm, I'm nervous, but I'm more excited than anything and I'm so, so grateful to be able to share a stage with, with Hallie. She's an incredible singer, incredible singer, and. To be able to do this with her is, oh my God, it's gonna be so much fun. What is this show about? So the show is called One Nostalgic Night and. The theme is, well, what we're gonna be doing is we're gonna be singing a bunch of songs that we grew up listening to so you know our parents when we look at all the songs that we listen we we we share the same music tastes and and you know our mentor Victor Nichols, he. Presented us this opportunity to to put together a show and this is mind you this is our first time ever doing this we have no idea what we're doing but you know what it's gonna be a good show it's gonna be a fun show um and I I'm just looking forward to seeing all of our friends and family there you said songs that you grew up with did you all sit down and collaborate or how did that come about? Well, it actually happened through I met Hallie through. Victor, uh, my mentor, my boss, my extended family at this point, sounds like an overall great guy. Absolutely. I, you know, I, and you know how they say. It takes one person to believe in you to make all the difference in the world. I'd like to think that Victor is that person. Um, when I met him and I told him that I have a passion for singing, uh, he, he told me you should, you would be ripping the world off if you didn't chase after it. I like the way he put that and. That's kind of when it clicked and so here I am at 29 years old chasing my dreams, not sure where I'll land, but you know at the very least I got to try it and so with that said. His band Enough Said that's been around for Uh, twice as long as I've been alive, um, I, I met Hallie through, through the band, and, and they've been so incredible, so welcoming to me, they're, they're like my family.

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Alleyah Kate Dimalanta joined News 12 Della Crews to discuss her career and musical journey. 

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