A Belfast woman was given the rare opportunity to perform for a group of the world's elite leaders last June.

Beverly Mahood, originally from Belfast, was asked to perform for world dignitaries including France's president Nicolas Sarkozy, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Angela Merkel of Germany, Naoto Kan of Japan, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, the U.K.'s David Cameron, along with Canada's Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama when they were all gathered at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville Ontario. The world leaders had been in Canada for the G8 summit.

"It was a small room, they were in a semicircle not two feet away from me. Was it nerve-racking? Yes. But I had Obama tapping his toes and afterwards he said, 'I like your music and I like your voice.' That's all I needed to hear."

The singer left Belfast with her family when she was six years old to escape from the sectarian violence. The talented Northern Irish woman got her first musical break singing in the trio Lace, produced by the renowned Los Angeles producer David Foster. After the group split she started focusing on her solo career but also branched off into acting and TV work. Five years ago Mahood relocated to Vancouver to co-host a breakfast show.

The 36-year-old is also a big supporter of Canadian troops. During the summer she made the journey to Dubai and Afghanistan for her second tour to Canadian bases. She and her band performed for troops but she also spent a lot of time talking with men and woman who were on duty.