Biography

Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), is an Academy Award-nominated American actress and singer. She first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX reality/talent-search television series American Idol and in the role of Effie White in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls.

American Idol

Jennifer Hudson was born in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, where she graduated in 1999. She auditioned for the third season of American Idol in Atlanta, Georgia. She was a member of the first group of semifinalists, but was not voted through to the final round. However, she was brought back on the wildcard round and put through as a finalist by contest judge Randy Jackson.

Hudson struggled to gain popularity in the early stages of the live shows, receiving the second lowest number of votes in two of the first three shows. However, after a change in song choices, Hudson soon became a favorite to win, receiving the highest number of votes on one occasion. Among Hudson’s performances on the show was her rendition of Elton John’s “Circle of Life” on April 6, 2004. American Idol judge Simon Cowell commented that she “finally proved why she was among the Top 12″ and referred to the performance a week later as “sensational”.

On April 21, 2004, Hudson became the seventh of the 12 finalists to be voted off the show. Her departure sparked controversy - especially since the bottom three that week were all African-American females, including Latoya London and Fantasia Barrino (who later went on to win). Guest judge Elton John called them the “divas”, believing them to be the best singers of the season, and suggesting that their placement in the bottom three was “racist”.[2] Others speculated that the “divas” simply split the same demographic, or that some fans assumed the three girls were not in danger and therefore did not vote. A power outage in Hudson’s hometown of Chicago may also have cost her votes.

Regardless of the reason, guest judge Barry Manilow, who prepared Jennifer for her spectacular performance of his heart-rending hit song “Weekend In New England”, was shocked that she did not advance. To show his support for Jennifer, he performed a duet with her on national television the day after she was voted off.

American Idol performances

* “Imagine” (John Lennon, 1971) (Semifinals; February 10, 2004)
* “I Believe in You and Me” (The Four Tops, 1982; Whitney Houston, 1996) (Wild card; March 9, 2004)
* “Baby I Love You” (Aretha Franklin, 1967) (Soul week; March 16, 2004) (Bottom 2)
* “No One Else on Earth” (Country; March 23, 2004)
* “(Love is Like a) Heat Wave” (Motown, Martha and the Vandellas; March 30, 2004) (Bottom 2)
* “Circle of Life” (Elton John, 1994) (Elton John songs; April 6, 2004) (Highest number of votes.)
* “I Have Nothing” (The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston, 1992) (Movie songs week; April 14, 2004).
* “Weekend in New England” (Barry Manilow, 1976) (Barry Manilow songs; April 20, 2004) (Bottom 2; voted off)

Dreamgirls

In November 2005, Hudson was cast in the prized role of Effie White in the film adaptation of Dreamgirls, beating out hundreds of professional singers and actresses for the role including, ironically, Fantasia Barrino who had beaten Hudson in American Idol. Hudson had to gain 20 pounds in order to play the role. Filming of Dreamgirls began on January 09, 2006, and the film went into limited release on December 25, 2006 and national release on January 12, 2007.

Hudson has particularly won praise for her onscreen performance of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” — the emotional show stopper in the original 1981 Broadway show of the same name, which won six Tony Awards. The New York Observer described her performance of that song as “five mellifluous, molto vibrato minutes that have suddenly catapulted Ms. Hudson… into the position of front-runner for the best supporting actress Oscar.” Newsweek said that when moviegoers hear Hudson sing the song, she “is going to raise goose bumps across the land.” New York Daily News proclaimed, “When she sings ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ — one of the most heartfelt cries of pain ever written for a musical — Hudson inscribes her name on an Oscar.” Variety wrote that Hudson’s performance “calls to mind debuts like Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl or Bette Midler in The Rose, with a voice like the young Aretha.”

As Effie White, Hudson has garnered more than a dozen awards and nominations from film critics as Best Supporting Actress and Breakthrough Performer of 2006. For the role, Hudson won a Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role, dedicating the award to Florence Ballard, upon whom her Dreamgirls character was based. She became the third African American actress to win a Golden Globe Award in the Motion Picture Categories, behind Whoopi Goldberg and Angela Bassett. She earned a nomination for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress, and is also nominated for a BAFTA in the Best Supporting Actress category. Her song in the movie, Love You I Do (written by Henry Krieger & Siedah Garret) was also nominated under the Best Original Song category. She has also been nominated for four Black Reel Awards: Best Supporting Actress, Best Breakthrough Performance, and Best Song (Original or Adapted Performance) for “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” and “One Night Only”. In addition, she was named Best Supporting Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and also by the Screen Actors Guild.

Hudson’s version of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” debuted at number 98 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the January 13, 2007 issue, and has since risen to number 73. “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” looks set to become Hudson’s first legitimate Top 10 hit, as the track registers Airpower status in a 23-15 jump on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay chart as of February 10, 2006; the track also registered a new peak on the Hot R&B/HipHop Songs chart, rising 26-23.

Recording career

Hudson recorded her own version of the soul classic “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)”, originally by Gladys Knight & the Pips, for American Idol Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics—the official American Idol album for the 3rd season. She is featured on a song called “The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be” on the Meat Loaf album Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose and performs the song “Easy To Be Hard” on a tribute album to the musical Hair.

In September, Hudson performed the song “Over It” live on Fox Chicago Morning News. In the interview she stated the song would be included on her debut album. She also stated it would be released in early-2007.On the Oprah Show, Hudson announced plans to enter the studio in March 2007.

In November 2006, Hudson signed a record deal with Clive Davis’ label, Arista Records. Davis has guided the careers of such legendary artists as Aretha Franklin , Whitney Houston, and Monica, now Hudson’s labelmates. Hudson, a gospel-trained singer has a five-octave range.