Jennifer Hudson: Snapshot
- Name
- Jennifer Hudson
- Birth Date
- September 12, 1981
- Birth Place
- Chicago, Ill.
A performer since childhood in her family's South Side of Chicago Baptist church, Hudson competed on the third season of Idol. After her early elimination, she soldiered on, eventually beating 781 hopefuls for her star-making role in Dreamgirls.
Hudson, who took her curves to the cover of Vogue and proved she was more than a one act wonder with a role in 2008's Sex and the City movie, released her self-titled debut album and got engaged to boyfriend David Otunga. But in October 2008, tragedy struck when Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, her brother Jason, and 7-year-old nephew Julian King were all fatally shot.
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Jennifer Hudson: Five Fun Facts
- The first time Jennifer Hudson heard the Dreamgirls power ballad, "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)", was at 13 when Will Smith was lip-synching to Jennifer Holliday's version on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
- Jennifer Hudson lost 60-pounds during American Idol because of stress, and gained 20-pounds (and two sizes) for her role as power singer Effie White in Dreamgirls. She attributed her weight gain to eating "all the cookies, cakes and pies I could."
- Jennifer Hudson told Essence that on American Idol, "You become a character – I became the girl in the turkey wrapping" because on one episode, she wore an unflattering outfit that earned her the label from judge Simon Cowell.
- When Jennifer Hudson wore the much-maligned Oscar de la Renta chocolate gown with a metallic python cropped jacket to the Oscars ceremony, tabloids reported a feud between Hudson and Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley, who was blamed for the futuristic ensemble.
- Jennifer Hudson calls her extra pounds "jelly": "I have a little singer's pouch, and that's where the voice comes from, so you're all just going to have to get used to my jelly," she told Newsweek.
Jennifer Hudson: Biography 
- late 1980s
From Church to Disney
South Side of Chicago native Jennifer Hudson, 7, gets her start singing in the Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church choir. As a teen, she works at her local Burger King before starring as the muse Calliope in Hercules – A Muse-ical Comedy aboard the Disney Wonder cruise. She considers her six months on the cruise her test for American Idol. "I said, 'If I can get through the ship, that means I'm cut out for Idol,'"she tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
- 2003
Idol Contestant #34403
Hudson declines to renew her contract with Disney to audition against 11,000 other hopefuls for season three of American Idol in Atlanta. Appearing confident, with a head full of curls, Hudson sings Aretha Franklin's "Share Your Love With Me." Judge Randy Jackson calls her audition "brilliant," and she makes it into the competition.
- 2004
Robbed by Idol
With LaToya London and Fantasia Barrino (who later wins the title), Hudson lands in the week's bottom three spots (left). A media firestorm ensues as Elton John calls the results racist because all three are black and widely considered the show's most powerful vocalists. In the end, Hudson is sent home. "Whatever it is, it was meant to be," Hudson says. "If it was based on talent, I know I was robbed."
Photo Credits
Top Left: Naomi Kaltman/Corbis
BIOGRAPHY (top to bottom): Splash News Online; Ray Mickshaw/WireImage; Ray Mickshaw/WireImage
