February 13, 2012

Whitney Houston Discusses Jennifer Hudson’s Version Of “I Will Always Love You” In This 2010 Interview


Last night during the Whitney Houston tribute at the Grammy Awards, Jennifer Hudson had the incredibly daunting task of performing a song, “I Will Always Love You,” as a tribute to the woman so closely identified with it. But in this rarely-seen interview with Houston from 2010, she absolutely approved of the way Hudson handles the song and would have been proud of the performance last night. Hudson sang the song to Houston during the 2010 BET Honors and in the clip above, which is part of tonight’s VH1 News special Whitney Houston: Death Of A Diva, Houston discussed the guts it took for Hudson to even attempt it in her presence. (I highly recommend watching the full clip from the BET Honors just for Houston’s proud mama reaction to Hudson. It will choke you up.)

“I was totally impressed first of all,” Whitney says of the performance. “Jennifer comes…and sings ‘I Will Always Love You’ and nobody takes that song and takes a shot at it, nobody does. Everybody is scared of that song, not Jennifer, not Jennifer. She’s got the pipes for it. She’s got the pipes for it. She’s got that big sound. She’s got the gospel for it you know. I was very impressed and I was honored that she came out and sang for me and sang that particular song. Nobody I’ve never heard anybody take a shot at that song and do it.”

This clip and many others are a part of the Whitney Houston: Death Of A Diva special that will air tonight on VH1 at 8 p.m, 9:30 p.m. and 1 a.m. ET/PT. [click to continue…]

Tags: , , Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson

November 17, 2011

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul Preview: Jennifer Hudson

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul is set to premiere on Monday, December 19 at 9 p.m. ET. That day is a full month and some change away, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not already doing backflips of excitement about this year’s lineup, which will feature Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine, Kelly Clarkson, Jessie J and Jennifer Hudson. Regarding the latter, we’re excited to reveal this new promo image of the Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer/actress J. Hud! We haven’t heard any advance word about what songs she’s planning on performing that night, but seeing as how one of the featured soul-music capitals we’ll be spotlighting is her hometown of Chicago, we’re sure she’s got some exciting tricks up her sleeve about how to best honor the rich musical legacy of the Windy City.

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul will air exclusively on VH1 on Monday, December 19 at 9 p.m. ET/8 CT. Stay tuned to these pages for more updates as they come in!

RELATED: VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul On December 19 With Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson And More [VH1 Blog]

Tags: , , Jessie J, Florence and the Machine, Jill Scott, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul

November 10, 2011

Win A Trip To See VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul In New York City!

This year’s lineup for VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul is outstanding, and we’re fully confident that you’re going to love seeing the likes of Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine, Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J perform when the special airs on VH1 on Monday, December 19. However, wouldn’t it be even better if you were there seeing it live and in person?

Well, let us be the first to tell you that that person could be you! We’re excited to announce our 2011 VH1 DIVAS Tweetstakes, which is open today through November 23. Entering could not be any easier: Simply tweet a message about who you think has “real” soul to @VH1 and include the hashtag #VH1DIVAS and you’ll be entered in the contest, where we’ll eventually choose a winner at random. Yes, really, it’s as easy as that! Now, get those thumbs warmed up and start tweetin’.

(For those of you who delight in reading legalese, here’s the complete list of rules.)

Tags: , , , VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul, Jessie J, Florence and the Machine, Jill Scott, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson

October 27, 2011

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul On December 19 With Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson And More

Hot off the presses, we’ve got some exciting news to share with you! We’ve been able to convince an outstanding array of wildly talented vocalists, including Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine, Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J, to participate in the latest entry in our long-running series, VH1 DIVAS. This year’s theme will be VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul, which will enable each of our performers to pay their respects to the cities where soul music originated and ultimately flourished, places like Chicago, Detroit, London, Memphis and Philadelphia. We’ll have more details on this amazing show in the coming days and weeks, but for now, here’s the full press release that just hit the wires.

 

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul with Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + the Machine, Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J

VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul Pays Tribute to the Great Cities of Soul Music Including Chicago, Detroit, London, Memphis and Philadelphia

The Roots Confirmed to Perform as House Band

Special will air Monday, December 19 at 9 PM/8c on VH1

 

NEW YORK – October 27, 2011 – VH1’s beloved, popular franchise, VH1 Divas, returns and will pay tribute to the cities where soul gave birth to music’s most powerful classics and inspired today’s divas. Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine, Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J will pay homage to these cities and soul music’s timeless classics at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom. VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul premieres Monday, December 19 at 9 p.m. ET/8 CT on VH1.

The full press release continues below…

[click to continue…]

Tags: , , , , , The USO Presents: VH1 Divas Salute the Troops, Jessie J, Florence and the Machine, Jill Scott, The Roots, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Big Morning Buzz Live

May 19, 2011

Ellen DeGeneres, Nascent Teenpop Mogul, Scores Again



Ellen DeGeneres, music mogul? Get used to it. The onetime American Idol judge started a label, eleveneleven (an Interscope imprint), a year ago, to sign Youtube sensation Greyson Chance, just two weeks after he was discovered and appeared on her show. Now Chance is wrapping up a co-headlining tour with Australian teenpop star Cody Simpson, after releasing single “Waiting Outside the Lines” backed with studio versions of the Lady Gaga and Augustana covers that originally got Ellen’s attention.

Apparently, Chance’s success was no fluke. “Carry Me On,” the debut single from her second signee, 17-year-old Brit Tom Andrews (pictured above), hit #185 on the iTunes pop charts. Savannah Robinson, eleveneleven’s most recent signee, appeared on Ellen twice, the second time to duet with Jennifer Hudson. If YouTube teens are indeed the future of the music industry (Bieber, Chance, et al…), then Ellen DeGeneres has got the future on lock.

[Photo Credit: Ellen]

Tags: , , Greyson Chance, Jennifer Hudson, Ellen DeGeneres

March 31, 2011

Exclusive: Head to Toe with Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson VH1 Head To Toe

Last week, Jennifer Hudson’s sophomore LP, I Remember Me, hit the streets and moved an impressive 165,000 copies, good for second place on the Billboard 200. If it has been awhile since you last laid eyes on J-Hud, yes, that’s really her there on the cover of the record. Thanks to a new exercise regimen and healthy eating, Hudson has dropped 80 pounds (!!!) in the twenty or so months years since she gave birth to her son, Daniel. Okay, we’ll say it, she’s lookin’ FINE these days!

So when Jennifer recently stopped by our offices here in the heart of Times Square, we thought she’d be a perfect candidate for our recurring style series, Head to Toe. “I put my outfits together today knowing that music is business, too, so I’m giving you a little business today,” the self-described supermodel-slash-business-lady explained to us in the video footage that you’ll see below. Her best piece of advice, though, is an oldie but a goodie: “Don’t let the clothes wear you, you wear them.”

[click to continue…]

Tags: , , Jennifer Hudson

March 13, 2011

2011 SXSW Guide: Crystal Bowersox Picks Her Fave Acts

crystal-bowersox-sxsw

Crystal Bowersox has joined Jennifer Hudson and Adam Lambert as American Idol alumns who failed to take the show’s top spot but ended up faring at least as well as its winners in becoming artists with independent careers and identities. Thanks to Idol, Crystal’s identity is more than a little familiar to most: Scrappy folk/roots singer and songwriter with golden dreads and, more importantly, a knockout voice. Below is the video for “Farmer’s Daughter,” the autobiographical single from her debut album of the same name.

After the jump, Crystal’s picks.

[click to continue…]

Tags: , , , , , Jennifer Hudson, Cee-Lo, Adam Lambert, Crystal Bowersox, The Civil Wars, John Popper

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September 18, 2009

Stevie Wonder And Jennifer Hudson Make Beautiful Music Together

Stevie Wonder sure can class up a joint. As the only man allowed on the VH1 Divas stage last night, Wonder complemented the gorgeous Jennifer Hudson during their duet of “All In Love Is Fair.” This is one of our favorite duets of the night and cemented Hudson’s status as a diva and a legend in the making — not everyone can hold their own with Stevie and she proved herself more than capable. The soulful song played out in stark contrast to some of the other duets, like the Sheryl Crow-Miley Cyrus performance. We think it was the benchmark for elegance last night.

Tags: , , , , Jennifer Hudson, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Stevie Wonder, VH1 Divas (2009)

July 27, 2007

Blog Best-Of: Lauryn’s Lunacy

lauryn_links.jpg – Didn’t it seem like Lauryn Hill was sane for a second there? Turns out we’re the crazy ones for ever believing that. [Crunk + Disorderly]

- Maddox Jolie-Pitt apparently doesn’t like it when Brad and Angelina fight. Maddox has no future in publishing. [Dlisted]

- You could stand under Parker Posey‘s umbrella, but good lord, why would you want to? [A Socialite's Life]

- Jennifer Hudson looks like a corpse in her print campaign for a new Avon fragrance. Is it safe to assume that it smells like formaldehyde? [CONCRETELOOP]

- Akon says he’d sign Paris Hilton to his record label. And if the music thing doesn’t work out, he could always hump her for everyone’s entertainment. [Bossip]

[Image credit: Getty]

Tags: , Akon, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Hudson, Lauryn Hill, Parker Posey

July 10, 2007

Blog Best-Of: Deelishis’ Day

Deelishis_links3_2 – While the rest of the girls were in Charm School, Flavor of Love 2 alumna Deelishis was…getting married. (Or…something?) Whatever, she looks hot. She wins! [Flavor of Love Blog]

- Scarlett Johansson is photographed on the set of yet another Woody Allen movie. It’s as though she’s addicted to being ogled by dirty old men. [A Socialite's Life]

- Britney Spears is photographed exiting a bathroom a Taco Bell bathroom. There’s a joke there somewhere, if you can get past the smell. I can’t. [Dlisted]

- Jennifer Hudson may have gained some weight back, but she has a foolproof way of looking thin. Seriously, standing next to Andre Leon Tally wearing a muumuu makes you look better than any diet. [CONCRETELOOP]

- Ne-Yo thinks it’s cool that he’s mentioned in video vixen Karrine "Superhead" Steffans‘ second book. His poor, ailing penis, however, begs to differ. [Crunk + Disorderly]

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