LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Jennifer Hudson doesn't drink coffee. Doesn't care it, she says. Doesn't need it, counters her manager, Miguel Melendez.
It's 6:20 a.m. on a Monday good morning in July, and an uncaffeinated Hudson is busting full bound through her warm-ups during a heavy check for a public presentation on "Good Morning America." It's her first TV appearance in support of "Spotlight," the debut exclusive from her first album.
Hudson shakes off any concerns about the ungodly hour. ("The ring got in that respect at 4:30 a.m.," she notes.) Melendez, clutches his Starbucks as he watches. "Good Lord, she makes me feel old," he sighs.
It's easy to block Hudson's early days, perhaps thanks to the years she's already exhausted in the pop acculturation spotlight. At 26, her career path may be impossible to duplicate: She went from being a choir isaac Merrit Singer at her church in her hometown of Chicago to a Disney Cruise Line chanteuse to an "American Idol" contestant to an Academy Award victor for best supporting actress for her role in "Dreamgirls." Thanks to the ever-expanding entertainment landscape, what this substance is that Hudson has built a significant career on a multiple-octave voice -- without releasing an album.
All that changes September 30, when Arista/RMG releases her self-titled debut, which offers up everything from pop to R&B to gospel. The theme of the record album is simple: Play to the push rather than zeroing in on unmatched particular segment of it.
TAKING A CHANCE
"It is risky, because people expect you to just do one thing," Hudson says. "I'm going to take the chance and record what else is a part of me."
"Jennifer Hudson" features "Jesus Promised Me a Home Over There" -- a gospel tribute to the singer's days in the church choir -- and "You Pull Me Through," a track that Diane Warren penned for Hudson's lung-busting balladeer side. The album will also include the classic "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from "Dreamgirls" and "All Dressed in Love" from the late "Sex and the City" soundtrack.�
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