Born on Sept. 12, 1981, Jennifer Kate Hudson grew up in Chicago, IL and started singing in her church choir at the age of seven. Her late maternal grandmother, Julia Kate Hudson, also sang for the church, and became Hudson’s vocal inspiration. Throughout elementary and high school, Hudson participated in various talent shows and productions that honed her skills as a singer. Her melodic gifts landed Hudson a singing contract with the Disney Cruise Ship line, the “Disney Wonder,” where she portrayed Calliope – a main character in the ship’s entertainment extravaganza. The show, which the singer considered a huge milestone in her life, ran from February to August of 2003, and inspired Hudson to pursue her chosen career much more seriously than ever before.

In the summer of 2003, Hudson found herself at a crossroads in her life. She had to decide between renewing her contract with Disney Cruise Ships or flying to Atlanta, GA to audition for the Fox network reality competition series, “American Idol: Season 3.” Thankfully, Jennifer followed her heart and wisely chose the latter – considering that at this time “Idol” had already made pop music superstars out of previous winners and runners-up Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, and Clay Aiken. With her commanding vocals and charming personality, Hudson was among 70,000 hopefuls in the season’s audition process. She did not make it through the semifinal eliminations, but was later brought back to the show as “Idol” judge Randy Jackson’s wildcard pick, as he had been especially wowed by Hudson’s vocal range and could not imagine the Top 12 without her. He was right. She became an instant favorite with her renditions of songs by John Lennon, Barry Manilow, and Whitney Houston. One of the season’s celebrity judges Sir Elton John even called Hudson “the best of the lot” after she covered his song “Circle of Life.”

In April of 2004, the bottom three in “American Idol” included the season’s powerhouse singers – dubbed “the divas” – Hudson, LaToya London, and Fantasia Barrino. Unfortunately, it was the end of the line for Hudson, as she was voted off the show later in the month. A media firestorm soon followed, as people wondered if the fact that the three singers were all African-American had something to do with them ending up in the bottom three. There was also news that a severe power outage in Hudson’s hometown affected the voting. The third season commenced with Barrino taking the title as the new American Idol.

After the season ended, Hudson went on tour with her fellow Idols. She was away from the limelight for a few years, until November 2005 when she came out of nowhere to win the role of Effie White in the film adaptation of the stage musical “Dreamgirls.” Hudson auditioned against and beat out hundreds of other singers and actresses – including in a sweet bit of irony, “Idol” winner Barrino – for the same role that made a star of singer Jennifer Holliday in the early 1980s staged Broadway production. This time around, the film version was chocked full with a mega-watt cast, including Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, (for 2004’s “Ray”), comedy legend Eddie Murphy, and real-life pop diva Beyoncé Knowles – all of them directed admirably by Bill Condon. Even before the film was released on Christmas day of 2006, Hudson had all of Hollywood talking about her possibilities as a frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards. And critics – including a certain Simon Cowell who had so easily dismissed her on “Idol” – were blown away by her rendition of the show’s signature theme song, “And I am Telling You I'm Not Going.” At the end of 2006 and into early 2007, the award nominations began rolling in for Hudson, who received a nod—then a surprising win—at the Golden Globe Awards for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, making her the odds-on favorite to win after being nominated for Best Supporting Actress for the 79th Annual Academy Awards. The bet makers were right. A true Cinderella story of the night, Hudson surprised virtually no one by taking home the coveted award.