JENNIFER HUDSON SINGS FOR THE PRESIDENT

JENNIFER HUDSON TO STAR IN WINNIE MANDELA BIOPIC

Jennifer Hudson is set to star in “Winnie,” a drama that casts her as the former wife of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela.

Hudson will play Winnie Mandela in a film that begins production May 30 in the South African locations of Johannesburg, Capt Town, Transkei and Robben Island, where the future president spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.

“Winnie” will be directed by Darrell J. Roodt, the veteran South African filmmaker whose 2006 film “Yesterday” was Africa’s Best Foreign Film nominee, and who also directed “Cry, The Beloved Country,” and “Sarafina!”

Andre Pieterse, Roodt and Paul L. Johnson wrote a script based on the Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob biography “Winnie Mandela:A Life.” Picture is being made with South African and Canadian money, with Pieterse producing with Michael Mosca of Canada’s Equinoxe Films.

While Nelson Mandela — who’ll be played by Morgan Freeman in the Clint Eastwood-directed “Invictus” — is a universally sympathetic figure for his struggle against apartheid, his former wife is a far more complicated figure. She has been depicted as the mother and wife who was a steadfast supporter of her activist husband and who was jailed herself for campaigning for his release and fighting against apartheid. Her image was subsequently tarnished by association with a bodyguard who murdered a 14-year old alleged informer, and she was later convicted of fraud.

The filmmakers will tell the whole story, good and bad.

“I was compelled and moved when I read the script,” Hudson said. “Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I’m honored to be the actress asked to portray her. This is a powerful part of history that should be told.”

Hudson, who is expected to sing the film’s theme song, won the Oscar for her screen debut in “Dreamgirls’ and followed with “The Secret Life of Bees” and “Sex in the City.”

SOURCE

FIRST PIC OF JENNIFER HUDSON'S BABY BOY!

Jennifer Hudson has released a photo of her cute baby boy, David – named after her fiancé, David Otunga. What a surprise for us? Jen and David kept mum about the whole pregnancy so it's a pleasant shock that she released a pic. Check out the interview that Jennifer gave to PEOPLE.com talking about her beautiful bundle of Joy!

IT'S A BOY!

Oscar and Grammy Winner, Jennifer Hudson gave birth to a baby boy, David Daniel Otunga, Jr., on Monday, her publicist confirmed. The baby is named after the singer's fiance and weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces.
"The baby is beautiful and perfect," Hudson's rep said in a statement. "His parents are ecstatic."
Hudson did not publicly announce her pregnancy. Rumors began to circulate that she was expecting earlier this year when she appeared to be showing on her inaugural tour of the U.S.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the proud parents did not find out the sex of the baby in advance, so they were prepared with pink and blue clothes just in case. Hudson reportedly prepared for the birth with a baby shower in her native Chicago in May. Hudson appeared visibly pregnant last month when she performed at the memorial service for Michael Jackson.
A possible reason for the silence, the Reporter speculated, was partially due to a desire for privacy, but also perhaps superstition in the wake of the family tragedy she suffered in October, when her mother, brother and nephew were murdered in Chicago. The child was reportedly conceived a short time after the murders.
The estranged husband of Hudson's sister, William Balfour, has been charged in the murders and is awaiting trial.

Source: MTV

REMEMBERING MICHAEL JACKSON

I will always remember MJ in song, pictures and my own memories of what his life meant to me. Enjoy some pictures from his Memorial Celebration of his life and legacy.

Photo Credit: Zimbio

MJ's beautiful casket

The 20+ car motorcade

Joe Jackson and Jackie Jackson

Janet, Paris and Blanket (MJ's kids) and LeToya Jackson

Jennifer Hudson singing "Will You Be There"

Katherine and Paris Jackson

Usher singing "Gone Too Soon"

Usher and LeToya Jackson hugging an emotional Usher

Magic Johnson and Miko Brando (Marlon Brando's son)
Joel Madden, Nicole Ritchie and Lionel Richie

Motown Founder, Berry Gordy

The Kardashian Family

Rev. Jesse Jackson and Boxing Promoter Don King

Corey Feldman

Usher, Magic Johnson and Wesley Snipes

Brooke Shields, Magic Johnson, Jennifer Hudson and Usher

Usher, Suzanne DePasse and Magic Johnson

Queen Latifah, Martin Luther King III and Brooke Shields