Entertainment Weekly

This is from Entertainment Weekly's website. Secondary Roles, First-Rate Performances Has any actress lived through a more dramatic rags-to-revenge scenario than Jennifer Hudson? Booted off American Idol in 2004, Hudson, 25, went low-profile. Around May 2005, she had her first audition for Dreamgirls' Effie, belt-it-out lead singer in a Supremes-style trio who gets kicked out when she proves too zaftig, too fractious, and too ethnic-looking. Twice, Hudson says, she was told she was out of the running, but in November 2005, she got called for a screen test. A week later, she was cast. ''I celebrated for about 10 minutes, and then it hit me,'' she says. ''I needed to focus.'' Now she's celebrating again, with a Golden Globe and great reviews, especially for showstopper, ''And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going.'' No, Simon Cowell, she's not. — Steve Daly Eddie Murphy, Oscar nominee — the phrase has an odd ring. We've seen the 45-year-old disappear into his characters before, but always under heavy makeup and prosthetics in comedies like The Nutty Professor. In Dreamgirls, his challenge was to make the audience forget who he is — no easy feat for a star whose films have grossed $3 billion — while remaining in plain sight. Murphy's performance is deadly serious, plumbing the depths of bitterness and heartache beneath R&B singer James ''Thunder'' Early's surface flash and bravado. These days, comic actors make the shift toward drama when their careers are still young. For Murphy, that transition took decades. But when the moment finally came, he used everything he had, and it was perhaps more than even he himself knew. —Josh Rottenberg Source: Entertainment Weekly

Oprah Oscar Special

Be sure to check out Oprah tomorrow because Jennifer will be on the show. I don't know if she will perform but I am hoping she does. I hope someone will cap it, I know it will end up on youtube. Another pic from the SAG's last night. I love all three of these ladies. Anika and Keith at the PEOPLE party. "Every time she wins I feel a part of it," Robinson tells us. "Like maybe the leg of the SAG guy is mine, or the elbow of the Golden Globe."

SAG Update

Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy won their categories last night. DREAMGIRLS lost the ensemble award to Little Miss Sunshine. Anika, Jamie, Jennifer and Eddie were all there to represent for DREAMGIRLS. Next stop OSCARS! Click here for a list of all the winners.

SAG AWARDS

The SAG Awards are tonight at 8pm Et on TNT. DREAMGIRLS is up for three awards including best performance by a cast in a motion picture, supporting role (female), and supporting role (male). Click here to watch the online preshow that starts at 6:30pm. Click here to watch a video of Anika Noni Rose prepping for the SAG Awards. I love Anika , she is so down to earth. ABC names Jennifer Hudson person of the week. Click here for a great video about it.

DREAMGIRLS Back to Broadway?

Oh, this would be amazing if DREAMGIRLS comes back to Broadway. I would be there opening night. Click here to read an article titled "Dreamgirls Getting Closer to Broadway Revival?" If this works out it would be better than any award Hollywood could ever give the film. And Jennifer Hudson would have first crack at playing Effie.

GIANT MAGAZINE

Oscar Nominee Opens Up In New Magazine Interview In the cover interview for the February/March issue of Giant magazine, Hudson tackles, among other things, the rumored feud with "Dreamgirls" co-star Beyoncé Knowles. “I’m too busy trying to enjoy my blessings to be dwelling in mess. It's not about that. It's supposed to be about enjoying it," Hudson told Giant. "But then again, when something is good, people are always gonna try to find something wrong with it and try to throw a monkey wrench in there somewhere. "We support each other as much as we did on day one," Hudson added. "I mean, come on! That’s Beyoncé! We'd rather see people focus their attention on our work.” Source: NBC and GIANT Mag

Quick News

Brief video of the London premiere. Kate Winslet, Jennifer Hudson And Peter O'Toole Respond To Oscar ... 'Dreamgirls' Oscars snub is unprecedented by Gold Derby Tom O'Neil Never before in Oscar history has the film with the most nominations failed to reap a bid in the best-picture race. ("Dreamgirls" has eight, but not the top one.) A few films have had more noms and didn't get a best-pic bid (nine each for "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in 1977 and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" in 1969), but other movies had more noms. "The Turning Point" topped "Close Encounters" and "Anne of the Thousand Days" had more than "Horses." Source: http://goldderby.latimes.com/ Wake me up from this 'Dreamgirls' nightmare! (scroll down a bit for the article)

TV Alert

Oscar Nominations

We have three song nominations, two acting nominations and a few technical nominations. We get to see the ladies perform that night since all Oscar nominated songs are performed the night of the ceremony. Performance by an actor in a leading role Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson” (THINKFilm) Peter O’Toole in “Venus” (Miramax, Filmfour and UK Council) Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” (Fox Searchlight) Performance by an actor in a supporting role Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight) Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children” (New Line) Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Performance by an actress in a leading role Penélope Cruz in “Volver” (Sony Pictures Classics) Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Helen Mirren in “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox) Kate Winslet in “Little Children” (New Line) Performance by an actress in a supporting role Adriana Barraza in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight) Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Best animated feature film of the year “Cars” (Buena Vista) John Lasseter “Happy Feet” (Warner Bros.) George Miller “Monster House” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Gil Kenan Achievement in art direction “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Art Direction: John Myhre Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh “The Good Shepherd” (Universal) Art Direction: Jeannine OppewallSet Decoration: Gretchen Rau and Leslie E. Rollins “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Art Direction: Eugenio CaballeroSet Decoration: Pilar Revuelta “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista)Art Direction: Rick HeinrichsSet Decoration: Cheryl A. Carasik “The Prestige” (Buena Vista)Art Direction: Nathan CrowleySet Decoration: Julie Ochipinti Achievement in cinematography “The Black Dahlia” (Universal) Vilmos Zsigmond “Children of Men” (Universal) Emmanuel Lubezki “The Illusionist” (Yari Film Group) Dick Pope “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Guillermo Navarro “The Prestige” (Buena Vista) Wally Pfister Achievement in costume design “Curse of the Golden Flower” (Sony Pictures Classics) Yee Chung Man “The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox) Patricia Field “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Sharen Davis “Marie Antoinette” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Milena Canonero “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Consolata Boyle Achievement in directing “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu “The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Stephen Frears “United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal) Paul Greengrass Best documentary feature “Deliver Us from Evil” (Lionsgate)A Disarming Films Production Amy Berg and Frank Donner “An Inconvenient Truth” (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David ProductionDavis Guggenheim “Iraq in Fragments” (Typecast Releasing)A Typecast Pictures/Daylight Factory Production James Longley and John Sinno “Jesus Camp” (Magnolia Pictures)A Loki Films ProductionHeidi Ewing and Rachel Grady “My Country, My Country” (Zeitgeist Films)A Praxis Films Production Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer Best documentary short subject “The Blood of Yingzhou District”A Thomas Lennon Films ProductionRuby Yang and Thomas Lennon “Recycled Life”An Iwerks/Glad Production Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad “Rehearsing a Dream”A Simon & Goodman Picture Company ProductionKaren Goodman and Kirk Simon “Two Hands” A Crazy Boat Pictures Production Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr Achievement in film editing “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Steven Rosenblum “Children of Men” (Universal) Alex Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón “The Departed” (Warner Bros.)Thelma Schoonmaker “United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal) Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson Best foreign language film of the year “After the Wedding” A Zentropa Entertainments 16 ProductionDenmark “Days of Glory (Indigènes)” A Tessalit ProductionAlgeria “The Lives of Others” A Wiedemann & Berg ProductionGermany “Pan’s Labyrinth” A Tequila Gang/Esperanto Filmoj/Estudios Picasso Production Mexico “Water” A Hamilton-Mehta Production Canada Achievement in makeup “Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano “Click” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) David Marti and Montse Ribe Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Gustavo Santaolalla “The Good German” (Warner Bros.) Thomas Newman “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Philip Glass “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Javier Navarrete “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Alexandre Desplat Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) “I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth”(Paramount Classics and Participant Productions) Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge “Listen” from “Dreamgirls”(DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry Krieger and Scott CutlerLyric by Anne Preven “Love You I Do” from “Dreamgirls”(DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry KriegerLyric by Siedah Garrett “Our Town” from “Cars”(Buena Vista)Music and Lyric by Randy Newman “Patience” from “Dreamgirls”(DreamWorks and Paramount)Music by Henry KriegerLyric by Willie Reale Best motion picture of the year “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/Central Films ProductionAlejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers “The Departed” (Warner Bros.)A Warner Bros. Pictures Production Nominees to be determined “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures ProductionClint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)A Big Beach/Bona Fide ProductionNominees to be determined “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)A Granada ProductionAndy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers Best animated short film “The Danish Poet” (National Film Board of Canada)A Mikrofilm and National Film Board of Canada ProductionTorill Kove “Lifted” (Buena Vista)A Pixar Animation Studios Production Gary Rydstrom “The Little Matchgirl” (Buena Vista)A Walt Disney Pictures ProductionRoger Allers and Don Hahn “Maestro” (Szimplafilm)A Kedd ProductionGeza M. Toth “No Time for Nuts” (20th Century Fox)A Blue Sky Studios ProductionChris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier Best live action short film “Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)”A Peliculas Pendelton and Tus Ojos ProductionJavier Fesser and Luis Manso “Éramos Pocos (One Too Many)” (Kimuak)An Altube Filmeak ProductionBorja Cobeaga “Helmer & Son”A Nordisk Film Production Soren Pilmark and Kim Magnusson "The Saviour” (Australian Film Television and Radio School)An Australian Film Television and Radio School ProductionPeter Templeman and Stuart Parkyn “West Bank Story” An Ari Sandel, Pascal Vaguelsy, Amy Kim, Ravi Malhotra and Ashley Jordan ProductionAri Sandel Achievement in sound editing “Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Sean McCormack and Kami Asgar “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Lon Bender “Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount)Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)Alan Robert Murray “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista)Christopher Boyes and George Watters II Achievement in sound mixing “Apocalypto” (Buena Vista)Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Fernando Camara “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ivan Sharrock “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton “Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount) John Reitz, Dave Campbell, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) Paul Massey, Christopher Boyes and Lee Orloff Achievement in visual effects “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista)John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall “Poseidon” (Warner Bros.)Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chaz Jarrett and John Frazier “Superman Returns” (Warner Bros.)Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover and Jon Thum Adapted screenplay “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (20th Century Fox) Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan MazerStory by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips “Children of Men” (Universal)Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby “The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by William Monahan “Little Children” (New Line) Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Patrick Marber Original screenplay “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)Written by Guillermo Arriaga “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)Screenplay by Iris YamashitaStory by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)Written by Michael Arndt “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse)Written by Guillermo del Toro “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)Written by Peter Morgan Update: Dreamgirls got a Best Supporting Actor nod and Best Supporting Actress nod. No best director, or Best pic. Wow. I'm stunned. I'll be back with an official list. The Oscars will be announced live in about ten minutes. I'll update with the nominee list with in the hour. Go DREAMGIRLS!

Dreamgirls London Premiere

Beyonce performs Listen at Watten Das

London premiere of DREAMGIRLS is today.

Dreamgirls Photocall in Germany

Dreamgirls Paris Premiere

The cast of DREAMGIRLS were in Paris today for the premiere of the movie. Anikawas not there but I've heard that she's already shooting another movie in Australia. You can see more pictures at gettyimages.com or beyonceworld.net. DREAMGIRLS is number one at the box office today. Click here for more info. I'm guessing the Golden Globe win helped, also the soundtrack is number 1 for the second week and you can click here to see the list.

Golden Globes

Last night was crazy! Jennifer took home her award, Eddie took home his award, Beyonce was robbed for Best Song (as well as the other writers), and the film won best picture musical/comedy. Overall, it was a good night and as long as we won those three I'm happy. You can watch Golden Globe press videos right here, check out Jennifer, Eddie and the DREAMGIRLS group interview. Some of those "reporters" have the worst questions. Anyway, they all looked great last night and it's off to the Oscars but first there's the SAG's. FYI: Hudson is only the second African American actress to win a Golden Globe in a feature film award. Whoopi Goldberg won twice for 1985's "The Color Purple" and 1990's "Ghost." Watch Jennifer accept her award:

Golden Globes is today!

Today is a big day for DREAMGIRLS, the film has five nominations at the Golden Globes. I will be watching every minute of it to see what happens. You can catch red carpet action starting at 5pm ET on the E! channel and the TV guide channel. I will also post pics of the cast as they arrive, I can't wait to see what everyone will be wearing. The best supporting actresss category is one of the first awards to be given out so make sure you are watching it from the very beginning. Also, if anyone out there could record the DREAMGIRLS segements of the show I would appreciate it. I'm sure it will be on youttube but I'm putting the request out there. Jamie Foxx will be introducing the DREAMGIRLS clip and I heard he's flying in from Paris to do it. Here are a couple links you can check for information and discussion on presenters, nominees, and the show: Golden Globes official site The Envelope (They have a great forum for Golden Globes discussion through out the day)

Jake Gyllenhaal does Dreamgirls

You must watch this video. It's from this weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live. Jake Gyllenhaal sings "And I am Telling You," and it's the funniest shit ever.

12th Annual Critics Choice Awards

Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson both took home the awards in the supporting acting categories. DREAMGIRLS also picked up best soundtrack and best song for "Listen." Source

The Dreams

Oh the wonders of youtube. Don't know how long this will be up but here's the DREAMGIRLS musical number from the film. Get it while it's hot.

Good Morning!

News: "Dreamgirls," "Chris" Top Image Award Nods (CBS) "Dreamgirls" Gets Costume Designers Guild Nomination (playbill.com) And I'm telling you, 'Dreamgirls' is going wider (USA Today) Watch Jennifer Hudson on The View

Quick News...

-Dreamgirls Soundtrack (single disc) is #1 this week on the Billboard top 200 album chart. -"Listen" is the the #1 most played video on MTV -Dreamgirls Soundtrack is # 4 (single) and #10 (double) on i tunes. -Dreamgirls Soundtrack is#4 (double disc) #8 (single disc) at Amazon. com Congratulations to Bill Condon on his Director's Guild Nomination. Click here for a list of nominees. Jennifer Hudson appeared and performed on the David Letterman show. Watch the performance below. Get it girl!

New Dreamgirls Video

According to FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman, Bill Condon will be directing a new music video for "And I am Telling You." Here's an excerpt from the article: “Dreamgirls” director Bill Condon is getting ready to shoot a new video of Jennifer Hudson singing “And I Am Telling You …” Condon told me last night at the New York Film Critics’ awards ceremony that the video will be completely unlike “Dreamgirls” but made to attract even more of an audience for the hit film musical." To read the full article click here. I can't wait to see how it turns out. For Your Consideration:

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

Jennifer Hudson attended the 72nd Annual New York Film Critics Circle Awards Gala last night. She won the award for Best Supporting actress. She will also be on the talk show The View today at 11am ET. For Your Consideration:

SAG AWARDS

Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson were nominated in the supporting role categories and the whole cast was also nominated in the outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture category. Congrats to the whole cast. Click here for the full list of nominees. Update: Catch Jennifer's interview and performance from Good Morning America. Click here.

Quick News

Jennifer Hudson performs to a sold out crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NY last week. Here's video of her "One Night Only" performance. Headlines: Reviewing the Reviews: 'Dreamgirls' Beyonce Disqualified for Oscar Songwriting Category? Source: Thanks concreteloop for the pics.

Happy New Year!

Hey everyone, things have been kind of slow but that's because I'm in the middle of moving. So it will be slow for the next week but I will do my best to update when I get a chance. We have a lot to look foward to, the movie still has to expand, we have the Golden Globe awards on the 15th on January, and Oscar nominations will be announced at the end of the month. So be patient and I'll have everything back on track once I'm settled. Please if you get any info you want to share leave it in the comments box so when I do updates I'll post it.