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HUDSON GETS IT GOING By DAN AQUILANTE April 13, 2009 -- ONCE in a while art trumps tragedy. At least that's the way it seems to have gone for soul idol Jennifer Hudson, who sang a solid yet short concert at the theater in Madison Square Garden Friday night. Her towering voice almost made you forget that last October her mother, brother, and nephew were murdered in Chicago and how the horrific event nearly shattered the singer and her career. Since that tragedy, she has sung the national anthem at the Super Bowl and played the Grammys, but this was her first NYC concert since those killings, and Hudson started on shaky ground. There are A trains with less screech in their wheels than Hudson managed in the cringe-inducing version of "One Night Only." Her nondescript R&B backing band was a little too amped, turning the piece into a total mess. Hudson and her sound men quickly adjusted, and after the initial stumble the music was right on. That was fortunate considering that the set was only a little more than an hour long, punctuated with between-song banter, during which she thanked the fans for their support through her trying times. Hudson is a powerhouse singer, but she isn't the most dynamic performer. She is a novice when it comes to drawing the listener into the music. Still, with the exception of Kelly Clarkson, Hudson is the biggest star to have emerged from the "American Idol" talent competition. While the singer was a weak seventh-place finalist in '04, she has since snagged an Oscar (for "Dreamgirls"), a Grammy and has a respectable record career. At the Garden show, Hudson wasn't about stage presence or vocal gymnastics but, rather, substance. In nearly every song, she was trying to find the soul in the music. Hudson is a serious singer, yet the 27-year-old did manage to have a little fun. She was at her most playful in the syncopated tune "Pocketbook," and she threatened with mock menace to use her purse as a weapon. She hit her peak for emotion and soul-singer passion during the secular gospel of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" (her key song in "Dreamgirls") which she saved as her encore showstopper. |
