orchestras have strong union game I tell you I've been in situations with orchestras before where it's like okay we're going to do one take and they start with a SL swell and then they all just like and walk you're like what the hell like in any other industry you'd finish the surgery and they like no man now just leave on the table I've got union
break it's really [Music] admirable you know it's a time of season where a lot of emotions get covered in a very small amount of time yes you know it's like hey I haven't seen you for a year I know we're family how was your year that sounds disastrous are you good okay bye see you next year that's a good way to put it kind of
rough at times right it can be a lot but we need good music to bring us together and to give us a chance to uh to reconnect and to not talk and you've given us another beautiful reason for us not to talk to each other oh goodness I was hoping it would bring everybody together I'm joking I'm going to put this album on and we're not going to
talk for 15 minutes we're going to sing Oh I like that too now the reason I said that was you've you've really brought an enormous amount of those emotions into a really beautifully collected and curated um you know album at this at this important time of year and Jennifer Hudson extra special for us to say hello
and happy holidays to you how are you thank you so much for that happy holidays nice to see you happy to be seen thank you for having me of course how are you feeling right now in uh at this moment as we as we near as we near Christmas and the holidays for people how's it how do you feel I'm always excited I love this season I feel like
no matter what's going on somehow it's like this sprinkle of of Hope does that sound cheesy no oh by the way this the season to be cheesy I mean this is where all the cheese is on the table Christmas it is you know so and then it it's a warm feeling it's my favorite favorite time of year same it's weird I you know I used to I don't know I had
complicated Christmases when I was a kid and then as I've gotten older and became a parent I I lean in and I really love it and I love the cheese and I and I love making the playlists and and just get prepared yes that's that's where the magic is and the preparation for it and the season of it I literally just
realized the other day that the holiday season is like December 1st to December 25th that is not long okay no no no I think I think to be fair some Fanatics like myself and perhaps yourself we started a little earlier than that I do which is why I'm just I'm like wait a minute oh my God it's only from the first to the 25th for me it starts uh
November 1st all the way into uh maybe January the family must love it I mean it you know I I think we try to lead by example and when you lean into an experience with excitement like that ahead of schedule even though as you as your kid gets older he'll probably roll his eyes about it well he loves it and
he is getting older but he's he's right there with he's there with you he named the album yes he did he called it the gift of love that is an incredibly self-aware and thoughtful title how old is your is your son he's 15 he's 15 okay even more so cuz at 15 you ain't thinking about gifts or love you're just like where's tyly album where is my
where's my gaming where are my friends yes but he is he loves the holidays so that's what made it even extra fun creating the album because it kind of made it like now a new um holiday memory for us we watched Christmas movies as I Was preparing for the holiday album and I was like we were trying to see like how are Christmas how is Christmas music
used in Holiday films you know we would like the fireplace so he was kind of an andring it almost with you is he really was yeah yeah yeah you haven't cut him in on any backhand or percentages at all not no no not yet but he's getting there you know so he loves music and he loves the holidays that's beautiful it's
amazing and really nice thing exercise like you say to be able to to do that with with someone that you love for the most part in your life you know um you know you you share everything with your son but to be able to share that experience and to be able to say hey this is my job it's what I love to do yes amazing yes that that's that's the
gift so that's the gift of love you and that's what we do in our family you know we love being together and we love singing talking all of those good things it's so nice to see you and um you know you've had an incredible year as per usual I mean I feel like every time you show up now whatever you apply yourself
to whatever you are deliberate about um you give everything to yes and so when you look back on a year like this year how do you where do you give yourself credit this year H that's a good question well the year isn't over so once once it comes to like the end of it then I'll reflect and say huh did I live it to its fullest you know and what
can I do for the next year to come um but it's been so many things this year I haven't had a chance to say what was my favorite part some days I do that where I'm like I reflect back on the day and say oo my favorite part was so I have to I have yet to do that for 2024 it's a big question and look I mean I think a hug question but I think also
you gave a beautiful answer and that you choose moments to do that too as opposed to wait for the end of the year to do it on one go that being present and grateful in those times when you know you're doing something that is extraordinary yeah in your day-to-day is a special thing that's how I like to live when did you first discover the
power of the present that is a another great question um I don't know if I really fully have I just know I try to be present in every moment and I think it's the the thing is living each moment to the fullest yeah as a young girl I used to say you know I want to do what I love because when I get older then I'll I would be able to say I live my youth
the way that I wanted to so I don't mind growing older I I feel I guess it came early in life for me you know so each and everything you know I try to do it with purpose and I never been the kind to do anything in vain you know and if I'm going to do something oh it's going to get done you're all in I'm all in you
know I really ad artists and people in the creative industry in particular cuz that's what I love um who are very deliberate like I said and when you show up you really show up so let me ask you a question that that I'm really fascinated by like how do you accept when things come up a little short to your expectations like how do you manage
that and learn from that I don't want to use the word failure because any attempt is in contrast to the idea of failure yeah but I know how high your standards are for yourself you know what I always at is just trying you know um and that's I've been blessed to achieve so many things but I I don't believe there's anything such thing as like failing or
um yeah yeah or a negative because in everything there's a lesson and that that's a plus to learn something because It prepares you for the next so I have a saying nothing is just you know and when you look back it'll make more sense to why oh that didn't work out but because of that look at what I got to do or what
I learn from it and it made me that much better so it to me it's still a positive but it takes me to what my mother used to say no matter how negative things are Jenny what I love about you is you always seem to find the positive that's beautiful what a great observation for a parent to share especially to a child
who's young and looking to build their identity that goes straight in the identity file doesn't it of like wow okay I can find a positive in these things yes and it tees you up beautifully to make an album like this but also if I can digress just briefly and talk a little bit about your year in television too which is just another
successful you know um extension of what you've been doing bringing people Joy through your show interesting kind of Creative Evolution there because when you make an album you apply yourself then you release it to some degree I'd imagine like most artists you have to let it go yes but with this you're watching this show grow and find its
audience and find its personality and its hits in real time you know like oh the spirit Hall that's a thing Spirit tunnel sorry than Spirit than that's a thing right and so you you're constantly figuring out as you're going through like this show is kind of a constant album progress is it is it a different
creative angle for you I like that you called it an album it is it is but that yet is another something I was like I'll try you know and I'm three seasons in of trying you know but I love the evolution of it that it keeps growing I love progress you know what I mean and I like to remind myself and all of us when we're working like we're living life
through this so a lot of things is a response to living and what's happening in the now that's so true whenever you do shows like that I can imagine it's the closest thing to being in the present at work because it's similar to being on stage because it's like I'm dealing with real human beings going through real things my job is to
navigate that and provide that for the for the people what have you learned in doing the show that you didn't know before so many things you know obviously I'm learning a talk show world as I'm still I still am because it's the most foreign thing to myself and what I do I sing you know and then somehow acted and now I'm like okay now talking what would
I say you know I'm I'm I'm an energy person person and and the energy the give and take between like hosts and the audience that type of connection is so different I think from singing and relating I remember when I first started the show I'm like okay why are they so quiet you know and it's like where as if I was
singing There's an Applause there's a reaction you know but if you're talking I'm like it used to make me nervous like why are they quiet Jennifer they're listening they're listening you know what I mean listening is a strange thing when you're faced with the idea of people listening to you really listening to you yes or you needing to really
listen to people it's such a discipline that is the key listening to people you know and then the the story everything has a story you know what I mean and to be able to go on that journey by interviewing someone and hearing their story it makes me that much more curious about life and I'm the kind when I hear something I want to do that I want to
experience that what is that like yeah so that dream the dreaming never stops because I I get to learn and and get so much Insight on so many different things and perspectives wow Jennifer you've landed on the key components that I think are most important in three years it took me 25 years to figure out what I
really loved about it yeah CU I loved doing it and I still love doing it but it was only in the last five to six years that I realized that the story isn't everything the curiosity is the driving force and that's what leads to the next desire to want to have the next experience those you just beautifully summed up I want to write that down
while you just came up with yeah you pointed it out I'm always listening see even in these moments is like what can I learn what can I take away you know how can I grow so let's talk a little bit about the gift of love and um you know you started with a with a what I would consider to be one of the most perfect songs ever written
hallelujah it's just incredible song um so perfect and and it is a Christmas song even though it doesn't really speak necessarily with the same clarity as some other Christmas songs so I'm going to ask you the same question I've been lucky enough to ask a couple of people who have covered this song What did you love about recording a song so hallowed
and so perfect and it's in its origin first it is my favorite song and my favorite song to sing and as I always say right before I sing it it brings to me so much peace and I hope it does the same for others when I sing it you know or perform it or whatever and so that is the thing that to me is the gift of that
song it's just like this in the beginning with the who's to me that's the Heaven's call you know and I know people have different uh their different meanings of the song and I'm like well you can't tell me what my Hallelujah is for that's what's so beautiful about it is it's so spiritually adaptable yeah yes exactly and we all have our own
interpretation of things and so I don't know it's like a there's something in it that's intangible right yes yeah and and it's a song that forever evolves I I mean it just takes a life on its own each and every time and when I recorded it I'm like I wanted it to have this the live feel to it and and and where you feel like you're almost in the space
with it or it's it's breathing and growing in that moment you know I wanted to feel authentic it is a beautiful and authentic version of a wonderful song and I can imagine that when you're working with a song where the structure is so malleable MH you know little jum boy you can make your own structure out of it but there's there's Rhythm and
Dynamics to yes Hallelujah you are being led by spirit and feeling you better tell it yes and so how do you know when it's the one for you someone who holds yourself at the highest level in terms of finding authentic performance working with a song that is not defined by any structure C can you find some words to describe how we even
get to hear this version in recorded form and how you knew it was the one that you were happy with I got to go back to what AA would say it's in the feeling you it's like you feel it you know and when we got ready to do the song it was like who's going to do it um originally David Foster was supposed to every producer was assign certain songs
and he was going to do Hallelujah and then he had his idea of what it should be and then I'm like but this is my Arrangement yeah and it it needs to stick to this base yeah and he's like H well maybe I'm not the producer for it so beautiful right and it's like we both respect that let's be growing UPS about
that yeah let's be grown ups about it and it turned out to be Greg filling gang and he totally understood as the kids say the assignment with it and so we we like you know I gave him my my blueprint of the song and then he started to put it together his idea with it and it's like okay we'll add a little more to it although I was fine with it
as I gave it to him originally but okay it's Christmas so let's do a little bit more with the song and give it the bells and the whistles let's give it the gift of love for the holiday let's give it the gift of love but once he sent me his his his take from it yeah like his idea of what I sent him I was like this
feels right and then when we recorded the song he was I don't know what country he was in and it was over Zoom but he was very present and we were in the studio and it was and my Hudson Nets my backup sers is who I call them the Hudson Nets and myself we did it the way we do it always the way we always do it live and you know we stood there and we
sang the song I'm in the booth and they're out there and once it was done and Greg knew this Greg and Greg Greg and David knew this was the most important song to me I was like without this song there would be no holiday album so Greg was like I got to get this right how do you feel and once he sent me back the recording of it I was like
wow this is it it's right emotional yes it it like I don't know it's a feeling it's like I just I could feel it and I was like that's it how can you not believe in magic when something like that happens when you listen to something you've been so inst mentally involved in creating from nothing to something and yet you're still able to
find Space away from the experience to feel it like we do I think that's got to be the closest thing to God in the Arts isn't it when you get to feel away from yourself I I believe that and and that to me is like when you're singing a song or performing and you surprise yourself versus knowing what's GNA happen it's
like when I'm like the people like what what happened or that something else has taken over you know to me and that's what I like to lead with or allow to happen allowing it to happen it's beautiful ah Jennifer Hudson I'm having such a good conversation with you already um to go from Hallelujah into into um you know some well-loved Christmas songs of
course interpreted and performed your way but then making way I think and I say that very deliberately for original songs to add to the Christmas song book yes we looked this up the other day estimat 10,000 original Christmas songs have been created but more but people estimate it's to 45,000 which is a lot of Christmas songs
that is a fun fact okay that's a fun fact wow that's a fun fact and you just and you just added five now to that list which is really generous a lot of people when they're coming up with an original Christmas song It's a challenge because it's like okay there are things here that make sense in the in the holiday spirit sounds feelings emotions images
ideas how do we make it feel new how do we make it feel like a new feeling not like the one we felt last Christmas so was that the driving force behind kind of writing these songs was like I just want to find a new way in to something the whole world gets to experience once a year what I want to say to that which kind of speaks to the whole album is
perspective like last Christmas was the first Christmas I ever traveled outside of my home wow where'd you go uh Florida I went to Florida and as I was going through the airport I'm all Jolly and I'm saying Merry Christmas to everyone you know and every body's grumpy and I'm like what's wrong with everybody and one
of the greets is like well I don't get to spend Christmas you know enjoy Christmas because I don't get off of work to yeah 11 12 and I was like wow yeah some people do have to work it's complicated some people don't get to sit by the fireplace and sit with the family you know it's different perspectives so I'm standing it to say like I wanted to
tap into all of those things like we all have to go through the holiday season whether you celebrate it or not you know and it's like well where is your song you know what about like Sant for some one for example um my assistant hates Christmas and I was like why you hate Christmas he's like because then you got
to get the gifts for everybody and then you ain't got time and then I was like well where is that song is your assistant out there yes he is I'm going to drop you can't hear it cuz you haven't got headphones on but every now and then when someone comes through with a real good one I got to drop a bomb on it it's for your assistant right there
who hates Christmas and and so each song I'm sing to say The Originals came from a some type typ of perspective be for someone's going through the holiday season uh go tell her on the mountain the MERS yeah like well I know what it's like to have lost loved ones and then you got to go through the holiday season so where's
their song what do they listen to Hip Hop Jingle Bells what is my brother and the uncle's listen they ain't listen to no Christmas songs so let me give you a little Bop you know what I mean so each song or um find the love which is an original it's a song to me it's not even just for Christmas I was going to say
That's a classic that's a copyrighted yes any season yes exactly I'm so happy to hear you said that oh I heard that I first I was like oh oh you could take a few elements out of this and it just say any time of any year at any point in time cuz and it's a song that maybe I love that you knew that I love I said that you was just like a yeah I know
that I know that that's said thank you for confirming it um but that song it speaks for itself you know and it to me it centers everything and it's it's it can go around and that's it goes ties into the name the album the gift of love it could have been like the Christmas gift but the gift of love is not just for Christmas it's for all times and
that song is too you see I'm saying it doesn't have to just live during the holidays it's very true it it's it's something we can carry with us as a as a and again absolute props to your son for coming up with the title because it is just a very beautiful even just the name is a beautiful addition to this imagery
and idea of what we try to achieve this time of year but it is really tough it is a tough time of year and there are times that you really miss people and miss and it's also time to reflect on the missed opportunities and just missed things yes um through the spirit of of the of the holiday that you try to create and and inevitably create for
your family have you felt those experience have you had those tough Christmases those tough times oh my God yes oh yeah and you know every form but I think we all have and um I'm a human first you know we all we're all living life and that's what I like to acknowledge and respond to yeah and so again that's where like um The Originals
those songs or what tap into or or make it to Christmas it's like think about it a whole year long feel like 400 days a year and I just get there we're working and it's like if I could just when I get home you know what I mean it's speaking to that you know it's so real are um yeah so everything is is a response to
real life there's a song called almost Christmas on here with a brilliant artist one of my favorite um artist Chicago's icon yes he's a goat he's the legend yes he is and we could talk about him we can leave all that other stuff to one side but we can reflect and talk about how brilliant he is and what what how great it is to have his voice on
this record how iconic it is when he starts it listen the legendary I call him king of words he yes he really is the king of words we were on the phone and it's a I think I Was preparing for the album and I was sighting towards the Night Before Christmas he was half asleep okay all through the house and then I was sudden
he like tce the Night Before Christmas me that draw that Chicago s thing he does you know T the night before Christmas and he's like Jennifer's running her mouth and then it kept flooring and Flo and I was like hey wait a minute and I was like right I forgot who I was talking this could go one of two ways right this could either be bad news
for you or you could let me have it on my album and then it's good news for both of us but it gave me a big old braid idea I was like oh my God this would be amazing if you took like a toyss the Night Before Christmas yeah and freestyled it or flipped it from your perspective and then he came up then coming came with there's a difference
between Rashid and com okay the the the the the the legendary artist popped out and he like yo it got to be this and that and then he turned it into this Grand thing it's beautiful and it's it's it's amazing and then he's like I thought I was done with the album he like okay now you're going to sing this part I was like you're putting me back
in the studio okay m i there's one person who has that pass and that is you but it it it turned out so beautiful and then also like I'm I love the holidays and I love Christmas albums and I don't hear many with like the storytelling think about the stories we tell our children when they're little The Christmas Stories so
where is that that art form on the holiday album that's why I love Christmas and holla so much is cuz it's an original story in a way that when I was and my friends that was the thing we wanted our parents to put on see exactly see so it's like where is that element you know where we could tell the kids stories and then it's personalized to us
being Chicagoans and you know our stories the cats and the kids and the you know I mean all of that he's so he's so cool too and and I'm very respectful of privacy you should know that and I respect that you know relationships that those are your boundaries but I I just love him and I just think he's like such
a such a strong voice in the arts and shows up in all the right ways yes he does you're very right yeah Jennifer Hudson is with us right now and we're talking through this beautiful album The Gift of Love um it will be on in many households all around the world that's my Christmas wish yeah and it's a beautiful wish it's it's it's a gift for
others but I know a lot of Jennifer Hudson fans are sitting there're going that's great now we need to talk a little bit about where you are and your creative Spirit as as you because you've been very generous to us through um the filter of of amazing storytelling ARA contributed something really powerful to the color of purple giving
us wonderful stories this Christmas but it's been some some time since you've told us your story and I and I I I wondered like and it's not a pressurized question it's a genuine question from a fan where your spirit is with regards to your inner voice and how close you are to telling a new Jennifer Hudson that's exactly what I want to do you know I
feel as though like being an artist which is another conversation I had with m the coming is like to me I always say there's a difference between an artist and a vocalist I've been a vocalist as far as I'm concerned my entire career and that means okay Jennifer you sing these words and it's like well what
about my story using my voice telling to tell my story and that's what this chapter is about for me it's so good to hear and it's so interesting you make a really valid observation there but I still don't see you as that I see you as a Storyteller cuz you're so good thank you at capturing those performances and making them personal and your own
authentic yeah so are you any closer to being able to describe what that feeling is like knowing that you're on the verge of a new chapter of your life where we get to understand you better as a person and not just as a performer you know I think it would take time for me to spend time with me to be able to better answer those questions um
but uh because that would take reflecting you know to say what to share what it is I want to say yeah and also how to say it as far as creatively um I feel like I had a great warmup doing the holiday album and it's inspired me to want to hop into the Jennifer Hudson of it all in that way um but it is time for me to have uh uh I
guess that's my turn and my uh an honest conversation with yourself yes to you know like and I've lived a lot of life like I always say I've seen the highest of the highs the lowest of the lows and everything in between where do I start is the question you know what I mean hard hard question where do you start yeah the Jennifer Hudson of all so
interesting because we often we appreciate and accept these gifts that artists give us and we forget that with the process of doing that there is a whole other identity work going on here mhm which is like we see you as the Jennifer Hudson of it all yes you're trying to create a life for yourself around that correct yes so you have to
take a big deep breath before you come out and talk to me and do this in a way because it's the Jennifer Hudson of it all yeah yeah you know cuz a thing everything has been you know back to back to back to back to back and it's like half the time I did that I did I was I am like where was I where did I what did I do you know so I have to know
you know where my feet are planted to be able to say yeah and you're going fast it goes so fast it's going fast you've achieved so much I mean how do you feel when people mention that you got is it a is it a I'm sure you're grateful and proud of that but it's also one of those things where it's such rare air that for people to bring
it up I wonder if there's other connotations for you that come along with the ride apart from just like you're an egot it's like yes but that means other things to me yeah yes you're very right um it even took me a minute to realize like oh yeah I am you know and you got and wait what does that mean what does that mean yeah because I
do everything for the love of Love of and it just even when I won I was there to support the strange Loop cast just as a producer supporting them and when they said you know they won the Tony I'm cheering for them and they started chanting egot and I was that's so crazy oh that's so crazy wow it didn't even register you're about to
levitate up to level of Consciousness never before seen except by the other egots like Ot Ot like and There She Goes ascending to the egot of like what does that even mean right like and then what does that mean and then I I mean I'm grateful for everything I been bless to aieve but sometimes people dream up
dreams for you I as a kid I dreamed of winning a Grammy and singing I went in an Oscar first and then a Grammy yeah and then everybody's like okay e got and I'm like what's that what is that yeah what is that what is that you just call me right like what's an OT she could she's halfway to an OT okay and then and and and this this Ram like you know
people will dream up dreams for you so it's like okay well maybe one day I will achieve that but I already got what I wanted which was the work right to do the work which was to do the work and then to win a Grammy yeah which I I got to do right behind time winning an Oscar um and even with that I just wanted to get my allance right and make the
director proud who gave me the opportunity which is what I mean by you know trying I was like always say you would always see me try even with the talk show I'm like okay you know what I'm just crazy enough to try you know what I'll try now we're three seasons yeah that's a hit it's a blessing so let's let's take the ego out of egot
then and let's let's let's talk a little bit about what life is like when you achieve things um way ahead of schedule that you never dreamed you could achieve and when your feet do get planted on the ground and you like where you stand what is important to you being human first you know my mother used to say I um I I'm
proud of you and all the awards you may have you have and the things you've done but what I love most is how you treat everybody and the human and the person that you are I love the person so that is the most important thing to me you know um and if I if my gifts can help bring people together and and make a difference but what's the point of it if
we're not doing something worth something to make a difference beautiful answer thank you it's really hard I think for people who have a gift and a desire to try to bring people together M and make a difference um to realize that um it's it's probably work that's going to happen long after our lifetime and it's going to NE and the work's never
going to end um on that level so how do you keep perspective in this in this business when it comes to setting goals go for yourself and realizing that you know it's not just about the OT and all those other things like what is the life's work what is it what is it to you really well I mean I'm a spiritual girl
I come from the church and I feel like you know long as I'm doing God's will um and know that it's a GI for a reason that's not for you you know it's for to give you know yeah and I was singing for something not too long ago I think it was a wonderful world and I that's one of my favorite songs and I was like but
I'm never going to sing this after I'm done singing it for who I'm singing it for and I'm like why don't you sing a song for yourself why don't we do that as artist lift your own Spirits you know I mean put yourself on your own program sing to you you you're walking around with your own gift yes but it's not for me you know and with that as they say
heavy is the head that bears the crown you know when you do as we say in the church have a calling to do though use that gift is you know it's a lot of work you know and and it's something I feel like me and rash was just talking about this the other it's something in you even when you like I'm tired I don't
want to do this anymore that just won't let you you just keep going even when you maybe tired or discouraged things didn't go the way you want it to go or you know or even when the world takes it away and it's like oh it's this big thing and you're like what's the big deal you know I mean beautiful you get to share that OB obervation with someone
who understands yes and I think that one of the things that I I really try to promote in conversation with with artists is to speak on with the fan in mind so that we can better understand what's really truly important to the artist because I think we still get confused and think it's a bit of a trade you give me somethingone I love and I
pay you for it or not is the case maybe and then I get all this access and you become this thing that's kind of on call and I just don't think it's healthy no I I agree with that I think it's healthy I think I think boundaries are healthy and we should promote boundaries that's a great Point yes because you know you
don't want to get srack from what your goals may be or your dreams you know or yeah so I I I I agree with that can you help me explain that a little bit better from a personal point of view by explaining that in your experience so far from a young age and having such great success and still doing what you love to do what you love about the
relationship with your fans the most so that we can focus on that and try to promote that aspect of it and because I think it gets confused I think I think we all get very confused about what we have access to what we do not I feel like they're extended family you know that is the support that keeps you going even when you know again like
I said when it's times it's like okay I'm good oh Lord they won't you know you know they keep you moving forward you know and there's different forms of fans and fortunately I guess for me it's built up in many different ways but they remind you of who you are and what you know I think that's probably the biggest
thing and I'm the kind I used to when I growing up singing I used to say I want to know who my fans are like how they want to know who we are as artists well I want to know who you are too like why what what what what do you see in me that you want to support me and even when I do the talk show I say you don't have to be here so thank you for taking
time out of your day you know cuz I I see them kind of sort of how they see me I think you know in a way where is it is a give and take there where it's like but mine may be in a slightly different way whereas I'm only one person where it's a bunch of but you're right there's an honest reflection there yeah there's
an honest reflection there being artists I guess is our way of being there for them the way they're there for us that's awesome um Jennifer Hudson this album uh the gift of love I want to ask you now some fun questions what was the what was the most fun song for you to sing on this record oo probably Santa for someone was the funnest song why
what was going on that day oh because listen I'm an actress too okay so saying um it was my subtext to act it out like okay the list is expensive oh my God it's way too expensive I got to buy these toys and these gifts and so I was kind of going into a character so the notes are not notes it's an expression it's like the gifts is is it
Christmas is it time so being I'm getting stressed out right now you're just acting it out I'm like man I got to do my shopping there you go so that's why that was although little drama boy I love the little clips that we filmed throughout the process to have the Hamil tones I got to give them a special shout out cuz I was like this need a certain sound and
the way they came in and that was the the music fan within me to be able to sit there because you know as singers we're always in the booth well I get to sit out yeah produ it to be in there while they were singing or the joy it felt it almost felt like a making of what I would imagine making the movie Sister Act was like creating this album
it was insane and then the scariest was that oang Zion because it was a 42 piece live Orchestra there and I've sang with a lot of orchestras but hit different in this in the in the studio let me ask you why I'm pretty sure I know the answer but for people who don't aren't too invested in the creative process why did
you want to be in the room with the orchestra at the time and capture it like that I love real things I love when it can breathe and be present and the conductor is there authentic it was so authentic it was scary powerful too when you have that much energy I've felt this in rooms with Orchestra before it's an emotional experience it is yeah really
crazy it was a completely different experience in that space for some reason I was like I was I with orchestras but this is I talk myself out of it several times and imagine having Greg fing gang like okay this is the part all right and I'm like H do it okay Jennifer close your eyes and do what you do just sing he's looking at
the watch too cuz I tell you what orchestras have strong union game I tell you I've been in situations with orchestras before where it's like okay we're going to do one take and they start with a SL swell and then they all just like I get and walk you're like what the hell like in any other industry you'd finish the surgery and they're like n man now
just leave him on the table I've got union break it's really admirable like it's the equivalent of me in conversation right now as we talk about life I'd like to ask you a question about I'll be back in I was like he's leaving question just it's just like what breaking okay like seriously like don't take it personal is what we do
it's what they do but you know worth waiting for it is it is you've sung in some of the most remarkable occasions and events and and put yourself in some pretty lofty experiences and and overachieved every single time more than delivered every single time can I ask you um is there a commonality to how you
prepare for such things is there a way that you get yourself over the line and into a place where you know that you can at least try this let alone achieve it is there is there something you tell yourself or a way to do it what I do like to do is much preparing as I possibly can but then I I like to leave a little space for me to be able to
surprise myself in those moments I love that um that's important to me like I want to know it fully but no I like a little realness to it let it let it have let's see what's going to happen yeah yeah I want to be surprised back yourself because you know we want to be entertained too as performers and it's a lot of times when I'm right in the wings
and I think I'm ready but something about the being in the wings to the stage where it's where you talk yourself out of everything I remember over the pandemic I learned and then I ended up having to sing it in Italy for the first and I'm like in Italy y'all really why would you do me like this oh man sit the B High
what and it's like Jennifer trust the teaching just go for it or or unre belli is when we did the New York something uh the opening of when it opened back up the park or something and I was on program to sing n and I'm like butre jelly y'all don't need me to do this you know what I had talk myself you go sing I'm going go and it's like you're
freaking out in the wings so that's part of process he wants to see what you you or how you're going to sing it oh my goodness cuz he knows how he sings it yeah like you say entertainers want to be surprised too they you know and entertained and entertained and learn something new yeah but you know it can still be Nerf wrecking so I think being
nervous is a part of the process when I'm not then I think we all say that when we're not then that's that's that makes me nervous that I'm not nervous and I'm like Lord what's going to happen I need to find the Jennifer Hudson of it all yeah yeah and then just allow myself to feel whatever it is I feel in that moment and use it don't be afraid if
it's a tear it's a tear if it's in rehearsals everything falls apart and they be like okay she's really in it's like uh no I'm I'm not like afraid I am passionate that's what you see or sense and want to get it all right like okay I like everything to fall apart do everything full cuz they're like so you think you at the
show you're going to do everything full out and rehears yes I am because this way we get to see what's going to happen how the cookie is going to crumble and if we make a mistake we'll know how to pick it back up so we can go live when we need to and we can come back how we need to and you know what I mean if
something goes wrong so if you do it full out then that's when you going to know it's amazing I love the idea of a conscious destruction in in order to prepare yeah for the right situation yes sadly our time has come to an end but I have one more question for you um and it's based on the most common word in this conversation which I'm really
happy to say is feeling which is where it all all sits for me and so I'm going to ask you um about what is the feeling when you are in a moment when you're singing a song and nothing else is around you and you're just lost in that experience and it's you and your gift and and God's spirit running through you and you know you're
there have you ever truly finished come out of that experience with a better understanding what that feels like that just happened to me in rehearsal for the um Holiday Tour it's it's like suspended into the absolute best place and space that I only feel I'm in and I I can't even pinpoint or no when it's going to happen but when
I'm there I'm like that's it and I was able to identify it when I was just in rehearsal you know the other day and I was like I don't want to leave this place and it is like a suspension it's like a floating it's like a I don't know a godliness to it but it's a it's a feeling of the most I don't think there's nothing on this
Earth that can match it it come near it but it only comes when it comes Jennifer Hudson have a wonderful holiday break and good luck with these shows that are forthcoming thank you for this album and more and more importantly for me thank you for taking the time to bring it to life with us here thank you for having me thanks guys [Music] you