The third annual BET honors aired tonight, this year honoring the legendary Whitney Houston with a star-studded line-up of of tribute performances.

One of those performances was the beautiful and talented Jennifer Hudson, who got the opportunity to sing “I Will Always Love You” directly to her idol.

This will probably go down as one of the best and most important performances of Jennifer’s career, and I think it easily cemented her as one of the best vocalists of today’s generation. Whitney certainly seemed to enjoy it to, and she isn’t impressed easily, so to have the greatest female singer of all time co-signing Jen the whole way through really says a lot.

Ryan Tedder has two more names to add to his ever-expanding resume, with USA Today revealing that the hitmaker will be lending his production talents to the new albums of both Katy Perry and Jennifer Hudson.

For Katy’s album Tedder will join Dr Luke, Max Martin, Weezer and The-Dream & Tricky who have all clocked up studio time with the Hot ‘n’ Cold singer.

J-Hud however has been a little more secretive about her sophomore effort, with Ne-Yo and of course Clive Davis being the only confirmed collaborators so far.

You either love him or hate him but you can’t deny that Tedder is one of the biggest producers in pop music today. Both Katy and J-Hud are very radio-friendly artists so I can’t imagine that Tedder will be spreading his creative wings very far, but as long as the song is good then I won’t mind.

After a heated and public beef that started over Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” and escalated from there, producer Scott Storch has finally buried the hatchet with Timbaland after getting clean in rehab and re-evaluating his life.

“We’re friends. He talks with me. He cares about me. We had a pretty serious friendship too that the world doesn’t really realize. That outweighs that lil’ bulls**t that we went through. Ultimately, I think we had a lot of people in our ear that were trying to create animosity between us and that’s how everything got started. We both started spewing out [ill] feelings and whatever. We both admitted to being wrong in that situation. That’s history though.”

I never thought that someone with an ego as big as Timbalands could forgive Scott who accused him of taking credit for not only his beats, but also Danja’s, but I guess it’s all water under the bridge now.

In other news Storch confirmed that he’s just finished working with Jennifer Hudson, which unfortunately will appear on a Quincy Jones tribute album and not Jennifer’s next record. Ne-Yo is one of the only confirmed collaborators so far for Jennifer’s sophomore album. Who else would you like to see her work with?

The beautiful and talented Jennifer Hudson is on the cover of the latest issue of JET magazine, opening up to the publication about her upcoming Christmas TV special.

It’s covering my story and where I come from. I’ve been out for five-six years now, but we never had me on an intimate level where you’ve had a chance to get to know Jennifer. You’ve seen me as Effie [in Dreamgirls] you’ve seen me as Rosaleen [in Secret Life of Bees], you’ve seen me singing as a singer, but who is the person? I want people to have a sense of who I am.

She also spoke to the magazine about what it’s like to be a Mother, and how important it is to make sure her son is close to God and his family.

I’ve always felt that the greatest gift my Mother ever gave her children was to bring us to church. And then of course family — my mother would always tell us without those things you have nothing. I want to make sure [my son] is very close to his family and knows God and is brought up in the church.[source]

Jen is so sweet and down-to-earth. I can’t wait to check out her Christmas special which you can actually preview below the cut. One of the clips is of her sangin’ some Christmas gospel in the way that only J-Hud can! Love it.

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Jennifer Hudson is going to have to make some extra room on her trophy shelf for another Oscar, with new reports confirming that the diva has scored the lead role in the upcoming Winnie Mandela biopic “Winnie Mandela: A Life”.

The movie will be shot in South Africa in May by director Darrell J. Roodt, a veteran South African filmmaker whose 2006 movie “Yesterday” was Africa’s Best Foreign Film nominee.

While Nelson Mandela 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.

“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.” [Source]

Can’t wait! Jennifer is an amazing actress and I’m sure that this film will cement her as a Hollywood A-lister.

Music mogul and mentor Clive Davis has revealed some new details about Jennifer Hudsons upcoming sophomore album, which should be out some time next year.

“The key is in the material. [Hudson] has grown as an artist in this past year. She is more soulful. But the real challenge with a ‘pop’ artist is to come up with those songs that are special,” Davis told HitFix. “That is the challenge for every young artist who is still trying to make a lifelong career. They’re still dependent on radio play… You gotta have the hits. So we have several candidates for it.”

Also helping out on the new album is Ne-Yo, who produced Jennifers #1 R&B hit “Spotlight”. In addition to writing some new records for the singer, he may even take the reigns as the albums executive producer. [Source]

Knowing Clive I bet that Jennifer will barely get a say in this album. He’s talking about it like he’s the artist and J-Hud gets no choice in the matter! Thank God then that he knows what he’s doing because I absolutely loved Jennifers debut album, as well as all the work that Clive has done with Whitney, including I Look To You. I hope Jenny keeps the same sound has her first album, which was mature, yet still young and contemporary.

New mother Jennifer Hudson continued her recent red carpet return last night when she attended the 2009 Angel Ball in New York City.

J-Hud looks stunning! The whole look just suits her perfectly, and she seems to have lost a lot of her baby weight. I can’t wait till she comes back with a new album because she’s one of the only real divas under 30 in the game right now.

Singer/actress Hilary Duff was snapped yesterday on the set of her new ABC telemovie The Business of Falling In Love. The films plot is basically a straight jack of Sex & The City and Confessions of a Shopaholic, which pretty much says it all.

Hilary looks classy and sophisticated, I love her. She seems to have focused her effort a lot on television lately, first doing guest spots on Ghost Whisperer and Law & Order, followed by her recurring role on Gossip Girl, and now this TV movie she’s doing.

I think it’s a good move for her because she kind of messed up her movie career for the time being by trying to do smaller films for credibility, which is definitely a great thing, except for the fact that most of them were terrible and they’ve all been flopping like crazy. Hopefully she can a big screen return after her next album.

Last but not least was the ageless Toni Braxton who attended the Breakthrough Ball at the Plaza Hotel.

Toni recently previewed her new album Pulse to a VIP crowd in New York City, with various reports online indicating that it was met with a very positive response.

Girl is looking good. Make sure you go pick up her new single “Yesterday”, which is currently #69 on the R&B/Hip-Hip chart.

Rihanna was snapped yesterday arriving at Milk Studios in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. The singer is set to premiere her new single “Russian Roulette” tomorrow (Oct 20th) at 11:23 a.m. EST. According to Ryan Seacrest the song was both written and produced by Ne-Yo.

You can check out a new teaser video over at Robo’s website by clicking here.

I’m seriously dying to hear this song now. Her little tactic of keeping everything a secret has worked like a charm! By the way she needs to ditch that alien hair ASAP.

Singer/actress Ashlee Simpson was snapped the other day (Oct 18th) leaving the Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills where she was doing press for new TV show Melrose Place.

The newest episode airs tonight on the CW. Check out the preview for it here.

Ashlee looks cute and I loved her in last weeks episode of Melrose. I can’t believe she’s blackmailing Michael!

Singer Shakira was snapped last night at the 2009 Whitney Museum Gala in

You can check out a preview of her sexy new video for “Did It Again” by clicking here.

Shaki looks hot and so does her new video!

Also at the same event was new mother Jennifer Hudson, who looked gorgeous as she showed off her post-baby bod in a soft pink gown.

J-Hud is currently working on her sophomore album, whilst preparing for her upcoming ABC Christmas special.

It looks the beautiful and talented Jennifer Hudson has scored herself a lucrative gig for the holidays!

The former “American Idol”-turned-Oscar-and-Grammy winner will host the holiday music special, “Jennifer Hudson: I’ll Be Home For Christmas” in December on the network, Access Hollywood has learned.

The one-hour special, which will take place in Hudson’s hometown of Chicago, will follow the star as she “relives her childhood Christmases with musical performances shot on location at the small neighborhood church where she brought the congregation to its feet week after week; the music academy where she studied; and other Chicago sites,” ABC said in a press release.

Hudson will also visit with family and “childhood friends and others whose influences have been instrumental in her rise from humble beginnings to Hollywood stardom.”

“I am thrilled that Jennifer chose ABC to be the home for her very first holiday special,” said Vicki Dummer, senior vice president, Alternative Series, Specials and Late-Night, ABC Entertainment Group. “I can’t wait to hear her take on Christmas classics as we discover what she loves about her hometown of Chicago.” [Source]

I love Christmas specials and movies and J-Hud is my girl so I’ll totally be watching this. I’d love to see her church and find out some of the things that have really inspired her.

I can’t help but feeling a little weird about it though. Chicago is where Jennifer’s family tragedy took place and now she’s going to have to stroll through the city reliving her childhood memories, which obviously would include her family. I know for me personally it would probably be too painful, but J-Hud is such a strong woman that I’m she will be ok. I wonder if she will acknowledge any of it or just act like it never happened? I just hope that it’s a positive and therapeutic experience for her.

It seems like Ashanti isn’t the only one performing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” lately, with diva Jennifer Hudson taking a stab at the classic during a concert in central park earlier tonight celebrate the 70th anniversary of the iconic film The Wizard of Oz. Check it out above.

J-Hud really isn’t one for subtlety is she? Usually I like her over-the-top performances but that was just way too much. I love the original version and I really didn’t need to see it Church-a-fied and turned into a gospel screaming match. And was her weave busted to pieces or was that just her hair? SMH. Less is more honey!