Jennifer Hudson + Patti LaBelle = BFFs!!!!!

EFFIE GETS A TASTE OF SOME LADY MARMALADE: Jennifer Hudson and Patti LaBelle gush and goof at the GLAAD gay-fest. Expect a duet from these two soon???

Last night at the NYC installment of the 2007 GLAAD Media Awards (yes, I was there; no Logo wasn't nominated for anything 'cuz it ain't mainstream media; yes, that entire issue was addressed--briefly--during the show; more on that later) there were lots o' celebs. Rosie O'Donnell, Tom Ford, Julianne Moore, John Amaechi, Hilary Duff, Cynthia Nixon -- more on them all later (plus, photos!).

But the big moment of the night was at the end when Jennifer Hudson strode out on stage to present the Excellence in Media Award to lifelong gay supporter and R&B diva Patti LaBelle. What might have a simple gushy intro and award handoff turned into a lengthy, loopy, lovely, diva-fueled lovefest, as LaBelle spent the majority of her time onstage gushing over how sweet and fabulous and "just like Patti LaBelle" the young Oscar-winning Hudson was. It was a very passing-the-torch, multi-generational fierce-a-thon.



Both Hudson and LaBelle confessed to having little paitence for reading the teleprompter. "We don't read well..." cracked LaBelle. "Because we don't have to!" Meaning, these divas speak from the heart, not from a script, okkaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy?

Things started off loose when Hudson took the stage (the homo-packed audience went bonkers, naturally) and attempted to launch into an a capella version of "Over the Rainbow." After a few scorching bars she stopped and joked, "Who am I kidding? Ain't nobody can sing like Patti LaBelle?" Then J-Hud kept it real by announcing a few seconds into her teleprompter-guided intro "Umm... I can't see, y'all!" Meaning, Hudson was not able to read the intro flashing before her. She kept having the tech crew back it up and start it again repeatedly, as she laughed and joked with the audience. After several minutes of this, LaBelle herself just strode up to the foot of the stage, gesticulating, and telling Hudson to "just be yourself!"

Then LaBelle marched up on stage and the two divas began an endless trade of compliments, with LaBelle praising Hudson. "I never met this girl before tonight, and I didn't know what to expect," gasped LaBelle. "I didn't know you were so nice; I thought you were going to be a bitch!" laughed LaBelle. "That was Effie, not Jennifer," responded Hudson. Then as LaBelle, hiked up the waistline of her dress, she also gave props to the gay community: "I've been with you all for 45 years!" and thanked the crowd for always supporting her "even when I didn't have a hit record." Then LaBelle went back to lauding love on Hudson, who stayed off to the elder diva's side as much as she could, but would step in to join LaBelle in the spotlight. "You are who I idolize," responded Hudson to LaBelle's words of praise.



"And I am telling you..." Jennifer loves Patti. Yes, there was a lot of referring to one's self in the third person with these two sisters onstage.

"BEYONCE WHO?" cracked LaBelle at one point. Quickly recovering, LaBelle said: "I love Beyonce, don't get me wrong... But this girl [Hudson] sings like Patti LaBelle, and she looks like a young Patti LaBelle." And to Hudson, "You don't look like Beyonce; you look like you!" Which, apart from stating the obvious, was LaBelle's way of saying that normal-bodied, real (i.e. not pencil-thin) women deserve real love, too. "She is our new woman!!!!" LaBelle went on. And on. And on!

Finally, the pair launched into an a capella mini-rendition of "Nobody Knows the Troubles I've Seen" turning the assembled gay-fest into a bit of a Sunday morning church service as they belted, "nobody knows but Jesus." The crowd whooped some more, and then LaBelle and Hudson thanked the crowd, as the GLADD honchos dimmed the lights on the stars and brought up the house lights, ending the night. The soulful new best friends remained onstage, as if trying to talk and gush for the crowd even more (it was very "And I'm telling you... we're not going") but by that time, the suited LGBT's benefitsters were ready to bolt.



Effie & Lady Marmalade. It doesn't get any more soulful than this, folks.

Comments

[Jerry]

Leave it to diva, y'all...

[Natalia]

So Jennifer Hudson can't read or she just couldn't read the teleprompter because of the lights?

[Lakeisha]

she couldnt see because the lights, i was there