Jennifer Hudson may be adding another trophy – or six – to her awards shelf. The EGOT’s daytime talk show The Jennifer Hudson Show snagged six Daytime Emmy nominations in its freshman year. The show has been a breakout smash as JHud invites guests and viewers into her Happy Place where every day is a celebration. This week, one of her celebrity guests included Tori Kelly, and the two singers had an on-air praise party with a rousing duet of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah.”
Before they broke out into song, Tori sat down with Jennifer to chat it up for an interview segment. The young songstress gave props to her father and all the gospel, neo-soul and rock he played when she was growing up, which helped to shape her love of music and her talent.
The conversation naturally turned to her new single “missin u,” and she shared with JHud how she was inspired by the late ’90s and early aughts sonically, lyrically and visually. Tori shouted out icons of the era Missy Elliott and TLC as two of the main sources of inspo for the video.
The multitalented pair then reminisced about the 2016 animated movie Sing, to which they both lent their voices. Tori voiced the elephant character “Meena” and called it her “dream role.” Jennifer wasn’t sure what animal she was supposed to be, but she voiced the sheep character “Young Nana.”
In Sing, Meena and Young Nana sang a duet of “Hallelujah,” and that was the perfect segue for these two powerhouse singers to do what they do best. With The Jennifer Hudson Show’s resident pianist Charles Jones tickling the ivories, Tori and Jennifer reprised the song live for her studio audience and sang down.
Whenever Jennifer Hudson sings with one of her guests, it’s routinely out of this world, but this duet with Tori Kelly was downright heavenly. Their crystalline voices were individually incredible, and their harmonies were simply stunning. Although they only sang together for a little over a minute, it was an award-worthy performance. Give JHud a Daytime Emmy for this alone!
