was eliminated from American Idol season three in 2004. After a series of stellar performances, Hudson was placed in the bottom three with fellow contestants LaToya London and eventual winner Fantasia Barrino in week six after performing Barry Manilow's "Weekend in New England." While Elton John called the votes “,” judge Simon Cowell recently during an appearance on Hudson's The Jennifer Hudson Show.Nearly two decades later, Jennifer Hudson—one of Glamour's —opened up about the experience, telling Glamour that while she didn't think she was going to win, she was surprised to be going home so soon given the momentum she'd been building and consistently receiving so many votes.
Still, she knew her career was far from over. “I was like, okay, this is the end of the road here, but it doesn’t mean it’s the end because I still have my gift and what I learned from my [Idol] experience," she said in her Women of the Year . "What can I take from this to propel forward?”The next move, of course, was to win an Academy Award.
Just a few months after she left Idol, Jennifer Hudson was approached to audition for the role of Effie White in Dreamgirls.
And with that role, starring alongside the like of Beyoncé and Jamie Foxx, the singer checked the “Oscar” box on her way to making EGOT history.
Read more on glamour.com