The Tribune

By FARAH

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

ACADEMY-award winning singer Jennifer Hudson will make her way to the Bahamas for a special performance this weekend honouring Bahamian Hollywood legend Sir Sydney Poitier.
The concert is part of the Atlantis Live Concert series and will benefit the Sir Sydney Poitier Performing Arts Centre.

The event will be held in the Atlantis Grand Ballroom on Saturday night. 
During an hour long performance Hudson is expected to perform some of her most popular, soulful hits. Sir Sydney will also give remarks during the gala night.
Michelle Wiltshire, senior vice president of special events and entertainment, said she feels Jennifer Hudson is the prime musician to honour Sir Sydney Poitier, as she is an award winning actress who views Sir Sydney as an icon.

“The Atlantis Live is a very special performance by Jennifer Hudson. As we looked at the events celebrating Sir Sydney Poitier, we thought Jennifer Hudson would be the perfect star to perform. She is an academy award winning actress, and Grammy award winning musician. She is an extraordinary performer with a magnificent voice.This perfectly rounded off the weekend of celebrations.”

“She is not a singer who is on the road, because right now she is really acting. But she is doing this because Sir Sydney is an icon and she thought it was fitting,” Ms Wiltshire said.
Saturday night is expected to bring many surprises, but organisers say event patrons will have to wait and see.

“You never know, there might be some surprises, there might not be. There may be some big name celebrities in attendance, there may not be. The important thing to know is that this event will honour an extraordinary man.

It will be the best of the best. People can be sure that they will see an extraordinary concert and be part of something special. This will be a very special experience and a once in a lifetime moment,” Ms Wiltshire said.
Atlantis Live past performers included Jimmy Fallon, Bruno Mars, Jordin Sparks, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow and Fergie.
Jennifer Hudson got her start as an American Idol finalist in 2004. Though not the winner of the competition, Hudson is one of the most successful competitors.

Hudson’s role alongside Beyonce in the 2006 musical motion picture Dreamgirls, propelled her to stardom. For that performance she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe, a BAFT Award, an NAACP Image Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

She also won a Grammy Award for her debut album Jennifer Hudson, which was released in 2008 on Arista Records. It was certified gold by RIAA for selling over 800,000 copies in the US. Her sales exceeded one million copies worldwide. Her second album, I Remember Me was released in March 2011, and reached number two on the Billboard 200, selling 165,000 copies in its first week of release.

In late 2008, after Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew were killed in a shooting. In May, a jury found William Balfour, the then-estranged husband of Hudson’s sister Julia, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder.