Your New “One Shining Moment” Singer: Jennifer Hudson
Posted by nvr1983 on March 10th, 2010By now you have probably heard the news that CBS will have a new singer for its traditional “One Shining Moment” montage to finish the NCAA Tournament. To be perfectly honest the reason that it took me so long to get this post up is because I had to figure out who Jennifer Hudson was. I’m not saying she isn’t a “big name”. I have heard of her, but I had no idea why she was “famous”. So after an extensive literature search, we can tell you this about her:
- Was a finalist on the 3rd season of American Idol (never watched it)
- Won a bunch of awards for her role in Dreamgirls (never watched it)
- Had a self-titled debut album that sold over 1 million copies worldwide (never listened to it)
- Is friends with Barack Obama (familiar with him, but still waiting on our invitation for a RTC vs. White House pick-up game)
- Has a few hit singles, “If This Isn’t Love” and “Spotlight” (never heard them before, but I am assuming they are hits because they have over 3 million and 8 million hits on YouTube and don’t involve dancing babies or drunk girls)
Your new "One Shining Moment" singer
Now that we have that background information out of the way we can get to the important stuff namely Hudson being the fourth person to sing what might be the most second most famous song in sports (behind “The Star-Spangled Banner”, just ahead of “O Canada” and “Take me out to the ball game”, and well ahead of “Sweet Caroline”). As every college basketball fan knows, the three previous singers–David Barrett (1987-1993, 2000-2002), Teddy Pendergrass (1994-1999), and Luther Vandross (2002-2009)–were all guys and while the knowledgeable fan can differentiate the versions by singer having a female voice will certainly be a significant change. While I am willing to try change (rtmsf might disagree with this), I have to admit that I would have preferred if they had went with the Teddy Pendergrass version given his death in January of this year as a tribute much like they did for Doug Towey, the CBS producer who decided to use the song in 1987, after his death in March last year.
In any event, we will just have to sit back and listen to Hudson’s version on April 3rd before passing final judgement, but you can be sure that the Internet will have plenty to say about it on the morning of April 4th.
After the jump we have videos of “One Shining Moment” from each of the three previous singers to get you in the mood for March Madness. If you have any thoughts on your favorite version of the song or on Hudson taking over the reins, we would love to hear them in the comment section.
David Barrett, 1987:
Teddy Pendergrass, 1996:
Luther Vandross, 2008:
Nice post!! What college basketball fan doesn’t look forward to One Shining Moment every year?! The package is one of the best recap pieces in all of sports.
I completely agree with the idea about using the Pendergrass version as a tribute. It would have been a classy move. For Hudson I’m sure she understands that no matter how well she does, criticism is going to follow. Luther Vandross and Teddy P are R&B legends, so even if her rendition is great, folks will still complain. In a few years it will be like she’s been singing it forever. People have short memories.
Please do not ever play the Jennifer Hudson version of One Shining Moment again. It was horrible.