This bright and booming talent is a perfect example of how NOT winning the title of "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" (2002) can actually be a boon to your career and not necessarily the end of a childhood dream.
Born Jennifer Kate Hudson on September 12, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois, she earned minor attention as one of the twelve finalists on the third season of the FOX TV series in 2004. She came in an underwhelming sixth runner-up. Hudson grew up singing in gospel choirs, acting in community theater productions, singing on cruise ships and tourin...